Singles: “Heaven” #24 (Germany), “It’s A Heartache” #1 (Sweden, Norway, Canada, Australia, France, Brazil), #2 (Germany, Belgium, South Africa), #3 (US, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland), #4 (New Zealand, UK), #5 (Netherlands), #10 (US Adult Contemporary Chart, US Country), “Here Am I” #4 (Norway), #18 (Germany), #99 (Australia), “Hey Love (It’s A Feelin’”) N/A, “If I Sing You A Love Song” #8 (France,) #24 (Canada), #103 (US) Singles Certifications: “It’s A Heartache” Platinum (France), Gold (US, UK, Canada) Other Charting Tracks: N/A Best Tracks: “It’s A Heartache,” “If I Sing You A Love Song,” “Living for The City”
Trivia: “Natural Force” is the second studio album by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, released in May 1978 by RCA Records. In the United States, the album was titled “It's a Heartache.” As with her debut her producers, Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe wrote most of the tracks on the album. Other songs include covers of American artists Stevie Wonder (Living For The City) and Carole King (You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman). Five singles were released from Natural Force. The second single, "It's a Heartache", is among the best-selling singles of all time, with sales of over 6 million copies worldwide. It became Tyler's first charting single in the United States, where it was certified gold by the RIAA. The album was a huge commercial success for Tyler. In the United States, it reached #2 on the Top Country Albums chart, and #16 on the Billboard 200. The album includes a sizzling hot recording of Stevie Wonder’s “Living For The City” which was strong enough to have been released as the album's fifth single.
“Neither One Of Us” by Gladys Knight and the Pips (1973)
Release Date: March 1973 Produced by Joe Porter, Johnny Bristol, Clay McMurray, Nick Zesses, Dino Fekaris and Hal Davis Genre: R&B, Soul, Pop Label: Soul Records (Motown) Chart Positions: #9 (US) Certifications: N/A
Singles: “Neither One Of Us” #2 (US), #5 (Brazil), #9 (France), #11 (Canada), #31 (UK), “Daddy Could Swear, I Declare” #19 (US)
“Neither One Of Us” is Gladys Knight and the Pips ninth studio album and their first to make it into the US Top Ten. The Soul Records label released the album shortly after the group left the label for Buddah Records while the title track was rising up the charts.
Two singles were released from the album including the title track “Neither One Of Us,” the song rose to #2 in the US and was a hit in various parts of the world including France, Brazil, Canada and the UK. The song also topped the US R&B charts for four weeks, their fourth of ten to top the chart. It was preceded by the O’Jays’ “Love Train” and followed by The Temptations’ “Masterpiece.” “Neither One Of Us” was written by Jim Weatherly who also wrote “Midnight Train To Georgia” and “Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me” both hits for Gladys and the Pips. In March 1974, at the Grammy Awards ceremony, Gladys Knight & The Pips won their first Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "Neither One of Us (Wants To Say Goodbye)." That same night, they won a second Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "Midnight Train to Georgia".
Neither One Of Us
The second single “Daddy Could Swear, I Declare” was a minor hit reaching US #19 and #2 on the US R&B chart.
The album contains a dusky and smoky slower soul ballad rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “For Once In My Life.”
Famed songwriter, arranger, musician Michael O'Martian composed the musical arrangement for the tracks "Who Is She" and "Neither One Of Us."
Release Date: October 28, 1976 Produced by Hal Davis, Michael L. Smith, Michael Sutton, Harold Johnson, Joe Porter, Clayton Ivey, Terry Woodford, Michael Masser, Ronald Miller, William Goldstein Chart Positions: #11 (US), #21 Sweden, #25 Denmark Certifications: N/A Singles: “I Don’t Know Why I Love You,” “Don’t Leave Me This Way” #1 (US, South Africa), #4 (Canada, Netherlands, Sweden), #5 (Germany), #6 (Australia), #7 (Belgium), #11 (Spain), #13 (France, UK), #15 (Italy), #17 (New Zealand), #18 (Austria), “Anyway You Like It,” (no chart data), “If It’s The Last Thing I Do” #46 (US), #81 (Canada)
Any Way You Like It is the fourth album by Thelma Houston, released late October 1976 on Tamla Records. The album features energetic disco songs with fierce vocal performances by Houston on side 1, while side 2 focuses on ballads.
