Contusion

 "The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure, while the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell

 In 1976, Stevie Wonder released an amazing double album, "Songs in the Key of Life".  The album was a commercial and critical success.  It had several hits, such as "Sir Duke", "I wish", and "Another Star".

I was on the way to work and the shuffle feature - which sometimes pays off  big-time - rolled a less radio-friendly song from that album called "Contusion".  I've always loved that song.  It's a cool Jazz/Rock fusion song, a style that was pretty common in that time period.  Lots of intermingling instruments and percussion going on in this song.  Have a listen:

I hadn't heard the song in quite a long time, and this most recent listening, I found myself focused on the guitar work.  There are some crazy guitar runs in there, and Stevie Wonder doesn't play guitar.  I wondered who it was doing the studio guitar work, and looked it up.  God bless the internet.  The guitarist was Michael Sembello.

You might (or might not) remember Sembello as the guy who wrote the schmaltzy song "Maniac" for the schmaltzy movie "Flashdance".   This guy is a gifted guitarist, and I although I'd heard the song Maniac a million times, I never would have associated Sembello with the song Contusion.  Not in a million years.  I've been listening to this Stevie Wonder album since I was a teenager, was mildly surprised and happy to learn about this.

There's some really amazing guitar work on this song, check out these guys who covered it.