"Sir Duke," Stevie Wonder: Primal progression, hooky chorus

In "Sir Duke," Stevie Wonder knocked it out of the park with a musical hook right at the start.

Hear the hook: Sir Duke intro MP3, do-mi-so-do             Copyright info

Following up on yesterday's post about chord progressions that are instinctively effective, I think this intro also nails something in its primal simplicity. The first four notes are do-mi-so-do. Or I-III-V-I. A straight-up major chord. Easy-peasy. Simple to remember, simple to connect to. A brilliant hook. And the rest of the riff gets more elaborate, so it's not like you listen to it and think it's a nursery rhyme.

The chorus is awesomely hook-y, too. One line, repeating over and over (about half the song is made up of the one line repeated).

Hear the hook: Sir Duke chorus MP3, jubilant and repetitive

Repetition, as I've said endlessly, is hook-y, since the more you hear something, the better you remember it. Between the lyric, the repetition and Stevie's jubilant delivery, it's such a feel-good chorus that it stays with you.

Sir Duke's Horn Solo: hook or not?

Now what about this horn-section solo (OK, not really "solo" but you know what I mean):

Hear the hook: Sir Duke horn solo MP3

I'm still wrestling with the need (or not) to distinguish between solos and hooks. I think this solo (many solos, I suppose) share something with patter: when things get fast and acrobatic, the musically inclined take it on as a challenge to master it.

This is a brilliant little horn passage, no doubt, and a fine bit of songwriting/arranging. My sticking point on hook/not hook comes down to this: do you remember it after the first or second listen? Is it stuck in your brain? I'm gonna say yes this time. It's SO distinctive, and it's repeated three times. And it's such a cornerstone of this song. I'm calling it a hook.