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A week or so I was hanging out with Jon Oliver, while he DJed at Madame X. Jon's been putting me on to great music for over a decade now. Whenever I'm completely tired of everything I'm listening to, I can count on him to hook me up with something I've never heard before.

Except this time. This time he hooked me with something I thought I already knew. A couple years ago he posted about the song "I don't know why I love you" by the Jackson 5. Listening to young Michael Jackson sing his heart out was amazing. I had heard a few old Jackson 5 songs and I had the Christmas album when I was young, but I grew up knowing Michael Jackson from Thriller, not ABC. 'My' Michael Jackson has a jheri curl and fancy footwork, not and afro and his 4 brothers. I listened to it over and over again.

So when a song Jon was playing started out with a pleading "I don't know why I love you..." but with an unfamiliar beat I presumed it was a remix of some sort. I was feeling it, but something seemed off. By the second verse is became clear that that wasn't young MJ. It was N'dea Davenport and the Brand New Heavies. By the time it was over I knew I needed that song. Jon got me a copy the next day, two days later I'd heard it a dozen times.

This week on his website, Jon wrote about the original version performed by Stevie Wonder, who wrote the song. I am woefully ignorant of stevie wonder's work, older or more recent. His version is much more subtle than either of the others.

Where i imagine Michael running around tearing out his afro begging and pleading, I picture Stevie sitting in a cafe trying to have a civil conversation. He gets more animated over the course of the song. By the time he loses it and raises his voice the song is nearly over.

N'dea uses the Michael Jackson rendition as a starting point and goes on from there. What she lacks in MJ's youthful energy, she compensates for with a wail from the depths

All three are now entrenched in my heavy rotation playlist and will be for a while, given the individual talents of each singer. And clearly I need to know more Stevie.

::c::