Mr. 1980 (14/09/2005 02:38:22)
Nope, no tour plans announced. That's one of the big things that bothers me about this album's release. The TOTAL lack of word on ANY aspect at ALL. No track list, no release date, no updates on the official website, no tour dates announced, no nothing.
More than a little frustrating for the fans...

Dan B (13/09/2005 18:39:43)
Also -- I know this is an abstract question but -- is there anything resembling US Tour plans ? I know the "Conversation Peace" tour was minimal so ...

Dan B (13/09/2005 18:09:42)
regarding AT2L (which clearly we're all dying for, so to speak) the only clear thing I've heard is that Motown wants to have some control over the inevitable free distribution of MP3s over the internet .. I don't know how they could do it -- but it's clearly to Motown's disadvantage business-wise to have Stevie on Oprah over a year ago doing songs from the record, then cancelling an appearance in midtown Manhattan, and so on ...
I'm assuming it will come out someday, and given how long it took for "Conversation Peace" to get out there, well ...
I know Stevie's under contract and all of that -- and he can wait given who he is ...
the wild thing is I've heard stories of (I think it was Fulfilligness First Finale) Stevie coming into the studio months before the release date, and redoing HALF the album on the spot within a few days ...
given how talented he is that could also be a factor (in my opinion) -- I mean, who knows, maybe he wants to include something that has something to do with the Black community in New Orleans ?

Dave B (13/09/2005 17:56:48)
Hey Y'all!

I was talking to the owner of the CD store where I buy my music from and I mentioned ATTL is to be released Sep 27th. I told him about Stevie's and Sylvia Rhone's comments at the Apollo Theater last month regarding the release date. He informed me that as of Sat Sep 10 there was no "official" release date in any of his paperwork. He receives a list every week or so that lists all future releases so that he can pre-order whatever title he may want to carry in his store. This list lists all releases through September. Needless to say ATTL was nowhere to be found!

I honestly don't know what to make of this except DON'T BE SURPRISED OR DISAPPOINTED IF ATTL IS NOT RELEASED SEP 27TH. I am not saying that it won't come out on that day but I find it interesting that this close to the 27th that there is no "official" release date and that as of this writing no CD store can pre-order it based on that date.

I am not trying to be a bearer of bad news since this disc may yet still be released on the 27th but I do find it odd (but not surprising) that the only place the 27th is being mentioned is here and for good reason I might add since we all read the article where Stevie and Sylvia Rhone made their respective comments.

So I said all that to say: HERE WE GO AGAIN (maybe)!

Later,
Summer Soft
Dave B

Mr. 1980 (13/09/2005 17:21:12)
Dan,
Regarding you question about whether or not "The Future" is on AT2L...
I haven't heard for sure that it is going to be included. As of this moment, the only songs I know that are almost definately going to be on AT2L are:

-SO WHAT THE FUSS
-FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART
-POSITIVITY
-I CAN'T IMAGINE LOVE WITHOUT YOU
-HOW WILL I KNOW
-A TIME TO LOVE
-SWEETEST SOMEBODY
-PLEASE DON'T HURT MY BABY
-IF THE CREEK DON'T RISE
-MOON BLUE
-TRUE LOVE
-SHELTER FROM THE RAIN
-IF YOUR LOVE CANNOT BE MOVED
-KEEP FOOLING YOURSELF
-ONLY YOU

Dan B (13/09/2005 15:54:03)
Alright, let's throw down. I have a theory as to why Stevie (as far as I know -- and I'd love to be wrong about this) never spoke publicly (at least to the American press) about Malcolm X.

We all know how much he loved MLK (and the whole birthday as a national holiday stuff -- great stuff).

My sense is that he also loved Malcolm X and for various reasons never spoke about that.

thoughts anyone ?

Dan B (13/09/2005 15:31:56)
People are probably aware of this -- Stevie produced some of the 70s Temptations stuff. I'm not sure which songs -- I read this in an interview from the early 70s that I can no longer find on the internet.

Question : "The Future" I've heard about has lyrics about the SLA -- is this the same song that people are talking about, and -- is this what is "going to be" on AT2L ?

Mr. 1980 (13/09/2005 14:26:21)
BaldEagle,
Yes, "The Future" is often mistakenly called "Children Still Do Live The Dream" because the words "Children Still Do Live The Dream" are repeated frequently in the song and it sounds like it's meant to be the title. But it's actually titled "The Future" (hence the lyrics: "If we are The Future, Then won't you let us hold the key..").

Dan L,
That rendition of "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" is one of the funkiest songs I've ever heard!! Stevie is using a vocoder (also popularized by Peter Frampton - Just listen to the second half of "Do You Feel Like We Do" and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about), and it can be found on a DVD available on ebay called "Wonderlove: Stevie Wonder on 'Soul'".
"Soul" was a tv show in New York back in the 70s, and Stevie guested on the show, doing over an hour of music, and that song is included.