In 1976, Motown gave the go ahead on a second album for Thelma, assembling it from the various sessions she had undertaken since her first LP with producers including the teams of Hal Davis and Michael Sutton, and Clayton Ivey and Terry Woodford. The album includes the major hit single, "Don't Leave Me This Way", Houston's remake of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes 1975 song, zoomed to No. 1 in the US charts. In the US, "If It's the Last Thing I Do", a track originally recorded in 1972, was chosen for the second single release on MoWest, while Europe had an edited version of the Stevie Wonder cover, "I Don't Know Why I Love You".
A re-recorded version of "Don't Leave Me This Way" was #19 on the dance charts in December 1994.
Arthur G. Wright, Michael L. Smith, Harold Johnson, Paul Riser, Clayton Ivey, Ted Stovall and Terry Woodford arranged the album.
“Don’t Leave Me This Way,” a song which first appeared on Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes 1975 album “Wake Up Everybody” was released as a single by them in 1977 shortly after Thelma Houston’s disco version hit the charts. The Blue Notes' original version of the song, featuring Teddy Pendergrass' lead vocal was not issued as a single in the United States at the time, the Blue Notes' recording reached #3 on the US Billboard Disco Chart in the wake of Thelma Houston's version. The song proved to be the group's biggest hit in the UK, #5 on the UK singles chart, when released there as a single in 1977. Motown covered “Don’t Leave Me This Way” in 1976. Originally assigned to Diana Ross, it was intended to be the follow-up to her hit "Love Hangover" but was reassigned and given to the upcoming Motown artist Thelma Houston instead. Studio musicians on the track included James Gadson on drums, Henry E. Davis (of the band L.T.D.) on bass, and John Barnes on keyboards.
Houston's version became a massive international hit, topping the soul singles and disco charts as well as reaching #1 on the US singles chart for one week in April 1977. The song peaked at #13 in the UK. Later in the year, it was featured on the soundtrack of the movie, Looking for Mr. Goodbar. In 1978, "Don't Leave Me This Way" won the award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female at the 20th Annual Grammy Awards.
"Don't Leave Me This Way"
The album’s next single “Any Way You Like It” was co-written by Thelma Houston but failed to chart. Soon after the fourth single, “If It’s The Last Thing I Do,” a song that Thelma Houston first recorded in 1972 for Motown offshoot label Mowest. The song was never released but Houston gave it another try for her 1976 album and as a single was a moderate success reaching #46 in the US and #81 in Canada. The song also reached #12 on the US R&B chart. The song was recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1957 for his album “Close To You” but was not included on the album. His version was finally released in 2002 as a bonus track on the expanded edition of the album.
One of the album’s more soulful and funky cuts the Stevie Wonder-penned “I Don’t Know Why I Love You” displays Houston’s Gospel vocal abilities. The song was the first single to be released from “Any Way You Like It,” but was only released throughout Europe. Wonder’s version simply titled “I Don’t Know Why” was recorded and released in 1968 on his album “for Once In My Life.” Wonder released it as a single and experienced minor success with the song reaching #39 in the US, #41 in Canada and #14 in the UK.
“Come To Me,” a shimmering ballad and album highlight was co-written by Jermaine Jackson.
Release Date: August 3, 1973
Produced by Stevie Wonder, Robert Margouleff, Malcolm Cecil
Chart Positions: #4 (US), #8 (UK), #11 (Canada), #26 (Australia), #264 (Japan)
Certifications: Gold (UK, Canada)
Singles: “Higher Ground” (US #4, US R&B #1, UK #29, Canada #9, Netherlands #28)
“Living For The City” (US #8, US R&B #1, UK #15, Canada #17, Germany #20)
“Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing” (US #16, US R&B #2, Canada #13, Netherlands #19)
He’s Misstra Know It All (UK #10)
Stevie Wonder is one of the most popular and prolific musicians in the history of recorded music, having sold well over 100 million records worldwide. He has had ten #1 singes and ten top five albums.
