Uptight (Everything's Alright)
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"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" is a 1965 hit single recorded by Stevie Wonder for the Tamla (Motown) label. One of his most popular early singles, "Uptight" was the first Stevie Wonder single to be co-written by the artist.
The single was a watershed in Wonder's career for several reasons. Aside from the number-one hit "Fingertips", none of Wonder's singles had reached the Top 40 of Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and the fifteen-year-old artist was in danger of being let go. In addition, Wonder's voice had begun to change, and Motown CEO Berry Gordy was worried that he would no longer be a commercially viable artist. As it turned out, however, producer Clarence Paul found it easier to work with Wonder's now-mature tenor voice, and he and Sylvia Moy set about writing a new song for the artist, based upon an insturmental riff Wonder had devised.
The resulting song, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", features lyrics which depict a poor young man's attempts to impress a rich girl. A notable success, "Uptight" peaked at number-three on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in early 1966, at the same time reaching the top of the Billboard R&B Singles chart for five weeks. An accompanying album, Up-Tight, was rushed into production to capitalize off of the single's success.
"Uptight (Everything's Alright)" continues to be popular on oldies radio. In 1967, Bill Cosby incorporated "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" into "Little Ole Man' for his "Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings" album. In 1999, The KLF's spinoff project Disco 2000 released a disco-pop cover version of "Uptight". In 2006, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' cover of "Uptight" appeared in a Chase Manhattan Bank commercial.
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