1976 · Behind the Songs
Never a single, always a favorite — from a B-side to a hip-hop sample.
Of all the songs on Songs in the Key of Life, “Knocks Me Off My Feet” may be the most loved one Stevie Wonder never released. The 3:36 soul ballad — written and produced by Wonder for the 1976 Tamla double album — was never issued as a single; its only vinyl showcase came in 1980, tucked on the B-side of “I Ain’t Gonna Stand for It.” That didn’t stop other singers from hearing a standard in it. In 1996 alone, three R&B heavyweights claimed it: Donell Jones took his version to No. 49 on the Hot 100 and No. 14 R&B from the album My Heart, Tevin Campbell’s take from the A Thin Line Between Love and Hate soundtrack reached No. 75 on R&B airplay without even being a single, and Luther Vandross cut it for Your Secret Love.
The song’s second life turned out to be in hip-hop. Ol’ Dirty Bastard lifted its first two piano notes for “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” (1995), and Ja Rule interpolated the chorus in “Thug Lovin’” with Bobby Brown (2002) — two notes and a chorus, enough to carry a whole new generation back to 1976. Hollywood noticed too: in Beauty Shop, Djimon Hounsou’s Joe plays it on the piano to win over Queen Latifah’s Gina. Not bad for a song that started life on the back of a single — the flip side that outshone the A-side in memory.