The Wonder of Stevie - Some unreleased gems surface for the 50th anniversary of "Song in the Key of Life'

Stevie Wonder's album Songs in the Key of Life came out on 28 September 1976, won Album of the Year at the Grammys, and went Diamond. When Paul Simon won Album of the year in 1976, he thanked Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album that year - Stevie Wonder had won it in 1974 and 75. Songs in the Key of Life took Album of the year at the 1977 Grammys. 

Exactly 50 years later, on 28 September 2026, Wonder released an EP of four previously unreleased songs from the sessions: "It's Easier," "My Life Story of Love," "I Can See the Sun in Late December" and "I'm Into Livin'." Stevie selected them, and they've been newly mixed by the original engineers, John Fischbach and Gary O Adante (credited on the original LP as Gary Olazabal).

The EP dropped at 4:54 a.m. Pacific time, a nod to the end of a late session for Songs in the Key of Life when his longtime bassist Nathan Watts yelled "Fo'FiftyFo'!", which became an inside joke in Stevie's circle.  My fave cut is the funky groove of I'm Into Livin', with backing vocals from Shirley Brewer, Thelma Houston and Deniece Williams.

Four new songs from his best run would be a big deal on their own. But the real discovery for me was this 2001 interview with John Fischbach, which hints there might be even more unreleased songs in the vault, from the 200-odd that Wonder recorded in the two year sessions for the album.

From TapeOp, Jan 2001 issue: 

How did you end up working with Stevie in the first place?

John Fischbach: I ended up working with Stevie because a long-time friend of mine, Bob Margouleff, was working with him. He and Malcolm Cecil. I went to visit them a bunch of times in New York when they were working at Electric Lady. I struck up a friendship with Stevie. Sometime later they decided they were leaving New York for LA and started working at my studio, Crystal. 

Then they moved, Stevie, Bob and Malcolm, to the Record Plant, who pretty much gave them whatever they wanted — such as a room for themselves. We only had one big recording room so we couldn't accommodate our clients. We were doing a lot of Motown at the time, and them. So anyway, they moved to the Record Plant and one day I got a call and it was Stevie and he said, "Do you have any time today at the studio?" [chuckles] and I said, "Uh, yeah we have some time." Then he asks, "Well, if I come can you engineer the sessions?" and I said, "Sure. Why not." 

So he came over with his assistant engineer, Gary Olazabal, who became my partner in recording Songs in the Key of Life, and that's kinda how that all happened. It went on for two years almost every day, many hours and huge amounts of material. I guess it was really his most prolific time — he did more songs in those two years I think than he had done before. Something like 200 songs.

Like started demo-ing them, at least get them sketched out?

Yeah, some would be sketched out, some were more finished than others and we just kept working until he had what he wanted. The last song we cut was "I Wish". When that was done we knew that was at least the end of recording. Then began the very long and intricate mixing process. For some reason the three of us decided edits were no good — Stevie didn't want to do any edits, splicing and the like, but he wanted a bunch of extra sounds, like kids laughing, his daughter Aisha in the bathtub, you know just all this other stuff. 

So all that was assembled on a 24-track. Then my partner built a mixer, a mixer in that it had faders on it, no EQ or anything just stereo faders, and we had three 2-track machines and the 24-track. You would put songs 1, 3, and 5 on one 2-track, songs 2, 4, and 6 on the other 2-track and the third 2-track was the master recorder. When it came time to add effects you would bring them in off the 24 track and mix in real time with tape machine 'A' to the master recorder. 

And when that song ended fade to tape machine 'B' adding effects cued on the 24 track all to the master recorder until you were done with all the songs. Live. So when you fucked up you had to do it all over again. We cut everything to vinyl, which was also done at Crystal because we had a mastering room as well.

It sounds sort of like a group consensus, but how did the idea of no splicing tape come about? 

You know what? I really don't know. The same kind of consensus was taken on echo or reverb. When we did Songs in the Key of Life there really wasn't reverb but we had echo chambers. Actually in the end we did have reverb, the first EMT-250 in the country. It cost something like $20,000. We had decided we would use as little reverb as possible though, so on that record it was really just room sounds and distant micing techniques that just added up.

source = John Fischbach: Legendary Producer Interview | Tape Op Magazine

RIP Phil Gifford

Phil Gifford interviewing Mick Jagger, 1989.

