Music Of My Mind was a turning point in Stevie Wonder’s career. After several Motown hits in the 60s, he was given full creative control for the first time with this album. That meant he was able to bring in electronic music pioneers, Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff along with their TONTO synthesizer. The results are immediate on the dirty funk synths and bass of “Love Having You Around”, a groovy track about a partner with the mantra “everyday I want to fly my kite”.
The first single was an edited version of the heartfelt 8 minute album version “Superwoman”. The first half of the song, Wonder sings of a partner who wants to be a movie star then the second he sings of not having her around. With the first couple of tracks coming in at extended times, there is still room for pop songs. The hard to believe it was not a single, “I Love Every Little Thing About You” is joyous soulful pop confection.
Second single “Keep on Running” is excitement from the get go. An underlying piano noise keeps the tension until the funky chorus appears. It’s an exhilarating soul track to get people moving. Album closer “Evil” has an epic sound, like a Sunday morning gospel song put through synthesizers. On Music Of My Mind, It’s not only remarkable that Wonder plays most of the instruments but that these warm, joyful, and beautiful songs rarely appear on Greatest Hits albums. They are instead mostly confined to this 1972 album that kicked off his run of classic albums.
9/10
The Light Appears 