The 500 - #90 - Talking Book - Stevie Wonder

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Album: #90

Album Title: Talking Book

Artist: Stevie Wonder

Genre: Progressive Soul, Funk, Soul, Jazz

Recorded: 4 Studios - New York, Hollywood, Los Angeles, London

Released: October, 1972

My age at release: 7

How familiar was I with it before this week: Fairly

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #112 - dropping 21 spots

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Superstition

There are times when sticking to your principles can be a real pain. Case in point, Stevie Wonder recently announced that he and his band are going on tour, and not just any Stevie Wonder tour. He is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life, with dates in New York, Chicago, and Detroit, a city a mere 200 km from my home. As of now, though, there is no Toronto date. No Montreal date. In fact, no Canadian date at all.

Detroit is tantalizingly close and, under normal circumstances, my friend Terry and I would be checking the calendar and figuring out dinner options in Motown. But these are not normal circumstances.

I've decided that until relations between Canada and the United States improve I'm going to avoid travelling to the U.S. and spending my money there. I don't pretend that missing a Stevie Wonder concert will register as the faintest blip on the American economy. My principled boycott won’t make anybody in Washington lose sleep. It's simply something I feel I need to do.

Let me be really clear: This isn't about Americans generally but their current federal government. Over the decades, I have met many wonderful Americans, some of whom I’m honoured to call friends. Additionally, I love visiting the United States where my godmother has lived for many years. I've crossed the border hundreds of times, attending concerts and sporting events, or just sightseeing and shopping. The accumulated memories of these visits have found their way into more than a few of these blog posts. Heck, my wife and I got married in New York City in 2006 and more than 40 members of our family and friends joined us, some extending their visit for a whole week.

Me and my lovely bride - August 18, 2006 in Battery Park, NYC.

My frustration is with the current American administration and, in particular, the way it has insulted and inflicted economic damage on my country, let alone the harm it has wreaked upon its own population.

Donald Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state and mockingly referred to our former prime minister, Justin Trudeau, as a "governor." He has also transferred the slight to our current prime minister, Mark Carney.

More recently, he signed an executive order instructing the American government to refer to Lake Ontario as "Lake America." That one strikes particularly close to home. Ontario isn't merely the name of the province where I live. The name has Indigenous roots and was being used centuries before either Canada or the United States existed.

Lake Ontario Map from 1774, two years before U.S independence.

Then there's the ongoing argument over trade. Trump decided not to renew the USMCA in its current form and has criticized what it sees as shortcomings in the treaty.. How ironic considering the USMCA was negotiated during Trump's first administration and he hailed it as "the best agreement we've ever made."

Trump, flanked by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto
and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, signing
the USMCA agreement in 2018.

Our current prime minister, Mark Carney, recently summed up the problem rather neatly when he said: "We've recognized from the start that America has changed. We recognized that sometimes its signature was written in pencil." When a deal negotiated and celebrated by the same president can suddenly become a deal his administration no longer wants to stand behind, Carney's pencil metaphor seems particularly apt.

So, for now, I'm staying on my side of Lake Ontario and remain hopeful about two things. The first is that relations between our countries thaw, that the anger and insults stop, and that good neighbourly relations are restored to the way they have been for centuries.

At the moment, I'm not terribly optimistic. Yet I wonder whether Stevie’s touring team may look at his schedule and think: “You know what? we haven't scheduled Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal.” Odds are Terry and his wife, Heather, would happily join Angela and me on a road trip if seeing Stevie was in the mix.

And with that, I’ll climb off my political soapbox to reflect on Stevie Wonder’s second record of 1972, Talking Book. The first was Music Of My Mind, which was released earlier that same year.

A second hit record in one calendar year sounds impressive enough. Then I realized that these were his 14th and 15th releases by an artist who was just 22 years old.

Twenty-Two!

When I was 22, I was still living in my parent’s basement. Sure, I was going to University and had a couple part-time jobs, but no one is talking about my creative output and groundbreaking innovations 50 years later…and I have the benefit of sight.

Me at 22, lifeguard by day, Pizza delivery driver by night.

We have actually been here before. Back in December, 2022, when I was still pushing my way through #285 on this decade-long journey through the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, I wrote about Music of My Mind. In that post, I spent some time on Stevie’s remarkable childhood and his emergence as the extravagantly talented “Little Stevie Wonder.” More importantly for what was coming next, I wrote about his discovery of the enormous TONTO synthesizer, created by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff. Stevie had become fascinated by synthesizers, and Cecil and Margouleff would work with him through some of the most creative years of his career.