Dan L (13/09/2005 12:04:15)
Mr 1980-
Are you aware of a rendition of "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" performed by Stevie?
In it he uses a voice decoder, or something that makes the funkiest of sounds...
I do not know the concert, nor the date/year.
Would you know if I could get the concert on dvd?

BaldEagle (13/09/2005 11:01:37)
Dan B,
Is "The Future" the same song as one that I have heard titled "Children Do Still Live The Dream"?

Mr. 1980 (13/09/2005 05:12:28)
Dan B,
Do you happen to know exactly which songs you can hear Malcolm Cecil reading Stevie his lyrics? I'm extremely curious about this one!!

Mr, 1980 (13/09/2005 05:10:30)
Dan B,
As for the "A Time 2 Love" delays, I can pretty much conclude that it is basically to be blamed on Stevie's perfectionism, and nothing more. Stevie wanted to add songs, make changes, alterations and improvements to the existing songs, and did not want to turn in the tapes until he was completely satisfied.
As for your post about Stevie's song writing process in the 70's: that IS actually how Stevie himself has described his process in the past. He basically says he hums out a melody, fleshes is out on keyboards, then adds temporary, mumbled "nonsense" lyrics until he is ready to sit down and actually write the song.
He also has said that when he writes a song, he is mainly trying to capture a certain feeling or emotion he's experiencing and put it into a melody.
I think this is one of the reasons I love Stevie's music so much. He puts an emphasis on the melody (which is ALWAYS beautiful & unique), and he succeeds in conveying those feelings to me. Just listening to certain Stevie melodies immediately envokes FEELINGS for me. I cannot say that about too many other artists.
As for "The Future", I have heard it and it is absolutely fantastic. It is enchanting, inspirational, and gives me chills. Stevie should be charged with a Federal crime if he does not release it someday.

Dan B (12/09/2005 16:57:17)
I guess we can ask Mr. 1980 questions here ... if that is so -- any sense of the actual reason "A Time 2 Love" continues to be delayed ? I've heard some of the stories -- Ray Charles died, and Stevie wanted to include stuff that was relevant to Ray's life, Syreeta Wright passed, stuff about Motown not wanting MP3s to be flying all over the Internet .. do you have stuff to say about this ?

thanks,
Dan

Dan B (12/09/2005 16:54:20)
I met with one of Malcolm Cecil's assistant a few years ago, and spoke about Stevie's creative process during his creative "explosion" when he did "Music of My Mind", "Talking Book", and "Innervisions". Apparently much of the material on these albums was improvised on the spot -- Stevie would essentially walk in, record a keyboard part and a vocal with nonsense lyrics, meet with his "lyrics consultant" (I have no idea who that is), they'd talk about the song for awhile, Stevie would write the lyrics, then he would record a scratch vocal where Malcolm Cecil (I think it was him) would read the lyrics to Stevie a few seconds before he was supposed to sing them (you can actually hear this on some of the albums).

Anyway, apparently there are is an incredible amount of unreleased material. When he was doing an album Stevie would just draw from his archive of songs, and finish the ones he wanted on that particular album. In the space of something like 6 weeks in (1971 ? 1972 ?) he wrote like 45 songs, many of which are those 3 big albums.

One of these songs is called "The Future", and apparently Robert Margouleff has been "begging" Stevie for years to release it. I've read the lyrics but I've not heard the song. There is a song on "A Time 2 Love" called "The Future" -- i'm hoping it's the same song. I guess we'll all see.

Dave (12/09/2005 16:50:34)
When was the song She's a Bad Mamma Jamma first written thats lyrics and music. Thank you

Dan L (12/09/2005 12:49:31)
I have heard a version of Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, performed live by Stevie. It was amazing... but i cannot find any reference for it anywhere.

Please can ypou help me find it, or a reference to it. It was the funkiest thing i have ever heard...

D

AJ (12/09/2005 05:38:04)
Available: A glass paper weight on which is etched "May 13 A Celebration of Birth Honoring Stevie's Birthday and the Birth Of The Stevie Wonder Vision Award." Beneath the writing is the SAP logo.
I received it on the night of the first Vision Awards... 1997 I think. I Love Stevie but I'm an unemployed actor who is still trying to make rent so I'm having to sell some special things.
This is a beautiful piece of Orrefors type crystal that will make a great addition to any collection. Cut and paste the link below to see all the text and pictures. I would like for it to go to another Stevie fan!
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/clt/96928116.html

Chee rs!
AJ

Abu Lo (11/09/2005 09:29:32)
One-man orchestra... viz...would you like to go with me, through a ghetto land...da da da, da da di di, da da da di i di da du...

Liam K (10/09/2005 21:46:10)
In response to Kathy's request dated 31/08/2005, i reckon that the song she is thinking of is " Superwoman" albeit that this was release as a single during the early 70,s & is from the album "music of my mind". Good luck.

BIG ANT (10/09/2005 17:31:58)
yeah dr.kurweil ask stevie what he wanted in a machine and they came up with the kurzweil k250.I believe one day a company will name a machine after him or in his honor,a lot of these all in one machine's are the result of stevie being a one man band...