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In Square Circle

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In Square Circle
Studio albumby
Stevie Wonder
ReleasedSeptember 13, 1985
Recorded1984–85
StudioWonderland(Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length46:00(LP)
49:22 (CD)
LabelTamla
ProducerStevie Wonder
Stevie Wonderchronology
The Woman in Red
(1984) 		In Square Circle
(1985) 		Characters
(1987)
SinglesfromIn Square Circle
  1. "Part-Time Lover"
    Released: August 24, 1985
  2. "Go Home"
    Released: October 1985
  3. "Overjoyed"
    Released: Late 1985
  4. "Land of La La"
    Released: April 1986
  5. "Stranger on the Shore of Love"
    Released: July 1986
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert ChristgauB+[2]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]

In Square Circleis the twentiethstudio albumby American singer-songwriterStevie Wonder,released in 1985. The album features the hit singles "Part-Time Lover"(No. 1),"Go Home"(No. 10),"Overjoyed"(No. 24), and" Land of La La "(No. 86). The album earned Wonder a Grammy forBest Male R&B Vocal Performanceat the1986 Grammy Awards.

In Square Circlemade the top five on thePop Albumschart, and spent 12 weeks at number one on theTop R&B Albumschart. On the UK Albums Chart, it peaked at number five.

Reception

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Spincalled the album, "a pleasant muttering packaged as a Major Statement. Where's the energy and comedy of the man who turns into a mercurial mimic on stage? The lights are on, but nobody's home."[5]

Track listing

[edit]

All songs written, produced and arranged byStevie Wonder.

Side one

  1. "Part-Time Lover"– 4:09
  2. "I Love You Too Much" – 5:30
  3. "Whereabouts" – 4:17
  4. "Stranger on the Shore of Love"– 5:01
  5. "Never in Your Sun" – 4:07

Side two

  1. "Spiritual Walkers" – 5:12
  2. "Land of La La" – 5:14
  3. "Go Home"– 5:18
  4. "Overjoyed"– 3:43
  5. "It's Wrong (Apartheid)" – 3:29

Notes

  • On CD and Streaming editions of the album, "It's Wrong (Apartheid)" runs for 6:52

Personnel

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Musicians

"Part-Time Lover"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, synthesizers, drums
  • Luther Vandross– lead vocal, background vocal
  • Syreeta Wright– background vocal
  • Philip Bailey– background vocal
  • Keith John – background vocal
  • Melody McCully, Billy Durham, Peter Byrne, Renee Hardaway, Darryl Phinnessee – background vocal

"I Love You Too Much"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion

"Whereabouts"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion
  • Keith John – background vocal
  • Darryl Phinnessee – background vocal
  • Deniece Williams– background vocal
  • Howard Smith – background vocal

"Stranger on the Shore of Love"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, harpsichord, accordion

"Never in Your Sun"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion, harmonica

"Spiritual Walkers"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal,Yamaha CS-80synthesizer, drums, percussion
  • Edwin Birdsong– Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer
  • Larry Gittens – trumpet
  • Bob Malach – saxophone
  • Janice Moore, Cheta Akins, Carolyn Garrett, Ruthell Holmes, Kay Gibbs, Valencia Cox – background vocal

"Land of La La"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, electric piano, percussion, drums
  • Ben Bridges – guitar
  • Rick Zunigar – guitar
  • Renee Hardaway – background vocal

"Go Home"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums,vocoder
  • Bob Malach – saxophone
  • Larry Gittens – trumpet

"Overjoyed"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal,acoustic piano,environmental percussion (incl.: crickets, bird sounds, ocean, pebbles in pond, stone dropped, crushing leaves), Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer
  • Earl Klugh– guitar
  • Paul Riser– string arrangement

"It's Wrong (Apartheid)"

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion,kora
  • Musa Dludla, Thandeka Ngono-Raasch, Linda Bottoman-Tshabalala, Muntu Myuyana, Lorraine Mahlangu-Richards, Fana Kekana, Tsepo Mokone – background vocal

Technical personnel

  • Stevie Wonder– producer, performer, writer, composer
  • Bob Bralove,Brad Buxer,Abdoulaye Soumare – synthesizer programming
  • Gary Olazabal – synthesizer programming, recording engineer, associate producer, audio mixing
  • Bobby Holland – photography (album cover/booklet), concept designer (album cover)
  • Renee Hardaway – concept designer (album cover)
  • Johnny Lee – art direction (album cover)

Notable performances

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"Go Home" was performed during the1986 Grammy Awards ceremonyas part of asynthesizerjamwithThomas Dolby,Herbie Hancock,andHoward Jones.[6]It was also performed, along with "Overjoyed," on the May 7, 1983, episode ofSaturday Night Live,which Wonder hosted.[7]

Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications forIn Square Circle
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[25] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[26] Gold 100,000*
Hong Kong (IFPIHong Kong)[27] Gold 10,000*
Japan (Oricon Charts) — 596,000[12]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[28] Gold 7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[29] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[31] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

*Sales figures based on certification alone.
^Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

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References

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  1. ^AllMusic review
  2. ^Christgau, Robert.Consumer Guide Reviews:In Square Circle.The Village Voice.Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  3. ^"In Square Circle".Rolling Stone.24 October 1985. Archived fromthe originalon 22 June 2018.Retrieved1 September2017.
  4. ^"Stevie Wonder: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music".Rolling Stone.Archived fromthe originalon 2013-04-06.Retrieved2017-09-01.
  5. ^RJ Smith (December 1985). "Spins".Spin.No. 8. p. 29.
  6. ^YouTube: "Synthesizer Showdown at the 1985 Grammys"
  7. ^"May 7, 1983".The SNL Archives.Retrieved3 May2015.
  8. ^Kent, David(1993).Australian Chart Book 1970–1992.St Ives, NSW:Australian Chart Book.ISBN0-646-11917-6.
  9. ^"austriancharts.at Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(ASP).Hung Medien(in German).Retrieved2014-04-27.
  10. ^Library and Archives Canada.Archived2014-02-01 at theWayback MachineRetrieved 2014-04-27
  11. ^"dutchcharts.nl Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(ASP).dutchcharts.nl.MegaCharts.Retrieved2014-04-27.
  12. ^abOricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005.Roppongi,Tokyo:Oricon Entertainment. 2006.ISBN4-87131-077-9.
  13. ^"charts.nz Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(ASP).Hung Medien.Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.Retrieved2014-04-27.
  14. ^"norwegiancharts.com Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(ASP).Hung Medien.VG-lista.Retrieved2014-04-27.
  15. ^"swedishcharts.com Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(ASP)(in Swedish).Retrieved2014-04-27.
  16. ^"Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle– hitparade.ch "(ASP).Hung Medien(in German). Swiss Music Charts.Retrieved2014-04-27.
  17. ^"Official Albums Chart Top 100".Official Charts Company.Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  18. ^"Stevie Wonder Chart History (Billboard200) ".Billboard.Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  19. ^"Album Search: Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(in German). Media Control.Retrieved2014-04-27.[dead link]
  20. ^"RPM Top 100 Albums of 1985".RPM.Archived fromthe originalon July 23, 2012.RetrievedFebruary 20,2013.
  21. ^"Les Albums (CD) de 1985 par InfoDisc"(in French). infodisc.fr. Archived fromthe original(PHP)on October 27, 2012.RetrievedFebruary 20,2013.
  22. ^"RPM Top 100 Albums of 1986".RPM.RetrievedFebruary 20,2013.
  23. ^Niên gian アルバムヒットチャート 1986 niên ( chiêu hòa 61 niên )[Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1986] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-11-02.Retrieved2014-04-27.
  24. ^"Billboard.BIZ – Year-end Charts – Billboard 200 – 1986".billboard.biz. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-12-09.Retrieved2014-04-27.
  25. ^"Canadian album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle".Music Canada.Retrieved2013-09-26.
  26. ^"French album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle"(in French). InfoDisc.SelectSTEVIE WONDERand clickOK.
  27. ^"IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1988".IFPIHong Kong.RetrievedNovember 30,2019.
  28. ^"New Zealand album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle".Recorded Music NZ.Retrieved20 June2019.
  29. ^Solo Exitos 1959-2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1979-1990.Iberautor Promociones Culturales. 2005.ISBN8480486392.
  30. ^"British album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle".British Phonographic Industry.Retrieved2013-09-26.
  31. ^"American album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle".Recording Industry Association of America.Retrieved2013-09-26.
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