Side Note: Margouleff is the guest on the accompanying episode of The 500 Podcast and, while promoting his autobiography, shares his experiences working with Stevie as well as a comprehensive look at that revolutionary technology. For music engineering or synthesizer nerds, it is a rewarding deep dive.

Another mind-blowing realization comes when one remembers that Wonder is not just a singer and piano player. On both of these 1972 records, he wrote the songs, produced the albums and played virtually every instrument himself. The music, the lyrics, the arrangements, the keyboards, the drums, the harmonica and ideas to create those strange new synthesizer sounds were pouring out of a kid.

Wonder in studio recording Talking Book.

There is something almost Mozart-like about him. Not because their processes were necessarily the same, but because I find the idea of all that music existing inside one person's head fascinating. Stevie couldn't sit at a piano with a blank piece of manuscript paper in front of him and casually scribble down an idea in the conventional way. He had to hear it, remember it, build it, play it and communicate it. Melody, harmony, rhythm, words and arrangement could all exist in his imagination before the rest of us ever got to hear them. Thus, the album before Talking Book was aptly named Music Of My Mind.

And, incredibly, Stevie was just getting warmed up.

Music of My Mind and Talking Book kicked off what is now widely referred to as Stevie Wonder's classic period, five critically acclaimed albums released in less than five years.

• Music of My Mind (1972) (#285 on The 500)
• Talking Book (1972) (#90 on The 500)
• Innervisions (1973) (#24 on The 500)
• Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974) (Grammy Award for Album of the year
• Songs in the Key of Life (1976) (#57 on The 500) and Grammy Award for Album of the year
  

That's not merely a good stretch. That's an athlete entering the zone and then somehow staying there for five seasons. Imagine a ballplayer hitting .350, winning the batting title, coming back the next year and doing it again, then looking around and deciding he might as well steal some bases, hit a bunch of home runs and win the league MVP a few times while he's at it. Stevie was on one of those runs, like Gretzky, Woods, Jordan, Williams, Ali or Brady, whose greatness literally became the expectation.

Originally, this was going to be my angle for this blog. I was going to investigate other artists who had enjoyed an incredible run of consecutive releases. In fact, I’ve been researching and mulling it over for a few weeks. Then Stevie announced his tour, without a Canadian date, and my frustration sent me in a different direction. Oh well. I’ll save that topic for either Songs In The Key Of Life or Innervisions, in 2027, which should coincide nicely with the start of the next U.S. presidential primary season. By then, perhaps I’ll have two things to look forward to: Another great Stevie Wonder album to write about and the possibility of a rapprochement in Canada-U.S. relations. And renewed trips across the border.

Help me out if you can?

What is your favourite four- or five-album consecutive run by a musician or band?
It doesn’t need to be critically acclaimed, just your own personal list.

The 500 - #173 - Something/Anything? - Todd Rundgren

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #173
Album Title: Something/Anything?
Artist: Todd Rundgren

Genre: Rock, Pop, Psychedelia, Avant-Garde Pop, 

Recorded: Three Studios in Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; and Woodstock, NY

Released: February, 1972

My age at release: 6
How familiar was I with it before this week: A couple songs

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #396, dropping 223 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Hello, It's Me

Just last week, Term One report cards were distributed to my Grade 7 class. My favourite aspect, and perhaps the most important part of the assessment document, is the Learning Skills section. In Ontario, the first page of each elementary report card includes a space for educators to write up to 500 words highlighting each student's progress in six categories: Collaboration, Independent Work, Initiative, Responsibility, Self Regulation and Organization.

Learning Skills Explanation section of Ontario Elementary Report Cards.

For the past six years, my approach has been to consult with every student for their input into the evaluation process. Together, we craft a mini-essay that spells out their successes, acknowledges their growth and establishes mutually agreed-upon objectives for the second term. I am regularly impressed by how well they know themselves and how fairly they identify the challenges they need to overcome.