"Phil Gifford was a giant in New Zealand journalism for half a century. A fleet-footed sports reporter from the moment he got started as a teenager, he was such a prodigy that aged 21 he was sent by the NZ Herald to cover the 1968 Mexico Olympics. (An almost unthinkable honour when you had to serve in a war or two, or be an All Black, to stand in the shadow of TP McLean.) He became a national figure through his radio work, first through his persona of Loosehead Len, and later as a co-host of various commercial radio shows.

What is missing from most reports of his unexpected death, on Tuesday, aged 79, is that he was also one of New Zealand’s best music writers. Because much of this work was done for the Auckland Star, the rest of the country didn’t see this work.

He was lucky to interview many visiting legends, such as Muddy Waters and Ray Charles. He brought his love and knowledge of music as well as his insights into the human character into all his features. (When he contributed a sports column for the Listener in the late 70s, using the name Tom Douglas, casual references showed that this writer was just as passionate about music.) In the early years of Rip It Up, he occasionally contributed reviews, mostly of country rock.

More recently he returned to music reviewing for North & South. Naturally gregarious and generous, behind the scenes he was helpful in crucial ways to musicians, other journalists and, I'm sure, athletes of all sporting codes. Many years ago he described another journalist to me as “a prince among gentleman”. That is how I would describe Phil Gifford, a man of natural talent and rare integrity." – Chris Bourke, AudioCulture (via Facebook)

Phil's love of music came through in his 2006 book 'Cadillac Dreams; Baby booming across the Southern States', telling the story of four NZers taking a musical journey across the American South.

He also ended up writing for TV. From NZ On Screen's Phil Gifford bio: "Asked to interview Billy T James for a 1981 Listener cover story, he discovered the two shared a similar sense of humour. At interview's end Billy asked him if he wanted to join the writing team on his new self-titled television show. Gifford would go on to contribute scripts over three seasons.

(Billy) "was extraordinarily likeable and had a huge amount of warmth and natural friendliness," Gifford said. He argued that this likability enabled Billy to make jokes about the Treaty of Waitangi at a time when such subjects were deemed less acceptable, helping "put the Treaty into mainstream New Zealand".

New Dub Asylum EP out

 Ive got a new Dub Asylum EP out today, some haunted dancehall and spooky dubs. Take a listen!

Kong Kasi - local dub flavours outta Welli

Kong Kasi is a wicked reggae / dub producer out of Wellington, here's a recent tune of his from earlier this year. He's featured on the new Christoph El Truento album too.

"Creating obscure roots, dub reggae and dub techno. Utilising hazy instrument recordings and second hand analogue equipment he merges the sunny beachside sounds of the Pacific with the dark and heavy dancehalls of the Caribbean."

More flavours below, give it a spin... 

New album out Oct 19th from Christoph El Truento

Looking forward to this, had a sneak preview and its a stonker!

NZ labels at New Music Seminar, New York, 1991

Trevor Reekie (Pagan) Murray Cammick (Southside), Jim Moss (Jayden), Roger Shepherd (Flying Nun) and Lena Days. Watch it for Trevor Reekie being interviewed in a cab on the way to Rockerfeller Centre for a label meeting, he describes pitching to majors as like 'The Muppets making a snuff movie..." 

Flying Out record store closing down

From Flying Out FB page:

"This is the hardest thing we’ve ever had to write, but unfortunately it’s goodbye from Flying Out.

Over the last few years, a pandemic, 3 festival cancellations, the effects of ongoing roadworks, the CRL construction and the continuing economic downturn has become an unpleasant, perfect storm. 

Flying Out has been a true labour of love, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who helped make it what it was – our F|O team (past and present), customers, suppliers, artists, and wider community. Your love and loyalty has been truly appreciated. What happens next is still being figured out - we will be in touch over the coming weeks. 

Please go out and support small locally owned businesses (especially Record Stores!), they are a labour of love from someone in your community and supporting them supports your neighbourhood.
Arohanui and thanks again,

Matthew Davis & Flying Out"

Flying Out opened their store on Pitt St just off K Rd back in April 2015, to coincide with Record Store Day. They had started a few years earlier as an online store spun out of Flying Nun, from an office in a funky old office building on Khyber Pass Rd, in Newmarket. 

