7. Stevie WonderHigher Ground
As a kid you’d watch Ready Steady Go, which was made in Manchester, and it had Stevie Wonder on doing ‘Uptight’. After getting into the 60s bands, like The Kinks, The Who I started to get into soul and Motown and Stevie Wonder was one of the Motown staples. ‘Higher Ground’ just has that groovy sort of early, late 60s, early 70s funky piano playing. It’s just a great song. In the late 60s, early 70s I had a big soul phase. I became a mod and had a scooter at 16, 17. I listened to songs by The Bar-Kays and all kinds of soul people, Otis Reading, Aretha Franklin, there was a lot when it was coming out. For a time I got too into soul and I stopped listening to rock & roll for a bit. I had to claw my way back to like rock & roll. I must have heard [‘Higher Ground’] the other day so I thought I better put some of this soul music on the list. It’s got a lot of atmosphere and of course a lot of soul. Stevie’s talking about the understanding for people to reach higher ground. It’s his political message in a way.
