2. Stevie WonderSomeday At Christmas
This was also in the same house, and the second song that made me cry was on this album. I think it may have been ‘Bedtime For Toys’: it was a song about how some children didn’t get any toys, and made me really sad that actually some children didn’t get any toys at Christmas. It seems quite silly now, but it had that effect. Also, his version of ‘Ave Maria’. It’s an amazing album.
It’s not a particularly known album though. I had lunch years ago with Nona Hendryx and Vicki Wickham. They’re very knowledgeable about Motown, as Vicki had produced Ready Steady Go! and was instrumental in bringing over the Motown sound – and even still calls him ‘Little Stevie Wonder’ – and they weren’t even aware of the album.
It just reminds me of a time when I was playing other people’s records. My dad was a big country & western fan into Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. There were also six or seven albums by Yma Sumac, which were very bizarre and had amazing covers, and I would think "who is this?". I think he may have got them through Reader’s Digest or something. They were quite exotic things. And also there were singles like The Monkees’ ‘Daydream Believer’ and ‘Everlasting Love’ by The Love Affair and ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay’ by Otis Redding. These were already there in the house, and it wasn’t until…