They were previously co-owned by Matthew Davis and Ben Howe (Managing director of Flying Nun) - Howe departed in 2020. Flying Nun opened their own record store right round the corner from Flying Out in September 2023, competing for the same market, which likely affected FO.

It really sucks to see them close. They built such a great community around that place. Thats why record stores have always been important, they are meeting places, where we feel like we belong. 

So sad it's going. There's a lot of business closing down - RNZ reported that Hospitality business liquidations were up 49 percent year on year and Retail was up 37 percent.

UPDATED 23 June - Flying Out has temporarily reopened today for a liquidation sale, instore and online (store pickup only), running for a limited time. They are refunding any preorders, I hear. 

Also, a crowdfunding page was set up at the weekend to save Neck Of The Woods, they need $150,000 to clear their debts and stay afloat -  there is already over $100,000 been donated, which is incredible. The owners say hitting $100,000 means they can at least survive. 

ADDED K Rd venue Neck Of The Woods announced same day that they were closing down after 11 years, due to increasing debt and slow bar sales.

ADDED The same space was previously home to Pitt St Shavers, but back in 1957 it opened as a record store.  Audioculture says "The shop was called The Starlite Centre and was owned by three siblings, Tony, Shirley and George Katavich. The opening was attended by the men in the second image, who represented the record industry at the time in Auckland.

It seems not to have lasted that long but Tony, on the left, went on to a very high profile career as a leading gay businessman in Auckland with clubs [Alfies], a magazine, the gay bookshop in Anzac Avenue and a travel agency. He was also a strong voice arguing successfully for the Homosexual Law Reform Bill in the 1980s."

RIP Roger Perry

Roger Perry at Box Photo: Brigid Grigg-Eyley.

From NZ Herald:

"Roger Perry. 2 July 1966 - 5 June 2026. Rest in Love our brother. Lauren, Jackson and families are grateful for the outpouring of love and respect for Roger from so many friends here and around the world. Your arohanui means so much to us. An Aotearoa DJ music legend taken too soon.

"The family are respecting Roger's wish to not have a funeral service, after the very recent losses of both our parents, Gwenyth (13 March) and David (20 May) Perry. We support his many friends wish to have a celebration at a later date."

Audioculture via Facebook, 6 June 2026; "If you went out clubbing in Auckland in the 80s to 2000s, you knew Roger Perry. Roger was, for some three decades, one of the kings of the Auckland dancefloor, the DJ who other DJs looked up to and were inspired by. Sadly, we lost Roger yesterday. 

Roger was more than just a DJ, though. In the 1980s, he actively and successfully worked towards integrating our nightlife, moving venues away from the days when brown faces were turned away at many places. He was a primary reason inner-city venues so embraced Pacifika in the 1990s.

He also broke new music repeatedly - he was the first to play house music in Aotearoa and mixed local music into the mix, championing bands like The Chills and Ardijah on the dancefloor. 

His earliest recordings were with the Headless Chickens, with whom he toured. He and Grant Fell ushered in a new era of multimedia dance parties. He worked with DLT, Slave, Otis, and Dubhead [as Stylee Crew] on some of our early sound systems. 

Teaming up with Joost Langeveld and others, he helped usher in a new era of local electronic and house music through their Reliable Recordings label. His 2001 CD, bpmmix02, was a number one album on the compilation charts. 

There's so much more, and our profile of Roger will be published over the next week or two, but in the interim, enjoy our Ten trailblazing Auckland dance parties and promoters story, which features Roger heavily."

That photo at the top of Roger at Box has a flyer for a gig he was involved with running, called Raze The Roof (see photos of it on Audioculture, by Byran Murphy). Held at the Powerstation in 1989, our band Hallelujah Picassos got on the bill. Zoom in on the flyer - they mis-spelled Roger's first name, hehe.

Russell Brown writes: 'On the stage that night were a young Hallelujah Picassos, who had begun the year as the Rattlesnakes, then adopted the new name as their music evolved. Guitarist Peter McLennan recalls it as a time when the borders between band scene and the clubbing world were more porous than they are now.

