Ebony and Ivory "Billboard" Hot 100 charts. At the simplest level, the song is about the ebony (black) and ivory (white) keys on a piano, but also deals with integration and racial harmony on a deeper, human level. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say "black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony, folks!". The figure of speech is much older. It was popularised by James Aggrey in the 1920s, inspiring the title of the pan-African journal "The Keys", but was in use from at least the 1840s. Written by McCartney alone, the song
Stevie at the Beach Stevie at the Beach Stevie at the Beach is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder released on the Tamla (Motown) label on June 23, 1964. With the exception of the mild hit, "Hey Harmonica Man", it was a concept album of sorts, focusing on beach and surfer anthems as an attempt to get Wonder to now sing surf tunes. However, much like the label's attempts to first make him the teenage version of Ray Charles and then for one album as a lounge singer, it failed to connect with audiences. Wonder would not have another hit until