... recently, I got to thinking that one of the understated "Stevie-isms" is his affinity for the finger snap as percussion. I don't recall enough to claim that as something only Stevie did to great effect, but rather, it's one of those things when heard in certain contexts, reminds me most of him.

I think that was one of the most striking things about his music when he broke out from Motown's "factory mold", though -- it wasn't really seen heavily featured until his 1980s music. It's also one of the reasons why I felt the Gap Band did their homework when they (Charlie) emulated Stevie's work to great success.

Like most of the "little things", I almost forgot about this, until I made my routine venture to a local supermarket and I heard "If You Really Love" me over the PA; this prompted me to put on WHERE I'M COMING FROM (an oft-forgotten piece in Stevie's catalog) as soon as I got to the Volvo, and some time later in my drive, up came "Take Up A Course In Happiness".

It's one of my favorite Stevie records, though I don't really know how well it's known if only, because it is very much a "Motown" record -- minus the fact that Stevie replaced the requisite tambourines with finger snaps. It was a small, subtle move that made the song sound -that- much more his own. Like I felt "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" was one of the first real steps toward Stevie's independence musically, this, too... was a touch indicating Stevie's control of his own records.

It reminds me of Michael Jackson and his insistence on a certain guitar figure and certain percussion -- those things that sound like "Michael Jackson" on records he has nothing to do with (see: the beginning of Rufus's "Walk The Rockway", or the main groove of the Commodores' "Won't You Come Dance With Me").

As a side note, Stevie held to a restrained vocal is one of the surest signs of what has made him an enduring figure... but among all the Motown greats, he always struck me as one of those who could really not be restrained (David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards are two others). I'm always taken aback by his pre-'70s Motown work because I was so surprised he was "allowed" to sing in such an expressive voice, considering the law of the land over there.

And even so, once he was allowed to release his own compositions increasingly, Stevie became one of the more subversive figures in music. If James was secretly the "Black Conservative", Stevie was secretly the "Angry Race Man"... take a listen to his grumbles on "Rocket Love", on "Sweet Little Girl", or the right-in-your face "F.U." song, "I Want To Talk To You".