Hotter Than July (1980)

Hotter Than July (1980)

Stevie Wonder’s post-Secret Life Of Plants offering is a welcome return to relative form, replete with unstoppable hooks and luxurious arrangements. The A side is occupied principally by amusing, upbeat love songs that range from the horny, to the yearning, to the horny and yearning. The second side is a bit more varied, starting with “Master Blaster (Jammin’)” — a tribute to Bob Marley and his music, both of which had a profound effect on Wonder. The next track, “Do Like You” tells the story of a young boy that aspires to be a dancer — and goes on to become a great one — bringing to mind nothing so much as “I Can Do That” from A Chorus Line. The biting “Cash In Your Face” that follows deals with the subject of racial segregation in the housing market, and would be a great companion piece to The Clash’s “Up In Heaven (Not Only Here).” And the album closes with the jubilant “Happy Birthday,” which was written explicitly to advocate for making Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday. It’s a rousing, triumphant anthem that excites and inspires — and by 1983, the job had been done.