| Show 111 Stevie Wonder's belief in our power to heal ourselves and our world is stronger than ever Is '''' ) : IF At his induction into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 Stevie Wonder was Joined by his son Keita daughter Aisha Oh and their mother Yolanda Simmons "IT'S POSSIBLE THAT IF I COULD see I wouldn't have spent as much time dealing with the concept of love" Stevie Wonder told me "I might have been made militant by what I would see But if I got my sight back today my belief that love really does hold the key would not change All evil can be conquered by love It's there inside you if you'll only listen" Little Stevie Wonder arrived on the American music scene in 1961 A happy child of 1Z he was hailed as a prodigy In the years that followed his output has been prodigious: 30 albums (five gold two platinum) 17 Gramm's an American Music Award of Merit and induction into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame I knew Stevie Wonder had faced the challenges of being black and blind and growing up in poverty He also had surmounted the pressures of early stardom And he had had a brush with death I wanted to know how this man whose music is filled with joy and love had kept his vision What had kept him strong? I met Stevie Wonder now 42 at Wonderland his magnificently furnished recording studios in Los Angeles He is a large man- -6 feet 2 and 200 pounds—who seems to give off a spiritual glow Born Steven Judkins in Saginaw Mich he was the third of five children that Lula Mae Hardaway struggled to raise alone His sightlessness may have been caused by problems that developed from a premature birth He vaguely recalls light and he told me"! think I did see my mother's face" His mother worked sometimes as a seamstress sometimes in a plant There were times when there was no food on the table no heat in the house "We were poor" Stevie recalled "I knew we were doing without" But their home was filled with love and when they moved to Detroit's east side it seemed that no one in that poor neighborhood was any worse off than they were One day when Stevie was 5 his mother recalled she was watching him play He walked up to her and said "You worried that I'm blind Mama? You don't have to worry because I'm happy" He patted I -- 6 1 - i rti? I i 4 0i ' Q t- tt t - 4 ' ' tp 1 fish-packi- n" Me Stevie ode at 13 appearing on the TV program Ready Steady Go la London her hand "That day" his mother said "he took a lot of pain and grief off me" Despite his disability Stevie's childhood was filled with games and play He rode on a bicycle while his brother steered He climbed trees One day he wanted to try jumping from the shed in the back BY COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL GRECCO 77 sdasAv t: member of The Miracles one of the era's top recording groups—me to the neighborhood to hear Stevie People were calling him "The Little Boy Wonder" Soon Stevie was signed by Motown the black record company wrote his first song "Lonely Boy" and had his first hit the 1 jumpy harmonica tune "Fingertips" His life changed overnight The precocious child singer renamed Little Stevie Wonder was a sensation Before long Stevie was spending most of his time touring and his family moved to a middle-clas- s neighborhood Did it trouble him to learn that he was black? And just what could that mean to someone who was blind? "1 knew I was colored I was Negro" he answered "but I didn't exactly know what it meant I knew I was different and treated less than someone else because of my color And on top of that I was blind 1 didn't know why there was such a problem about color when I was blind in the first place That seemed weird to me But didn't feel inferior I felt I was special even when I would hear someone say 'You really sound good You colored peoyard Although his brother warned that ple sing better than white people?" his mother was coming he jumped anyDuring his teens Stevie Wonder had a way landing in her arms Recalling the string of hits with Motown that sold milincident Stevie laughed "She beat the lions and made him a superstar—songs like "Uptight" "For Once in My Life" stuffings out of me" Then a sheepish grin stole across his face "I was wild" and "My Cherie Amour" But he grew And he had a remarkable talent Here restless under the tight artistic control was a boy who from age 2 was creating Motown maintained When he turned 21 he was able to rhythms with a spoon to the music from the radio Nothing that made a sound esbreak free From then on he had control caped his tapping The sides of beds the of his life and his art He changed his walls the windows "Day and night you name legally to Stevland Morris married could hear it" his brother Milton recalled Syreeta Wright a singer bought a recordWhen he was 4 Stevie started picking ing studio and began producing a reout songs on a harmonica his uncle had markable series of "one-maalbums From Music of My Mind to Talking bought him He wore out several sets of toy drums until the Lions Club gave him Book his recordings marked his emera real set at a Christmas party for blind gence from prodigy to poet and prophet children At 8 he was composing on the culminating in his landmark Innervisions which presented his insight into urban ispiano at school By 9 he was singing solos at the Whitestone Baptist Church— sues and a powerful call to change beuntil one day he was caught by a sister fore it was too late But his message reof the church playing rock 'n' roll For mained one of love—a love so strong as playing "worldly music" Stevie was one song said that it would last "until the rainbow bums the stars out of the sky" promptly expelled from the choir The following year Ron White—a Then on an August day in 1973 Ste WALLACE TERRY PAGE 4 JUKE 711 1992 PARADE MACJZHE IN |
