In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life the song of the week is Fingertips - Part 2, Stevie Wonder’s very first hit single from when he was twelve and billed as “Little Stevie Wonder”. I love how you can hear all the other kids in the audience going absolutely apeshit at someone their age shredding this hard. I also the addition of audience call-and-response to the originally instrumental track. Incredible cheat code to get people going nuts.

It’s really incredible to read about how many chances Motown gave a twelve-year-old before he finally had a hit. I feel like today a label wouldn’t have that much faith in any artist, yet alone a kid. But Stevie Wonder really is, like, that talented. It also makes me think about how many talented kids there could have been who didn’t happen to live in Detroit specifically, or like, other African American kids who lived in more segregated parts of the country who had even fewer opportunities to perform for people.