Saturday, October 19, 1985

Stevie Wonder’s In Square Circle charted

In Square Circle

Stevie Wonder

Charted: October 19, 1985

Peak: 5 US, 1¹² RB, 5 UK, 7 CN, 8 AU

Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.1 UK, 6.0 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: R&B

Tracks:

Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

Part-Time Lover [3:43] (9/6/85, 1 US, 1 CB, 1 RR, 1 AC, 1 RB, 3 UK, 1 CN)
I Love You Too Much [5:27]
Whereabouts [4:17]
Stranger on the Shore of Love [5:00] (1/17/87, 55 UK)
Never in Your Sun [4:06]
Spiritual Walkers [5:13]
Land of La La [5:12] (6/14/86, 86 US, 83 CB, 19 RB)
Go Home [5:19] (11/23/85, 10 US, 12 CB, 10 RR, 1 AC, 2 RB, 67 UK, 31 CN)
Overjoyed [3:41] (2/22/86, 24 US, 29 CB, 27 RR, 1 AC, 7 RB, 17 UK, 55 CN)
It’s Wrong (Apartheid) [6:52]

All songs written by Wonder.

Total Running Time: 43:33

Rating:

3.178 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)

About the Album:

In Square Circle followed a similar path as Wonder’s soundtrack, The Woman in Red, from the year before. It was helmed by a #1 single (Part-Time Lover) which lifted the album to platinum status and the top 5 of the U.S. Billboard album chart. However, both albums had somewhat ho-hum receptions from critics who considered his ‘80s work a far cry from his triumphant works of the 1970s.

Still, the album could boast some major accomplishments. “Part-Time Lover” became the first to simultaneously top the pop, R&B, adult contemporary, and dance/disco charts. The album won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. While The Woman in Red only managed one follow-up single, In Square Circle had five singles total, including the ballad Overjoyed and the retro Go Home punctuated with horn riffs. All Music Guide’s Ron Wynn even considered “Overjoyed” and I Love You Too Much as superior to “Part-Tme Lover.” ^AMG

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