BBC Radio 2 listeners crown Superstition ultimate Stevie Wonder song

Superstition has been named the Ultimate Stevie Wonder Song by BBC Radio 2 listeners.

The result follows an audience vote drawn from a longlist of the sixty most played Stevie Wonder solo tracks on the station.

Listeners were able to cast up to five votes, either for one favourite or spread across several songs. The winning track comes from Stevie Wonder’s fifteenth studio album Talking Book and remains one of the most recognisable recordings of his career.

Released in 1973, Superstition was a major hit on both sides of the Atlantic and went on to win Grammy Awards for Best Rhythm and Blues Song and Best R and B Vocal Performance, Male.

It also became his second number one single in the United States, following Fingertips, Pt 2, which topped the charts in 1963 when he was just thirteen years old.

Second place in the poll went to Sir Duke from 1977, with For Once In My Life, originally released in 1968, taking the bronze medal position.

The full countdown will be revealed by Trevor Nelson in a special programme, Your Ultimate Stevie Wonder Song, airing this afternoon on Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.

The show also marks fifty years since the release of Songs In The Key Of Life, widely regarded as one of the most influential albums in popular music.

Trevor Nelson said: “The Radio 2 listeners have voted Superstition as their favourite Stevie song, and it’s hard to disagree with them. It’s a stone cold classic and a guaranteed floor filler with one of the best intros to a song ever made.”

Jeff Smith, Head of Music for Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6 Music, said the vote reflected the station’s musical values and Stevie Wonder’s lasting appeal.

The New Year’s Day countdown will be followed by The Wonder of Stevie with DJ Spoony, who is a Stevie superfan.

Spoony recalls how his fandom started when he was growing up in Hackney, East London in the 70s, but he wouldn’t fully appreciate the artist’s legacy until much later in life, an appreciation which continues in the present day.

He says: “Growing up in Hackney in the ’70s, Stevie Wonder’s music was one of the first sounds that truly stopped me in my tracks.

“I was a fan from the moment I heard him, even if I didn’t yet understand the scale of his genius. It wasn’t until much later in life that I fully appreciated the power of his songwriting, his innovation, and the way his music shaped so many of us.

“The show will be a must listen for Stevie fans everywhere, a tribute to the influence Stevie has had on my journey, and an opportunity for us to celebrate his genius.”

You can hear Your Ultimate Stevie Wonder Song on BBC Radio 2 this afternoon, 3-5pm followed by The Wonder of Stevie, 5-6pm.