"Boogie On Reggae Woman" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Stevie Wonder | ||||
from the album Fulfillingness' First Finale | ||||
B-side | "Seems So Long" | |||
Released | November 1974 | |||
Genre | Funk | |||
Length | 4:55 (Album version) 4:05 (1974 single [1] ) 5:14 (1999 version) | |||
Label | Tamla | |||
Songwriter(s) | Stevie Wonder | |||
Stevie Wonder singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Official audio | ||||
"Boogie On Reggae Woman" on YouTube |
"Boogie On Reggae Woman" is a 1974 funk song by American Motown artist Stevie Wonder, released as the second single from his seventeenth studio album, Fulfillingness' First Finale , issued that same year. Despite the song's title, its style is firmly funk/R&B and neither boogie nor reggae. It continued Wonder's successful Top Ten streak on the pop charts, reaching number three and also spent two weeks at number one on the soul charts. [2] Billboard ranked it as the No. 26 song for 1975. At the 17th Grammy Awards, Stevie Wonder won the Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male for this song. [3]
The single spent eight weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No 12. [4]
It features Wonder's distinctive harmonica, although not his usual chromatic type, but instead a diatonic A-flat "blues harp". [5] The song is also notable for Wonder's pulsating Moog synthesizer bassline. The lyrics are designed as a dialogue between "nice" and "naughty" intent, including the introduction to his harmonica break, which incorporates Wonder's casual but repeated question: "Can I play?"
Following conclusion of the vocal, the harmonica is reprised for the remaining 70 seconds, and concluding 30 bars of the tune, to the fade.
Writing for AllMusic, Ed Hogan said: "'Boogie on Reggae Woman' was light and bouncy, strutting along on a funky, percolating pulse. Johnny Nash's 1972 number one pop gold single 'I Can See Clearly Now' had primed the mainstream audience for the reggae sound that Wonder employed on the cut." [6] Billboard said the song has an "irresistible beat", "infectious melody" and "Caribbean flavor". [7] Cash Box said that "a taste of reggae flavoring spices this ditty with Stevie's inimitable vocal style" and "the Wonder man comes across with just the right funk and instrumentation." [8] Record World said that "Stevie brings his 'Fingertips' facile harmonica style back in the spotlight." [9]
Chart (1974-1975) | Peak position |
---|---|
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) [11] | 30 |
US Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs ( Billboard ) | 1 |
UK Singles Chart | 12 |
Talking Book is the fifteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on October 27, 1972, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. This album and Music of My Mind, released earlier the same year, are generally considered to mark the start of Wonder's "classic period". The sound of the album is sharply defined by Wonder's use of keyboards and synthesizers.
Innervisions is the sixteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, and musician Stevie Wonder, released on August 3, 1973, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. A landmark recording of Wonder's "classic period", the album has been regarded as his transition from the "Little Stevie Wonder" known for romantic ballads into a more musically mature, conscious, and grown-up artist. On the album, Wonder continued to experiment with the revolutionary T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer system developed by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff, and Innervisions became hugely influential on the future sound of commercial soul and black music.
"Sir Duke" is a song composed and performed by Stevie Wonder from his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life. Released as a single in 1977, the track topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Black Singles charts, and reached number two in the UK Singles Chart, his joint biggest hit there at the time. Billboard ranked it as the No. 18 song of 1977.
"Superstition" is a song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder. It was released on October 24, 1972, as the lead single from his fifteenth studio album, Talking Book (1972), by Tamla. The lyrics describe popular superstitions and their negative effects.
Music of My Mind is the fourteenth studio album by American soul musician Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 3, 1972, by Tamla Records, and was Wonder's first to be recorded under a new contract with Motown that allowed him full artistic control over his music. For the album, Wonder recruited electronic music pioneers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff as associate producers, employing their custom TONTO synthesizer on several tracks. The album hit No. # 21 in the Billboard LP charts, and critics found it representative of Wonder's artistic growth, and it is generally considered by modern critics to be the first album of Wonder's classic period.
"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder for the Tamla (Motown) label. One of his most popular early singles, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" was the first hit single that Wonder himself co-wrote.
Fulfillingness' First Finale is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released on July 22, 1974 by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. It is the fourth of five albums from what is considered Wonder's "classic period".
"I Was Made to Love Her" is a soul music song recorded by American musician Stevie Wonder for Motown's Tamla label in 1967. The song was written by Wonder, his mother Lula Mae Hardaway, Sylvia Moy, and producer Henry Cosby and included on Wonder's 1967 album I Was Made to Love Her.
"Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing" is a song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released as the third single from his sixteenth studio album, Innervisions (1973). It reached number 16 on the US Billboard Pop Singles chart, number 10 on the Cash Box Top 100, and number two on the R&B chart. The song's lyrics convey a positive message, focusing on taking things in one's stride and accentuating the positive. In 1992, British band Incognito had a European hit with their cover of the song.
"If You Really Love Me" is a song written by Stevie Wonder and Syreeta Wright. Wonder recorded the song and released his version as a single from his 1971 album Where I'm Coming From. The single peaked in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard′s R&B chart, and Billboard′s Easy Listening chart.
"Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" is a 1968 single released by American and Motown recording artist Stevie Wonder. The song, co-written by Wonder and produced by Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy, was the first to showcase Wonder's talents at the clavinet and was one of his first successful co-written tracks during his 1960s Motown period. The song reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart in 1968, and went to number one on the R&B chart.
"You Are the Sunshine of My Life" is a 1973 single released by Stevie Wonder. The song became Wonder's third number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his first number-one on the Easy Listening chart. It won Wonder a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. This song was the second single released from the 1972 album entitled Talking Book, which stayed at number one on the R&B albums chart for three weeks.
"You Haven't Done Nothin" is a 1974 funk single by Stevie Wonder, taken from his album Fulfillingness' First Finale and featuring background vocals by the Jackson 5. The politically aware song became Wonder's fourth Number 1 pop hit and his tenth Number 1 soul hit. It also reached Number 1 in Canada. In the UK the single spent five weeks on the chart, peaking at Number 30.
"Superwoman " is a 1972 soul track by Stevie Wonder. It was the second track on Wonder's Music of My Mind album, and was also released as the first single. The song reached a peak of number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Do I Do" is a song written and performed by American singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder, first released in 1982 on the compilation album, Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I (1982). The single peaked at #2 on the US Billboard soul chart and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. On the Billboard dance chart, "Do I Do" went to number one for two weeks. Overseas, it reached #10 in the UK.
"Living for the City" is a 1973 single by Stevie Wonder from his Innervisions album. It reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the R&B chart. Rolling Stone ranked the song number 104 on their 2004 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
"Never Had a Dream Come True" is a song written by Stevie Wonder and Motown staff songwriters Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy, released as a single on the Tamla subsidiary in February 1970. Featured on his 12th studio release, Signed, Sealed & Delivered, as the lead single, "Never Had..." was a modest hit in the U.S. upon its release, debuting at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of Feb. 7, 1970, and No. 11 on the R&B chart. The song received a boost in the U.K. where it eventually peaked at No. 6.
"I'm Wondering" is a single released by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder as a non-album single in 1967. The single was released after his album, I Was Made to Love Her, had made its debut.
"Love Light in Flight" is a song written, produced, and performed by American R&B singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder. It was released in 1984, from The Woman in Red soundtrack. It peaked at number 4 on Billboard Black Singles, number 1 on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart, and number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 for February 2, 1985.
Yvonne Lowrene Wright was an American songwriter and vocalist best known for co-writing with Stevie Wonder in the 1970s. Their songs appear on the albums Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Fulfillingness' First Finale, and Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants".