Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” hit #1

I Just Called to Say I Love You Stevie Wonder

Writer(s): Stevie Wonder (see lyrics here) Released: August 1, 1984 First Charted: August 18, 1984 Peak: 13 US, 14 CB, 12 RR, 13 AC, 13 RB, 16 UK, 13 CN, 18, 3 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 1.91 UK, 4.54 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 160.3 video, 303.20 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer Dionne Warwick was the song coordinator for the movie The Woman in Red. She suggested Stevie Wonder for the score to the Gene Wilder film. Despite Wonder being blind, he “watched” the film and, according to Warwick, “He saw the film. There’s no way in the world that you can write the pieces of music that he wrote, for the sequences he wrote for, so directly.” FB Jay Lasker, who was then the president of Motown Records, wasn’t too excited. He discouraged Wonder from doing the soundtrack because it had already been four years since his last album and he wasn’t sold on the first three songs Wonder had written for the movie. Wonder responded with “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” Lasker’s response was that it “is probably going to be the biggest single in the history of Stevie Wonder. This is the record I picked and said I wanted out as a single.” FB Lasker’s hunch was right. The song topped a record 19 charts and remains Wonder’s best-selling single. WK It was his eighth chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100 and tenth on the R&B chart. It was his only solo trip to the top in the UK, where it also became Motown’s biggest-selling single ever. WK Songwriters Lloyd Chiate and Lee Garrett, a former writing partner with Wonder, sued him in October 1985. They claimed he stole the title and chorus idea for the song from a song they wrote in September 1976 called “Hello It’s Me/I Just Called to Say.” During the testimony, Wonder said he wrote the chorus on July 16, 1976 when coming home from visiting his mother. He also said he had John Lennon in mind when he worked on the song, imagining the Beatles singing with him. SF Chiate dropped the lawsuit in 1986, but Chiate continued it. In 1990, a jury ruled in favor of Wonder. SF The fact that Wonder said he’d written much of the song in 1976 put its Oscar win for Best Song in doubt since songs were only eligible in the category which had been written specifically for film. However, no action was taken and Wonder kept the award. SF Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Stevie Wonder FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 596. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 11/14/2019; last updated 10/28/2022.

Stevie Wonder’s The Woman in Red charted

The Woman in Red (soundtrack) Stevie Wonder

Charted: September 22, 1984 Peak: 4 US, 14 RB, 2 UK, 4 CN, 4 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.3 UK, 8.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: R&B

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. The Woman in Red It’s You (with Dionne Warwick) It’s More Than You I Just Called to Say I Love You (Stevie Wonder) [4:21] (8/1/84, 1 US, 1 CB, 1 RR, 1 AC, 1 RB, 1 UK, 1 CN, 1 AU, sales: 4 ½ million) Love Light in Flight (Stevie Wonder) [6:54] (12/1/84, 17 US, 16 CB, 14 RR, 10 AC, 4 RB, 44 UK, 39 CN) Moments Aren’t Moments (by Dionne Warwick) Weakness (with Dionne Warwick) Don’t Drive Drunk (12/29/84, 62 UK) Total Running Time: 41:19

Rating: 2.724 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)

About the Album: 1984 was a good year for Stevie Wonder. Detroit gave him the key to the city and he considered a run for mayer. He played harmonica on “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues,” Elton John’s biggest hit in 4 years. Wonder released the biggest single of his career with I Just Called to Say I Love You. It became one of Britain’s ten largest-selling singles of all time. The song also won the Oscar for Best Song, but Wonder evoked some anger in dedicating the award to Nelson Mandella. South African radio stations responded by banning his music. The parent album did well commercially, reaching #4 in the U.S. and going platinum, and also becoming Wonder’s first #1 in the UK. However, the album – a soundtrack to a Gene Wilder comedy – still frustrated fans and critics who didn’t rate it amongst his best material. All Music Guide’s William Ruhlmann said it was “less than a full-fledged Wonder record,” AMG which was a disappointment to fans who’d already waited four years for an entire album’s worth of new material. Ruhlmann said that even “I Just Called to Say I Love You” was a “sappy” AMG and “formulaic TV commercial-in-the-making.” AMG The album did produce a second top-20 hit, Love Light in Flight and the single Don’t Drive Drunk. The U.S. Department of Transportation used the latter as a Drunk Driving Prevention public service announcement the following year. WK

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Stevie Wonder AMG All Music Guide review by William Ruhlmann WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 6/20/2008; last updated 8/3/2021.