Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Stevie Wonder Available Now
UPDATE 2026
Although this commentary was probably written about fifteen years ago, in my mind nothing about Fulfillingness’ First Finale has changed. I still listen to it regularly and enjoy it immensely whenever I do.
It has a strange magic that causes me to play it more than any other Stevie Wonder album, even Innervisions. That is really saying something, considering how good Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life are.
Over the course of the last year or two, for the first time in my life I’ve really gotten to know the album well, having found a CD at a local store to play in the car.
I’ve listened to Fulfillingness’ First Finale scores of times and now see that it is some of the best work Stevie Wonder ever did, right up there with Innervisions and miles ahead of any other Stevie Wonder album.
To my mind the best songs on the album are the quieter, more heartfelt and emotional ones, not the rockers or funky workouts. My personal favorites on side one are:
- Smile Please,
- Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away,
- Too Shy to Say and
- Creepin’, which, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, are all the songs that weren’t hits.
On side two the two slowest songs are the ones I now like best:
- It Ain’t No Use and
- They Won’t Go When I Go (famously and brilliantly covered by George Michael on Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 in 1990).
If you decide to take one of our Hot Stampers home, see if you don’t find something very special about the tracks I’ve noted above.
Further Reading
The Hot Stamper pressings we offer of Fulfillingness’ First Finale can be found listed in the categories you see below.
If you are looking for other titles that share some of this album’s many wonderful qualities, please click on any of the links below to find them.
- Best on Earlier Vintage Vinyl,
- Best on Vintage Domestic Vinyl,
- Desert Island Discs,
- Favorites – Soul,
- Masterpieces of Soul,
- Must Own Soul. RnB, Blues Titles,
- Noisy – Always,
- Why Aren’t These Albums More Popular?