DEEP DISCOG DIVE UPDATE 2.9.26 + Which Album Should I React To? (Patreon)

(I know the meme is completely unrelated to the DDD or the artist it's on, but I wanna keep it vague in case anyone doesn't wanna know who it's on. Also it's funny lol)

Hey everyone! As I promised last week, this is the first of a new update series on the Deep Discog Dive. It's simply called Deep Discog Dive Update, or DDDU. (Maybe there's a word that begins with D that also means "update"? Then it would have the same acronym as the Deep Discog Dive Decision. That wouldn't get confusing at all!!)

In case you haven't seen, the next DDD will be on Stevie Wonder. Here's where I'm at with the DDD so far:

OH MY GOD HE HAS SO MANY ALBUMS

Dude has 24 albums!!! What the hell!!! For some reason I thought he had 10-15 - I didn't realize how many he put out during the Motown days, nor did I think he released much after the 70s. I was wrong on both!

WHAT I'VE LISTENED TO SO FAR

Let's get the most important info out of the way: Stevie's real name is Stevland. Not Steven! Stevland!!!! Huh?????

As of now, I've listened to Stevie's first five albums (The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie through Up-Tight), plus the live album that spawned his first hit "Fingertips Pt. 2."

First impression: god he's so good, even as a youngin. He truly was a prodigious talent. But beyond that, I'm finding it interesting how he and Motown spent his early days trying to figure out what Stevie was, aside from "very talented young musician."

There was the debut (no originals; Stevie only plays a handful of instruments on, usually one per song).

Then the Ray Charles covers album (Motown trying to connect him with another prodigious, blind musician)

Then the adult contemporary album (which I thought was just okay)

And then, a frickin' beach-themed album???? Stevie pitched to people as Motown's Brian Wilson??? (Cannot wait to watch the two beach movies Stevie was in from this time)

The most recent album I've heard (Up-Tight) seems to be the first inflection point of Stevie's career. According to this Pitchfork review, it was a last-chance attempt to show Stevie had star potential, especially as his voice was maturity through puberty. And it's a really good record! Might be the first great one of his so far.

(The live album is also quite good - specifically Fingertips, where Stevie starts doing call-and-response work with the crowd. Even from a young age, dude knew how to make a concert feel like a real community get-together.)

Oh, and that Pitchfork review reminds me:

RESEARCH SOURCES FROM THE EARLY DAYS

So far, I'm having issues finding good primary sources that go over in strong detail Stevie's early albums. There's A LOT about his 70s run of course, but not as much about the time before it. The Pitchfork review is an exception, though tbh I'd wanna see if there's another source that corroborates the story about Up-Tight. I may have to dig more into Motown's general history at the time to find info on Stevie.

Then again, I might be a dummy and may not have looked in the right places - if you know of a good book/documentary/other source of info that covers Stevie's Motown days, let me know.

A SONG TO CHECK OUT

If there's one song I'd recommend from what I've heard so far, definitely check out the title track from Up-Tight. It's got a killer vocal performance from a Stevie who was starting to have his voice drop, plus a joyful, jubilant band behind him. Plus it's co-written by Stevie himself, and I think it's a hint of how his songwriting chops will develop in the coming years.

WHICH ALBUM SHOULD I FILM A REACTION TO?

Like the past few DDDs, I wanna post a reaction to one of Stevie's albums on here and on Nebula. Which one should I do?

For reference, I've not heard any of these albums in their totality. I'd be filming my first listen to any of these. That might be considered sacrilege for some of these, but hey I'm in the process of changing that!! Listening, learning, growing, etc.

After the poll, that's it for now! I'll be back later this week with a new video, then another DDD update next week. See you for them both!