The last Motown Monday of 2021!

When Stevie Wonder reached the age of 21 On May 13, 1971 he discovered that his recordings had earned Motown 30 million dollars, yet he was only paid one million. Shocked at this news he instructed Ewart Abner, the president of Motown and his lawyer to renegotiate his contact and give Stevie the right to produce his own music and have a publishing company that he was free to run any way he wanted to.

After his Motown machine hits, his first self produced effort was Music Of My Mind to which he had incorporated the use of the Tonto synthesizer. He did not gain any major hits but it set the tone for the rest of his career.

Armed with his newfound knowledge of synthesizers and his growing experience in music production, he completed "Talking Book" and the centerpiece single "Superstition". Stevie felt that another single "Big Brother" would be a hit, but executives advised him that "Superstition" was the better commercial choice.

The genesis of "Superstition" began with a chance meeting with guitar virtuoso Jeff Beck. Stevie wrote the song with Beck in mind to to release that single way before Stevie completed "Talking Book. Beck had wanted to record Stevie's "Maybe Your Baby" but Stevie replied that he wasn't keen on that idea, so Stevie began jamming on the music track of what was to become "Superstition" spontaneously and then told Beck the song was his, but not the music track, he would have to produce and record his own version. Wonder then reconsidered and took the track AND song back.

Released ahead of the album, the song reached #1 on the Hot100 for a week and three weeks at #1 on the R&B/Soul chart. Stevie knew he had something special.

Beck finally did get his rocked up cover of "Superstition" out in 1973.

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