Stevie Wonder – Superstition (1974)

“Superstition” – Single by Stevie Wonder from the album Talking Book
B-side “You’ve Got It Bad Girl”
Released October 24, 1972
Label Motown
Songwriter Stevie Wonder
Producers Stevie Wonder, Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff
Charted No.1 in US; No.11 in UK; No.6 in Canada; No.21 in West Germany; No.18 in Spain

Video
“Superstition” from the Musiklden Show (Beat Club) performance on January 23, 1974.
Stevie Wonder accompanied by Reggie McBride on bass, Michael Sembello (famous among other things for his song Maniac from Flash Dance) on lead guitar and keyboards, Marlo Henderson on rhythm guitar, Ollie. E. Brown on percussion, and of course, his group of voices female Wonderlove, formed at that time by a very young Deniece Williams, Shirley Brewer, and Lani Groves.

Wonder wrote this about the dangers of believing in superstitions. Some of the bad luck superstitions he alludes to include walking under a ladder, breaking a mirror (said to bring seven years of bad luck), and the number 13.

“Superstition” was intended for Jeff Beck, who was brought in to play some guitar parts on the album in exchange for a song – his work can be heard on the track “Lookin’ For Another Pure Love.” At one of the sessions, Stevie came up with the riff and wrote some lyrics, and they recorded a rough version of the song that day for Beck. It took Beck a while to record the song, and by the time he released it, Wonder’s version had been out for a month and was a huge hit. Beck felt shortchanged, and made some statements in the press that Wonder didn’t appreciate. In 1975, Beck released an instrumental version of Wonder’s “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” on his album Blow By Blow. The album was a hit and helped solidify Beck’s reputation as an elite guitarist.

In November 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the song number 74 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was re-ranked number 73 on its 2010 list,[12] and number 12 on its 2021 list. At the 16th Grammy Awards, the song earned Wonder two Grammys: “Best Rhythm & Blues Song” and “Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male”. In 1998, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.