This year, I was struck by an engaging conversation with one student who, to his credit, frankly acknowledged his collaboration skills needed improvement. As we discussed how he could accomplish this using the S.M.A.R.T. model we've learned about in class (see below), he candidly said: "I know I don't collaborate well, but I really like to just work alone." He wasn't wrong. He's a creative, tech-savvy kid who has independently created some excellent projects. He even painstakingly creates his own musical compositions using Flat.io -- a powerful, but tedious, computer application.

The S.M.A.R.T. approach to accomplishing goals..

It's been said that social intelligence improves if you "pretend that everyone you meet, good or bad, was sent to teach you something". That night, my brain worked overtime trying to figure out what this student really meant:

• Should collaboration be an option, not mandatory in an elementary classroom?
• Am I doggedly adhering to a set of arbitrary expectations set by our education authorities?
• Should there be flexibility in administering that component
• Should a thirteen-year-old student be allowed to choose whether to work alone on every assignment?

My thoughts turned to this week’s blog

Something/Anything? from the multi-talented Todd Rundgren is a masterful and powerfully engaging 23-song exercise in independent work. On the first three sides of the double record, Rundgren plays every instrument and provides all the vocals. He also wrote every song and took the helm in the studio as producer and engineer for the final cuts.

Todd Rundgren in the studio in the 70s.

Rundgren, already an accomplished singer, keyboardist and guitarist, felt he had become comfortable enough with other instruments – including bass guitar, drums and a variety of percussion and electronic instruments – to complete most songs by himself. Boldly, he had already voiced a "general dissatisfaction" with studio musicians despite recording in Los Angeles, a veritable hotbed of the best session players on the planet. This included the legendary Wrecking Crew, a loose collective of top drawer musicians who had contributed to hundreds of Top 40 hits.

Some Wrecking Crew members creating the trademark
"Wall of Sound" with Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in 
Los Angeles, 1965.

My take on Rundgren’s comment is that it wasn’t a question of "dissatisfaction" with the musicians’ talents. Rather, much like the student in my Grade 7 class, Rundgren simply wanted full creative control. He wanted to experiment freely with sounds and adjust arrangements on the fly. Understandably, the experimental process is slower when a band leader needs to explain his spontaneous vision to a group of supporting musicians, regardless of their talent level.

Rundgren would eventually move his studio to his house
on Mink Hollow Road in Woodstock, New York. 

After several weeks, at I.D. Sound Recorders and Runt Studios in Los Angeles, Rundgren had too much material for a single record release. Perhaps unnerved by the Sylmar earthquake, on February 9, 1971, in the San Fernando Valley he relocated to New York where he enlisted the help of his former collaborator, Mark "Moogy" Klingman. The two had worked on Rundgren's first solo release, Runt. After their reunion, they continued working together throughout the ‘70s, most notably with a progressive rock collective they dubbed Utopia.

Rundgren (foreground) on stage with Klingman
behind on keys.

The duo recruited some New York session players to complete enough material for the double album that was released in February,1972, as Something/Anything? The opening track, I Saw The Light was the first single. The B-side on that single was Marlene, a love song dedicated to Rundgren's girlfriend, Marlene Pinkard, who became the cover model and centerfold in Playboy Magazine's April, 1974, issue.

April, 1974 cover of Playboy Magazine featuring
Marlene Marlow (formerly Pinkard) on the cover.

While collaboration will still be promoted in my classroom whenever I encounter a resistant student, I'll think of Todd Rundgren and his “do it alone” record Something/Anything? If he could move on to collaborate with another musician and session players, it demonstrates the need for flexibility in life, even with independently productive students. I suspect that, in time, they will find their own Moogy Klingman and embrace collaboration on their own schedule.

 
 


 

The 500 - #194 - Transformer - Lou Reed

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #194

Album Title: Transformer

Artist: Lou Reed

Genre: Glam Rock, Pop Rock

Recorded: Trident Studios, London

Released: September, 1972

My age at release: 7

How familiar was I with it before this week: Somewhat

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at position #109, moving up 85 spots

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Andy's Chest

I am excited to introduce a new guest poster to The 500 Blog series – Jennifer Jones. I have been friends with Jennifer for more than 25 years, having met her through her husband Oscar. Not only was Oscar the goaltender on my tournament hockey team, he was also a talented musician and is still part of the live music scene here in the city of London, Ontario. There were many nights when my wife, Jen and I would be in the audience at a local watering hole (The Wick, The Brass Door, The Salt Lounge, Call The Office) while Oscar played bass. I always appreciated her perspective on music, as her tastes varied from mine.