Hallelujah Picassos – Tony de Raad, Bobbylon and Roland. - Brian Murphy

“We had some good connections in the Auckland club scene, from going out dancing a lot, and just hanging out. It was the best way to hear new music, whether that was rap, funk, electro, whatever. High Street was a fun place to be. You could wander up and down the street, in and out of bars and clubs – De Brett’s, Bob Bar, Escape, Alfie’s, Siren and later Celebre/Box – then go have breakfast at Rosinis, which was open 24 hours at the weekends.

“So there was a lot of cross pollination in the scene. Plus, the 1987 crash had left a lot of office and warehouse space empty, so people were living all over the inner city and having parties with DJs and bands. It was a fun time!”

'There was a particular connection with dance music for the Picassos. Singer Roland (aka Harold) Rorschach and the band’s then-bass player Tony de Raad (later in David Kilgour’s Heavy Eights) had both come to Auckland from Whakatane at the same time as their friend, whose name would become synonymous with Auckland clubland: DJ Roger Perry.'

Perry was playing that night too – and amid the mash-up of genres, he was playing house music. One of the photographs here shows him playing two big tunes of the time: Joe Smooth’s ‘Promised Land’ and Inner City’s ‘Good Life’.

I interviewed Roger for NZ Musician magazine in 2001, not long after his BPM02 mix cd had come out. It covered him getting his start as a DJ from Russ Le Roq, now more commonly known as Russell Crowe.

I asked him for his top 5 records and the ran with it...

"Top Five tunes? Roger ponders for a minute: "That's a hard one, ay. The Clean - 'Boodle Boodle Boodle'. Anything by The Clash - the way that they took reggae, disco, and punk and mashed it and made something out of it. New Order - 'Everything's Gone Green', or any of their early EPs. And Joy Division - These Days, from the B side of Love Will Tear Us Apart. Definitely anything by Roy Ayers. Masters At Work - Just A Little Dope. Anything by The Fatback Band, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

"Grandmaster Flash on The Wheels of Steel. That's the record that made me go 'Fuck, I want to teach myself how to mix!'. A Certain Ratio - 'Shack Up'. I gave that record to my sister when she moved to Wellington, and I've been looking for that record for 15 years, mate. I picked it up in Dunedin, at Roy Colbert's shop last year. 'Shack Up' was this weird ass funk. Killing Joke - 'Requiem', The Sound - 'In Jeopardy'. With Reactor Music, with Joost, we draw a lot on that period of early '80s music, especially the British stuff, like The Associates, Orange Juice. I couldn't give you just five, but there's a few!"

More:

Box and Cause Celebre: two clubs that changed Auckland nightlife - RNZ, Tony Stamp -  2023

21 records, for Roger Perry - by Simon Grigg

The Stylee Crew (later known as 37 Degrees). Clockwise from top left: DLT, Roger Perry, Stinky Jim, Dubhead, Slowdeck. - Photo by Darryl Ward.

Record Rooms - Emily's Rare Jazz Collection

Emily is a buyer at a Toronto record store, a DJ and also runs a community radio station. She rates jazz dudes over rock dudes.

Big Foot vinyl reissue - Crayford and Gooch

Recorded in 2007 at Trident Studios, Big Foot captures the collaboration between longtime friends Jonathan Crayford and Riki Gooch, recorded live with Gooch on drums and Crayford moving fluidly between Hammond organ, Rhodes, Clavinet, Mini Moog, electric bass, flute, bass clarinet and percussion. 

Grown out of material from regular performances at venues across Wellington in the early 2000s, and backed by the voices of Lisa Tomlins, Emma Paki, and Hollie Smith, Big Foot is an abstract reflection on the colonisation of Aotearoa, finally releasing on vinyl for the first time at the urging of Crayon Records producer Michael Robins. Don't mess about.

Crayford: "These are tunes I played with Riki and others at our regular gig at Havana Bar and other venues in Wellington for a couple of years back in 2002 to 2006, music I wrote to express some kind of feeling I had at the time - often to do with growing up in NZ and then living outside of it in places like New York.
"When I moved back to NZ in 2000 I was amazed to discover a whole new generation of musicians that were really happening and a fertile scene. This was a great period and one in which we all got together and played and played and played. This album is a product of that, a time stamp of that wonderful colourful and abundant period.”

Preorder vinyl from Flying Out