Just a year earlier Stevie added a rock sound to his music with the single “Superstition,” suddenly he was being played on FM classic rock stations as well as the R&B/Soul stations. With 1973’s “Innervisions” Stevie capitalized on that rock style and incorporated heavier guitars and propulsive drum work into songs such as “Higher Ground” and “Living For The City.” 1973 brought on a new direction for Stevie Wonder, rock and funk were now part of his sound. He was recording a heavier FM radio sound getting away from the AM radio format.
Innervisions is Stevie’s 16th studio album, released August 3, 1973, on the Tamla label for Motown Records, a landmark recording of his "classic period". The nine tracks of Innervisions encompass a wide range of themes and issues: from drug abuse in "Too High", through inequality and systemic racism in "Living for the City", to love in the ballads "All in Love Is Fair" and "Golden Lady".
As with many of Stevie Wonder's albums, the lyrics, composition and production are almost entirely his own work, with the ARP synthesizer used prominently throughout the album. The instrument was a common motif among musicians of the time because of its ability to construct a complete sound environment. Wonder was the first black artist to experiment with this technology on a mass scale, and Innervisions was hugely influential on the subsequent future of commercial black music. He also played all or virtually all instruments on six of the album's nine tracks, making most of Innervisions a representative one-man band. Critics received this album with overwhelming positive response.
“Innervisions” was Stevie Wonder’s second of eight consecutive top five albums. The album also won the Grammy Award for “Album of the Year,” this was his first of three albums to win the award, “Fulfillingness’ First Finale” and “Songs In The Key Of Life” are the other two. Wonder has won a total of 22 Grammy awards.
The first single release “Higher Ground” was released a month before the album and quickly sailed up to #4 on the US chart as well as reaching #1 on the US R&B chart, this was Wonder’s 7th out of 19 songs to top the R&B chart. Wonder wrote and recorded the song in a three-hour burst of creativity in May 1973. The album version of the song contains an extra verse and runs 30 seconds longer than the single version. The unique wah-clavinet sound in the song was achieved with a Mu-Tron III envelope filter pedal. The bass line is provided by a Moog synthesizer and using overdubs, Wonder played all instruments on the track, including drums and percussion.
The lyrics in “Higher Ground” deal with getting a second chance ("So darn glad he let me try it again") and making the most of it. Strangely, Wonder recorded it three months before he was almost killed on his way to a benefit concert in Durham, North Carolina. The car he was riding in was behind a truck carrying a load of logs, which stopped suddenly, sending a log through the windshield and hitting Wonder in the head. The accident put Wonder in a coma for four days. His road manager and good friend, Ira Tucker Jr., knew that Stevie liked to listen to music at high volume, so he tried singing this song directly into his ear. At first he got no response, but the next day, he tried again and Wonder's fingers started moving in time with the song - the first sign that he was going to recover. Recalling his time in the coma, Wonder said, "For a few days I was definitely in a much better spiritual place that made me aware of a lot of things that concern my life and my future and what I have to do to reach another higher ground. This is like my second chance for life, to do something or to do more and to face the fact that I am alive."
Wonder was a huge influence on The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who remade “Higher Ground” with a more up-tempo beat on their Mother's Milk album. They even thank him in the lyrics by adding the phrase "You know what Stevie says."
"Higher Ground"
The second single “Living For The City” was another smash hit receiving a huge amount of airplay on both AM and FM radio stations. It was one of the first soul songs to deal directly with systematic racism and use everyday sounds of the street like traffic, voices and sirens, which were combined with the music recorded in the studio. Wonder played all the instruments on the song and was assisted by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff for recording engineering and synthesizer programming. The song reached US #8 and US R&B #1 and also won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. This was the second year in a row he won this award. In the previous year his hit “Superstition” won the award.
The album’s closer, “He’s Misstra Know It All,” was the fourth single release and possibly the most controversial song from the album. The song is a scathing attack on then-US President Richard Nixon, similar to Wonder's song a year later, "You Haven't Done Nothin'". The mellow ballad with a steady beat charted only in the UK and made it to #10. In the US the song did not receive airplay most likely due to the nature of its rebellious lyrics.