Last November, Jennifer was posting photos of some of her favourite albums of all time. Among those posts was the cover to this week’s record, Transformer by Lou Reed. I dropped her a line and asked if she would be interested in sharing a few thoughts and, delightfully, she agreed. Here is her post.

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As a really young teenager, the soundtrack of my life was monopolized by the Velvet Underground, and by Lou Reed in particular. It’s hard to explain my love for Lou: Despite his infamy, I can say that this love has been long-lived and has zero chance of dying.

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Lou Reed (Circa 1975) 

To me, Lou’s music is about stories: Stories that paint a picture of the people he surrounded himself with (or who happened to surround him) and the kinds of things that irked or inspired them. These stories are so raw and colourful and real, I’ve always felt a little transported back to Andy Warhol’s Factory and the dirty streets of New York. (Holly, good for you, girl - I would have gone too!) I feel like Lou did with his music what Andy did with his art, which was to create these stark, unapologetic snapshots capturing – even elevating - the culture around them and reflecting this back to those living it - and to anyone paying attention.

American visual artist Andy Warhol (left) and Reed in the 70s.
Warhol's studio in New York was called "The Factory" and
was a famous hang-out for artists, musicians and celebrities. 

I was later to the Transformer party, for sure, but since I first heard it, it’s always been my favourite: It is simply impossible to get sick of this album. Like my love for Lou, I find it hard to explain, but I suspect it’s because it is textured with a little of everything, from the catty, campy, burlesque (New York Telephone Conversation, Good Night Ladies), to the sweet, melodious, slightly tragic (Perfect Day and Satellite of Love) and of course the ultimate story-scape anthem that is Walk on the Wild Side.

Album cover for the single, Walk On The Wild Side. An
iconic song and Reed's best known, Rolling Stone ranked
it #223 on The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Although some of the songs were written or recorded earlier than Transformer, every single one belongs here - and has to be here - to make up this magnificent whole. Even in the midst of some of Lou’s most celebrated work, Andy’s Chest is still one of my all-time favourite Lou songs, less for the honour it gives Warhol (wonderful in itself) but more for the magical intimacy of its tiny, nonsensical, surely drug-fueled, vignettes. For me, this song has always been a kind of demented lullaby - maybe it’s all that swooping and rocking.

Marilyn Diptych - one of Warhol's best know art pieces.

While Transformer does feel a little gentler in some ways than what I think of as typical Lou (because of David Bowie’s involvement and influence?), Lou’s trademark “snark” is definitely felt all the way through. The connection between Lou and Bowie is interesting: I always saw Lou as much grittier and rougher around the edges, but maybe paired with Bowie’s grace and elegance, the match was all the better.

Friends and musical collaborators, Bowie (left) and Reed (right)

take a humorous photo with Iggy Pop. Collectively, with

14 records on The 500 list (as musicians).

I like to think about the album title and all that it evokes: Lou transforming himself, becoming “someone else, someone good”, moving in a different, separate direction (I’m So Free, Hangin’ Round), and the evolution/ transformation/becoming that occurs in some of the songs (Make Up, Walk on the Wild Side).

There’s an addictively bold, infectious, prideful energy to all of Transformer’s stories that draws you back to listen again and again - and again! To me, overall, Transformer is disarmingly poetic, a little fantastical, and a little snide – just like Lou.

Guest Blogger - Jennifer Jones

The 500 - #196 - Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era, 1965 - 1968 - Various Artists

 I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #196
Album Title: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965- 1968

Artist: Multiple

Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Garage Rock
Recorded: Multiple Studios
Released: October, 1972
My age at release: 7
How familiar was I with it before this week: Surprisingly, many.
Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at 405, moving down 209 spots.
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Dirty Water

Like any kid trying to fit in, I made some regrettable fashion choices in high school. Most of them, including bleaching a blond streak in my hair, I look back on with  affection. However, one decision still generates a cringey shudder when I think about it. It all started when I purchased tickets to see American rock guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Ted Nugent when he brought his 1981 World Tour to my hometown of London, Ontario, in support of his sixth studio release, Scream Dream.

