Sunday Cinema | Stevie Wonder Visits Sesame Street In 1973

If you grew up at some point during the last 44 years, odds are Sesame Street was a part of your childhood. It’s hard to believe there was life before Sesame Street as the PBS children’s television series was a hit upon its launch in 1969 and remains “the most widely viewed children’s television show in the world.” The show’s producers, Children’s Television Workshop, embraced the imagery and popular culture of each era it has aired, none more so than in the ’70s. Watching an episode from that decade is like stepping into a time machine.

In 1973, a then 23-year-old Stevie Wonder visited Sesame Street. Wonder and his band performed his hit single “Superstition,” delivering an incredibly funky, extended version that was longer than the album cut off Talking Book. The Motown native also played an original called “Sesame Street 1-2-3” in which the innovative keyboardist utilizes a voice box a full three years before Frampton Comes Alive!. (Phish’s current tour has seen keyboardist Page McConnell use a device just like the one Wonder employs) In addition to the two songs, Stevie Wonder also teaches Grover a thing or twelve about music, capping off what could be our favorite Sesame Street guest spot. We’ve compiled clips of Wonder’s appearance for this week’s Sunday Cinema.

Watch Stevie Wonder perform “Superstitious” on Sesame Street in 1973:

Here, Wonder uses a talk box for a song titled “Sesame Street 1-2-3”:

Stevie also interacted with the Muppets as this clip finds him teaching Grover a thing or two about music: