![]() ![]() In 1980, while recording the Secret Life of Plants follow-up, Hotter Than July, Wonder wrote and recorded a song dedicated specifically to the King holiday cause, simply titled “Happy Birthday.” The song offered a completely different take on the happy-birthday singing tradition, sounding nothing like the Happy Birthday song we all grew up singing. Of course, it had the unenviable task of following his crowning moment, Songs in the Key of Life, the 1976 album whose legendary status was cemented nearly 40 years later with a highly successful three-leg world tour dedicated to it. Wonder was just coming off his most disappointing album performance of the 1970s when his 1979 album, Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, failed to generate more than one hit single (“Send One Your Love”). ![]() So it naturally followed that when it came time for a celebrity to lend his name and stature to the cause of creating an MLK holiday, Stevie Wonder stepped to the plate. ![]() “Cash in Your Face” from 1980’s Hotter Than July spoke of housing discrimination. Classics like “Living for the City” and “You Haven’t Done Nothin'” spoke of oppression and corruption, while the lesser known, but still powerful “Black Man” (from his Songs in the Key of Life album) was an uplifting reminder that Africans and other minorities had contributed as much to world history as the white man. The list also included pop and soul music superstar and social activist Stevie Wonder, who had already made a name for himself throughout the 1970s with music that touched on spiritual and political themes. That list of fighters included various politicians (bills were introduced as early as 1968, but first went to a vote – unsuccessfully – in 1979) and the King Center, started by Coretta Scott King, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.įrom King’s assassination in April 1968 to the day it was signed into law as a national holiday in November 1983 by President Ronald Reagan, many had lobbied and campaigned in vain to make January 15 a federal holiday. When you read this one, I want you to play Stevie Wonder’s “Happy Birthday” really loud.Īs we celebrate the Martin Luther King Day holiday this year, I’m reminded of the 15-year struggle and the persistence of many to make this country’s recognition of the civil rights martyr’s birthday a reality. #Happy Birthday, #Hotter Than July, #Martin Luther King, #MLK holiday, #Stevie Wonder I provide this content free of charge, because I like to be helpful. Monthly Music Roundup: /ChrisRowbury Chris Rowbury Get more posts like this delivered straight to your inbox! Get more posts like this delivered straight to your inbox! I’d love to hear what solution you’ve found, or do you sing the same old thing each time? A bit like learning Christmas songs, it won’t get wheeled out that often, but at least it’ll be in your repertoire. ![]() If you’re in a choir, one option is to learn a new birthday song (or two) and use it whenever it’s someone’s birthday. And there are plenty of simple birthday rounds.īut if you want to have a ‘different’ birthday song you’ll need lots of people to know it or nobody will join in. You could always sing Stevie Wonder’s Happy birthday for example. In my choirs we’ve learnt Stolat (great, rousing song) and we’ve also used Mravalzamier from the Republic of Georgia (“may you live for many years”). Then you hit Eastern Europe and lots of different songs pop up. About 90% of the time it’s simply the Happy birthday to you tune with foreign lyrics!īelgium and the Netherlands come up with something different. Over the years I’ve sought out songs which different cultures sing to celebrate birthdays. Especially if you’re in a choir since Happy birthday to you is a bit lame and people only ever seem to harmonise on the last few notes. It can get a bit tiresome singing the same old song at birthdays. The first published version of the song with the new lyrics was in 1911. The melody soon gained the familiar Happy birthday to you lyrics. It is very likely that the Hill sisters copied the tune and lyrical idea from other popular and similar nineteenth-century songs that predated theirs. Hill, introduced the song Good Morning to All to Patty’s kindergarten class in Kentucky. The origins of the song date back to at least the 19th Century when two sisters Patty and Mildred J. The original happy birthday song Happy birthday to you is (according to the 1998 Guinness World Records) the most recognised song in the English language. Where are all the other songs for birthdays? ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |