At the Close of a Century [Box] - Wonder, Stevie (CD 1999)

About three years ago I lost a favorite possession of mine...my Stevie Wonder 2-CD set (Stevie Wonder Song Review-Greatest Hits) was taken forever by a cheap ex-boyfriend of mine who had somehow conned me into letting him borrow it. I took one of his T-shirts for collateral at the time of the exchange, and I ended up selling it for only fifty cents at a garage sale...a price not even close to the investment I had made in my Stevie Wonder CD set. That investment consisted of about twenty-five dollars in cash and a gallon of emotion. It was to became a sore that would not heal. I missed Stevie Wonder greatly, often times hearing his more famous songs like "I Just Called To Say I Love You," played in grocery store Muzak would cause me to become mildly emotional.
But now fortune has smiled upon me once more. My first Christmas as a married woman was destined to be special, but I was not prepared for what my new, darling husband selected for me...THE STEVIE WONDER BOXED SET! Saints be praised! The Stevie Wonder boxed set has seventy songs on FOUR CD's, and a rather thick booklet containing discography and a look into the life of Little Stevie. The collection begins at the very beginning of Little Stevie's career when he was only twelve years old on Motown records. The first song on disc one, "Fingertips, 1&2," features 12-year-young Wonder playing to a lively crowd. He handles both the crowd and his harmonica masterfully. The rest of disc one includes:
Disc1
01. Fingertips Pts. 1 & 2
02. Uptight (Everything's Alright)
03. Nothing's Too Good For My Baby
04. Blowin' In the Wind
05. A Place In The Sun
06. Hey Love
07. I Was Made To Love Her
08. Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)
09. I'm Wondering
10. Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day
11. You Met Your Match
12. For Once In My Life
13. I Don't Know Why
14. My Cherie Amour
15. Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday
16. Never Had A Dream Come True
17. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours
18. Heaven Help Us All
19. We Can Work It Out
20. If You Really Love Me Wonder
21. Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer
22. Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)
23. I Love Every Little Thing About You
Disc two begins with one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs, "Superstition", and continues with an array of mostly love songs:
2. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
03. You And I
04. I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)
05. Too High
06. Visions
07. Living For The City
08. Golden Lady
09. Higher Ground
10. All In Love Is Fair
11. Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
12. He's Misstra Know It All
13. You Haven't Done Nothin'
14. Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away
15. Too Shy to Say
16. Boogie On Reggae Woman
17. Creepin'
Disc3 contains songs that I had never heard before I received this set, but they are worthy of listening, just the same:
01. Sir Duke Wonder
02. I Wish
03. Knocks Me Off My Feet
04. Pastime Paradise
05. Isn't She Lovely
06. Ngiculela/Es Una Historia/I Am Singing
07. If It's Magic
08. As
09. Another Star
10. Send One Your Love
11. All I Do Wonder
12. Rocket Love Wonder
13. I Ain't Gonna Stand For It
14. Master Blaster (Jammin')
15. Lately
16. Happy Birthday



Disc4 is filled with the songs I remember from my childhood, growing up in the 1980s. Old favorites that send me a flood of memories relating to my father's days as a DJ at an adult contemporary radio station from 1983-1993.
01. That Girl
02. Ribbon In The Sky
03. Do I Do
04. Love Light In Flight
05. I Just Called To Say I Love You
06. Overjoyed
07. Part-Time Lover
08. Go Home
09. You Will Know
10. Skeletons
11. Gotta Have You
12. These Three Words Wonder
13. For You Love
14. How Come, How Long
I highly recommend this boxed set for any Stevie Wonder fan or general Motown enthusiast, even though Wonder produced most of his later works without the help of Motown, his sound, to me, is still very characteristic of that style.