Stevie Wonder and Wonderlove

[midnightman]

Obviously Stevie Wonder was influenced by Ray Charles well enough to have his own team of background singers to match Ray's Raelettes since Wonderlove obviously took from the Raelettes but I kinda wonder what would've happened if Stevie, who was always hard at work, would've made Wonderlove their own vocal group. You think had Syreeta had more success at Motown with Stevie's stuff that Stevie would try to do that with Wonderlove. I forgot who were the original members of that group though I think Deniece Williams was but I'm not sure about that either.

[luke]

Didnt Stevie plan to do this?

[midnightman]

^ That's what I heard but it never came to production I guess.

[nomis]

Midnightman..Deniece was probably a founding member in '72 from what Ive read..

[midnightman]

Yeah but I had seen a video of Stevie performing somewhere on I think PBS around '72 on YouTube and I guess they weren't "Wonderlove" yet but he had three female singers backing him up and Niecy wasn't a member yet. *shrug*

[mowest]

Lynda Laurence was a member of Wonderlove before going to the Supremes.

[nomis]

..I think it was a case of Stevie getting some singers he dug to jam with him and it grew from there..it was a laidback thing..Im not sure...

[topdiva1]

Stevie Wonder remains beyound great - but I wish he would have put a push on Wonderlove - this could have been a great group.

[midnightman]

^ Yeah I wonder if that's why Niecy eventually decided to go at it on her own. She spent like three years singing background for him in Wonderlove. It's good she still sang backup for him in his later records. Same with some of the members.

[marv2]

The original grouping of "Wonderlove" did not include Deniece Williams. The original members consisted of Linda Tucker[[aka Lynda Laurence), Terri Hendricks and Sundray Tucker.

[nomis]

Thanks Marv

[johnny_raven]

Linda, Terri and Sundray were called "Third Generation"

[marv2]

Linda, Terri and Sundray were called "Third Generation"

Linda/Lynda told me to my face that she, her sister and cousin Terri became Stevie's backing group called Wonderlove. She told me this in 1990 on the rooftop of the Pontchitrain Hotel in Downtown Detroit.

Thanks

[marv2]

Susaye Greene was also a member of Wonderlove later on. She also was a Raelette.

[midnightman]

Linda/Lynda told me to my face that she, her sister and cousin Terri became Stevie's backing group called Wonderlove. She told me this in 1990 on the rooftop of the Pontchitrain Hotel in Downtown Detroit.

Thanks

Weird because from my recollection, if she is an original member, this would've been around 1972 but Lynda and 'em were singing with Stevie in 1970. It's their voices on "Signed, Sealed, Delivered [[I'm Yours)" and I think Syreeta was also singing background on that. To be frank, there's little footage of Stevie and what was the "original" Wonderlove between 1970 and 1972. It was only after 1972 did we see them being billed as Wonderlove. I'm guessing this was from early 1972, by that point, Sundray and Linda had already left:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp96YUD-j5o

[jsmith]

So, what is the full listing of Wonderlove members down the years ??
I guess they would remain with the same line-up during a long 70's tour but then if Stevie didn't have a recording project to get stuck into straight after a tour, the [[then) members of Wonderlove would be at a 'loose end' & may have gone off to do their own thing.
I have been told by female singers [[based in LA), that they had attended an audition to become Wonderlove members, so I guess this process was the usual method utlised to recruit new members to the outfit.

[midnightman]

I see "Third Generation" show up regularly. It's often called "an early predecessor of Wonderlove" lol

I'm thinking following the release of Talking Book, that's when Wonderlove came to fruition. Deniece actually didn't join until the summer of 1972 when Stevie opened for the Rolling Stones.

[midnightman]

So, what is the full listing of Wonderlove members down the years ??
I guess they would remain with the same line-up during a long 70's tour but then if Stevie didn't have a recording project to get stuck into straight after a tour, the [[then) members of Wonderlove would be at a 'loose end' & may have gone off to do their own thing.
I have been told by female singers [[based in LA), that they had attended an audition to become Wonderlove members, so I guess this process was the usual method utlised to recruit new members to the outfit.

I used to always hear so and so were members of Wonderlove. I think Carl Anderson even joined Wonderlove briefly, least I heard he did. Erroneously people would think both Syreeta and Minnie Riperton were members of Wonderlove. While both of them applied background vocals to Stevie's work, they were never official "Wonderlove" members. Lynda can brag about being part of Wonderlove's early incarnation though.

It seems Wonderlove was a revolving door of whatever beautiful female voice Stevie picked be it Deniece or Lani Groves or Shirley Brewer or Stephanie Andrews.