behindthegrooves:

On this day in music history: January 22, 1977 - “I Wish” by Stevie Wonder hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 1 week, also topping the R&B singles chart for 5 weeks on January 15, 1977. Written and produced by Stevie Wonder, it is the fifth number one pop and twelfth R&B chart topper for the Motown superstar. While working on his eagerly awaited eighteenth album, Wonder comes up with the idea for “I Wish” during Motown’s annual 4th of July company picnic in 1976. He goes to Crystal Studios in Los Angeles immediately following the picnic, and composes the majority of the song on the spot. Backed by his band Wonderlove, they cut the basic track that day. While laying down the basic tracks, Stevie uses an ARP 2600 synthesizer to play a counter melody throughout the song, using the monophonic (only note at a time can be played on it, and not chords) keyboard to layer the individual notes of a chord on tape. Initially, the songs’ lyrics have a more serious and darker tone. When he realizes that they are counteractive to the songs’ uplifting groove, he turns it into a fond remembrance of his childhood growing up in Saginaw, MI. Released as the first single from the landmark album “Songs In The Key Of Life”, “I Wish” becomed an instant smash. Entering the Hot 100 at #40 on December 4, 1976, it climbs to the top of the chart seven weeks later. “I Wish” returns to the top of the chart, in when Will Smith samples a portion of the original track for the title song to the film “Wild, Wild West” in 1999