When Mark Ronson was in college, a friend turned him on to Stevie Wonder's Talking Book. "She said, 'You've never heard "Maybe Your Baby"?' and I said, 'No, what's that?' " Ronson remembers. "She threw it on. I was more than dumbfounded. I thought, 'Fuck, I could have been listening to this my entire life!' " For this list, he chose the songs that move him the most. "Stevie Wonder is the only musician I know who touches every single person I've ever met, from punk kids to indie kids to hip-hop kids."
- "Big Brother" 1972 I can't say enough to do justice to this song. He played every instrument on it, and he's one of the best drummers ever. There are political undertones, and an amazing chord progression — so beautiful. Then on a dime he turns it into the most awesome fucking blues melody.
- "All I Do" 1980 This was a disco classic — most hip-hop DJs had that somewhere in their crate — but it became my song. I would end every DJ set with it. This could be my wedding song.
- "I Was Made to Love Her" 1967 He was probably 16 when he sang this, and it's like hearing Michael Jackson sing as a child — you can't believe he could have possibly felt the pain and angst of love at that age, but the performance is so heartfelt and anguished and believable. If I'm in a certain mood and I listen to that song, all two minutes of it, it can move me to tears.
- "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)" 1972 When he hits "Where are you when I needed you" on this song, it's like fucking gulp city. The swelling of the Moog and the synth, the chords, the melody – it's perfect, like "Eleanor Rigby" perfect.
- "As" 1976 I played this one a lot during DJ sets too. It was like, "OK, I'm gonna throw this one on and everyone will have a soul dance-off/love-in." It's perfect; at the end he goes on a three-minute ad-lib. His ad-libs are better than most people's main melody.
- "I Don't Know Why" 1968 All I can say is that this is one of my favorite vocals of all time.
- "Happier Than the Morning Sun" 1972 I love the clavinet, the way it moves. Stevie was so amazing at borrowing from baroque and other classical forms of music.
- "That Girl" 1981 This is very Eighties, but it's one of his classics. It starts out a bit of a sleeper, but when that chorus hits, everyone on the dance floor says, "Oh, yeah, this is the best song ever."
- "I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)" 1972 This is another one that makes me cry, especially when I'm with someone I love. It's so uplifting. It starts with those bossa nova- like chords he was playing so much at that point, then it lifts up into the most incredibly joyous chorus. Then there's that fucking badass coda — the meanest stomp I've heard.
- "Living for the City" 1973 This one still hits me the hardest. It's the weirdest progression ever. He's layering all these keyboard tracks. Then you have the narrative that comes in about New York. It sounds like he's desperate to get his message across.