If you are familiar with the troubling and sometimes odious controversies that have followed this angry media personality over the past few decades, you may have a suspicion about where this story is going – that I regretted spending money on this ticket. However, I am not. Within his range and style, "The Nuge" is a pretty good guitar player and there are still a few of his songs that I like -- mainly for old times’ sake. As I have said in previous posts, I generally try to separate the "art" from the "artist”.

Ted Nugent performing live in the 80s.\

The regrettable decision I made came the next day when I arrived in my first period history class proudly wearing the official concert shirt I bought at the show. I thought I would enjoy several nods of envy from my fellow rockers in the room. Instead, my history teacher looked at me and said... "Is that a naked man on your shirt?" (See below for evidence of the offending frock).

I found a photo of a vintage shirt, exactly like mine, online.

The class exploded with laughter as I clumsily defended the clothing choice that I was regretting more deeply with every beat of my racing, teen-age heart. I am not sure why I was trying to convince a stodgy, suited, 50-year-old high-school educator that a "Nugent shirt" was actually cool. I suspect I was trying to convince myself that this expensive ($10 was a lot of money in 1981) piece of memorabilia was worth the freight. The shirt remained in my bedroom closet for most of the next few years. It’s probably in a box in my mom's basement, and being in top condition it would likely fetch more than $100 from online vintage resellers. So, perhaps I didn’t make a bad investment after all.

A closer look at the shirt's logo - taken from Nugent's "Intensities
in 10 Cities" live album, released the same year.

Long before his solo career, Nugent belonged to the psychedelic, garage rock band The Amboy Dukes who had a hit single with Journey To The Center Of Your Mind. Released in 1968, the song reached #16 on the Billboard Charts and was a thinly veiled celebration of the mind-altering drugs that were wildly popular that decade, including L.S.D. and magic mushrooms. Nugent, who is now known for his ardent anti-drug advocacy, has claimed he had no idea what the song was about, which seems dubious unless the now aging rocker was terribly naive in his twenties…while playing in a self-described "acid rock" band.

The Amboy Dukes are among 27 bands that appeared on the 1972 compilation record, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era, 1965 - 1968. The disc was painstakingly curated by Lenny Kaye, a writer and clerk at the Village Oldies in Greenwich Village, New York City, at the time. Kaye later became the guitarist for the Patti Smith Group whose debut album, Horses, ranks at #44 on The 500 list.

Lenny Kaye, working at Village Oldies - early 70s.

Kaye appeared on the most recent episode of The 500 Podcast and provided a rich and fascinating insight into the development of the outstanding collection of the eclectic songs he assembled. He also discussed the follow-up album, Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from The British Empire And Beyond, which was released as a four CD Box set in 2001. I encourage readers to take a listen to the podcast for a much deeper dive into the history of these bands and their music. Kaye even hints there are talks about a Nuggets III production.

Album cover for Nuggets II release (2001)

In previous posts, I have questioned the inclusion of compilation records on The 500 list. I need to amend that stance. My view now holds that anthologies are more than the sum of their parts; this one is akin to a love letter about the music of a generation.

Kaye is passionate about the rare and oddball music he discovered through his writing and work at the Oldies Record Shop, and that shines through on this beautiful tapestry of fascinating and engaging songs. The liner notes, authored by Kane, are further testament to the affection he has for the selections on Nuggets I. It also contains one of the first uses of the term "punk rock" -- a genre of music that exploded a few years after release of Nuggets I. The liner notes begin with a title that captures the spirit of this record, and I smiled when I read it -- "It's a Nugget if you Dug it".

Epilogue:

In 1995, while driving from London, Ontario, through Northern Michigan and across the top of Lake Superior toward Teachers College in Thunder Bay, I stopped at a Tim Hortons in Wawa. It was just before dawn and 11 hours into my 17-hour cross-province journey. I had set off the night before in order to avoid traffic and to enjoy the stunning landscape of the rugged, forest covered Canadian Shield as the sun rose.

Wawa, Ontario, known for its beautiful landscape and giant
goose statue.

As I walked into the Timmies to purchase a cup of conscious-propping caffeine, a slim man in camouflage gear and a ball cap held the door for me to enter as he left.

"Do you know who that was?" the cashier asked me as I ordered. "Ted Nugent" she said, excitedly answering her own question before I could respond.

I turned to see the door of a large pick-up truck close, so I couldn't confirm the information -- but, who would lie about seeing Ted Nugent at dawn in a Tim Hortons in Wawa, Ontario?

At least he had more clothes on.