The Wonderment of King
By Penny
Clark bpclark4@charter.net
It’s
January 15 - Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and now, a national holiday. My
children have the day off from school, the banks are closed and I will have no
mail today - all in commemoration. But as I watch Oprah’s annual tribute to
Dr. King, a Nobel Peace prize recipient, great leader and orator, my mind
wanders off into the past, to a time in my youth when our world was full of
peace loving pacifists. The turbulent, radical, yet history-making 70’s and
the musicians who made the music and tone of the time; Bob Dylan and John Lennon
among many, and one unforgettable performance in particular, by a musician who,
to this day, still brings chills up my spine with the memory.
Steve
Wonder was playing the Cow Palace in San Francisco on December 7, 1980. I was 24
years old and my best friend, Tracy, had purchased tickets for us. We were both
fans but this was my first Wonder concert. Since Tracy had been to
his performances in the past, she explained how his show was structured. It was
a concise, and well-timed performance, one song segueing into the next
seamlessly. He does a spectacular finale, but never does encores.
We
arrived at the sold out show and took our seats in the “nose bleed” section
and after surveying the audience, quickly felt very out of place. Not so much
because we were the few, young white girls present, but more because we were
severely underdressed in our “Guess-brand” jeans among the very stylishly,
“dressed to the nines” black couples filling the indoor stadium, complete
with jewels and furs. The lights soon went down, indicating the show was
beginning, and it was off to a roaring start. Stevie had been led onto the stage
in darkness, the lights came up full force as the music blared and there
wasn’t a soul still sitting. The crowd went wild, and as Tracy had predicted,
it was non-stop electricity, love and devotion, from audience and performers
alike, for nearly two solid hours.
His finale was
spectacular as each band member (and there were many) at the end of the song,
one-by-one, faded out his instrument, and quietly left the stage, ultimately
leaving only Stevie and his keyboard. Slowly, he was led off by an associate,
with only his microphone in hand, still singing the last notes of the song, sans
instruments, until his voice slowly, faded away.
An incredible exit and the audience went mad with applause, whoops
and screams for “Ste-VIE”, “Ste-VIE”!
Tracy nudged me saying, “That’s it, let’s head out quick and beat
the inevitable traffic jam”. We raced out and quickly descended the spiral,
cement walkway from the uppermost level when, about halfway down, we realized
there were no other people racing out behind us. As a matter of fact, we could
still hear the crowd screaming for “Ste-VIE!” This went on for several
minutes and we looked at one another to say “Don’t they know the
Wonder-rule? No encores!” when the screaming suddenly roared to new
heights, practically taking off the roof. We ran back up the spiral walk,
re-entered the stadium and couldn’t believe our eyes as Stevie Wonder was
guided back on stage, with full band in tow, for an unprecedented encore!
He
began by telling us he had just finished a song that was yet to be released. A
new recording entitled “Happy Birthday” which he was going to sing at a huge
rally in Washington D.C. soon, to get Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday signed
into legislation as a national, recognized holiday. Not only did he want to sing
it to us as his encore, he taught us the chorus to sing along with him…”Hap-py
Birthday, Hap-py Birthday to you, Happy Birth-day!” Easy enough
to learn and we all sang it with full, proud, joined voices. He sang verse, we
sang the chorus. The enthusiasm, pride, energy and yes, love and adoration,
pouring from 15,000+ people had emotion like I’ve never felt before…or
since. The effect this one man had on so many others was phenomenal, yet
somehow, not surprising to me. The combination of one “Wonder” singing about
another “Wonder” was exhilarating and uplifting almost beyond my
young-mind’s comprehension.
As fabulous as this
encore was, the truly amazing part came after Stevie, once again, had his
band members leave the stage, one-by-one until he was the only one left. Slowly
being led off stage, still singing verse, as we echoed the chorus, until the
stage was completely black and all that was left was his voice, somewhere deep
in the bowels backstage, microphone in hand…still singing. And we, the
audience, still sang our chorus in reply. Then subtly, Stevie’s voice faded
out completely in the far distance, indicating the concert was indeed over, and
the house lights finally, blindingly came up. And here is where the chills start
up my spine, even as I write this. The most remarkable part of this concert is
that the audience never stopped singing their chorus! We all rose
out of our seats, calmly moving out the exits, descending down the cement,
spiral, walkways…and we never stopped singing. The huge, steel and
cement building resonated and exuded our voices for miles and miles! …”Hap-py
Birthday, Hap-py Birthday to you, Happy Birth-day!” over, and
over. We left the building and were standing in the outdoor parking lot looking
back at the Cow Palace, in complete awe and amazement, as we heard the echo of
thousands of voices…still singing. We found our car among the thousands
and got in. Still singing. …”Hap-py Birthday, Hap-py Birthday
to you, Happy Birth-day!” In an orderly but unusual fashion, we all
politely moved our cars into traffic onto the city streets…still
singing. We rolled down our windows so all could hear us at stoplights…still
singing. We looked at one another, car to car, nodding in recognition, still
singing. Inching
our way for thirty minutes to the 101 freeway, windows still open on a
cold,
winter night, not one person stopped singing. Even as we made our way up
to fifty, sixty miles per hour on the freeway we could still hear the voices as
they dispersed towards every direction of the Bay Area into the night.
…”Hap-py Birthday, Hap-py Birthday to you, Happy Birth-day!!”
I
remember driving the rest of the hour drive home in almost complete silence. We
didn’t want to lose the feeling, and somehow, by talking, it would break the
spell. It was a magic energy we wanted to last, and feel, forever.
The
show was such a sold out success that promoters added a second show the next
night – also sold out - at the indoor Oakland Coliseum just across the Bay.
That audience got the same professional, exhilarating performance Stevie Wonder
is known for, but what they didn’t get that night, was the “magic”.
Stevie’s
encore that night wouldn’t set souls to song, or have them float out on a
cloud as we, we later learned, were so privileged to experience. That night, on
December 8, 1980, Stevie had the excruciating task after his performance, of
announcing to the audience that John Lennon had been murdered in New York
earlier that evening. He was told this information just moments before going on,
so no one in the audience had heard the news yet. This night’s audience went
home sobbing, miserable and terribly disillusioned.
Stevie
Wonder - a peacemaker himself, singing of an earlier generation’s peacemaker,
having to announce the death of our generation’s peacemaker. Dr. King, we miss
you, but know you’re in good company.
February 6, 2002
Submitted by: Penny Clark
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