U-Matic

Happy Birthday
Recorded 08 May, 1988
Hong Kong

U-Matic tape containing a birthday message and song from Stevie Wonder and friends to Mayor Coleman A. Young. The message was recorded on May 8, 1988, while Wonder was on tour in Hong Kong. The song is partially a loose rendition of Wonder's 1981 song "Happy Birthday;" originally written in tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. In this version he praises Young, notes Detroit's early adoption of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday, and jokingly requests a key to the City of Detroit as well as a street named after himself.

The video is on a Sony KCA-60BRS U-Matic tape, with a Sony Video Cassette Broadcast Standard label stating "Happy Birthday RECORDED 08 May, 1988. Hong Kong". The label wraps around the tape and says "Stevie Wonder/5-8-88" on the edge. The tape is housed in a black latching case with no label.