Stevie Wonder picked the perfect song out of his bottomless catalog of classics to memorialize Michael Jackson yesterday.  “Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer” is one of the first R & B tunes I learned how to play on the piano.  I performed it on a few different occasions with my childhood friend Liz Farrell back in our high school days (she’d sing and I’d tickle the ivories), and many times in my twenties during late night sing-a-longs with drunken pals.  Stevie Wonder is one of my absolute favorite musicians of all time.  I spent most of my first two years of college studying his catalog.  He’s got some bangers, but it’s his ballads that I really love.  Here’s the clip from yesterday’s service at the Staples Center of Stevie singing “Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer”, which coincidentally I first heard in a Poetic Justice scene where Janet Jackson is listening to old records in her house…

I thought I’d add to this post with a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Lately”, performed back in the good old 90’s by Jodeci on MTV Unplugged.  Wonderful (pun intended).

This marks my 200th post on Westcheddar, in just over a year’s time.  Thanks for reading, watching, and listening.  Stay tuned.