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In Square Circle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1985 studio album by Stevie Wonder

In Square Circle
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 13, 1985
Recorded1984–1985
StudioWonderland (Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length46:00 (LP)
49:22 (CD)
LabelTamla
ProducerStevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder chronology
The Woman in Red
(1984)		In Square Circle
(1985)		Characters
(1987)
Singles from In 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
AllMusicStarStarStar[1]
Robert ChristgauB+[2]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[3]
The Rolling Stone Album GuideStarStarStar[4]

In Square Circle is the twentiethstudio album by American singer-songwriterStevie Wonder, released in September 1985 onTamla Records.[5]In Square Circle spent 12 weeks at number one on the USBillboardTop R&B Albums chart. The album also made the top five on the USBillboard 200 and peaked at No. 5 on theUK Pop Albums chart.

Singles

[edit]

In Square Circle features hit singles "Part-Time Lover" (No. 1), "Go Home" (No. 10), "Overjoyed" (No. 24), and "Land of La La" (No. 86).

Critical reception

[edit]

Jon Pareles ofRolling Stone claimed "Wonder seems immune to the current epidemic of posturing self-importance, and with his unforced optimism and his no-sweat audio perfectionism, he makes your ears happy, again and again. On In Square Circle, he's as irresistible as ever."[3]

With a B+Robert Christgau of theVillage Voice found "Compare this to the others in your head and you'll be hard-pressed to specify what's missing, but slap onTalking Book orHotter Than July and you'll hear how cushy it is--polyrhythmic pop rather than polyrhythmic rock. Stevie's effervescence is so indomitable that it's a pleasure even so, but nothing rises far enough out of the stew".[2]

Ron Wynn ofAllMusic, gave a 3 out of 5 stars rating saying, "Although it went platinum, nothing stands as better evidence of how cyclical the pop experience is than the response to In Square Circle. Wonder actually wrote some superb songs, and several, like "Overjoyed" and "I Love You Too Much," were superior to the hit single "Part-Time Lover." But that one zoomed to the top spot and became the album's definitive tune in the minds of many."[1]

RJ Smith ofSpin called 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."[6]

Stephen Holden of theNew York Times declared "Chock full of surging chromatic melodies, powerful dance rhythms and churning synthesized instrumentation,In Square Circle is classic Stevie Wonder in the way it combines extremes of primitivism and lofty spiritual and artistic aspiration. Like all of Mr. Wonder's best records,In Square Circle is an allegorical pop mural whose panels each suggest a different symbolic tableau. Musically, the album is more concise and less experimental than the sprawling two-disk sets,Songs in the Key of Life and theJourney Through the Secret Life of Plants. His latest songs are also more consistently melodic and danceable than those on his 1980 album,Hotter Than July."[7]

Wonder also won aGrammy for the album, in the category ofBest Male R&B Vocal Performance.[8]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written byStevie Wonder[5]

Side one
No.TitleLength
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
No.TitleLength
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[a]

Notes

  1. ^6:52 on CD and Streaming editions

Personnel

[edit]

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-80 synthesizer, 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)[5]

Notable performances

[edit]

"Go Home" was performed during the1986 Grammy Awards ceremony as part of asynthesizerjam withThomas Dolby,Herbie Hancock, andHoward Jones.[9] It was also performed, along with "Overjoyed," on the May 7, 1983, episode ofSaturday Night Live, which Wonder hosted.[10]

Charts

[edit]

Weekly charts

[edit]
Weekly chart performance forIn Square Circle
Chart (1985–1986)Position
Australian Kent Music Report[11]8
Austrian Albums Chart[12]12
CanadianRPM Albums Chart[13]7
Dutch Albums Chart[14]16
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[15]3
New Zealand Albums Chart[16]7
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[17]3
Swedish Albums Chart[18]2
Swiss Albums Chart[19]4
UK Albums (OCC)[20]5
USBillboard 200[21]5
West German Media Control Albums Chart[22]8

Year-end charts

[edit]
1985 year-end chart performance forIn Square Circle
Chart (1985)Position
Canadian Albums Chart[23]29
French Albums Chart[24]21
1986 year-end chart performance forIn Square Circle
Chart (1986)Position
Canadian Albums Chart[25]91
Japanese Albums Chart[26]19
USBillboard 200[27]18

Certifications

[edit]
Certifications forIn Square Circle
RegionCertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[28]2× Platinum200,000^
France (SNEP)[29]Gold100,000*
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[30]Gold10,000*
Japan (Oricon Charts)—596,000[15]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[31]Gold7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[32]Platinum100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[33]Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA)[34]2× Platinum2,000,000^

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

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abWynn, Ron."Stevie Wonder: In Square Circle".AllMusic. RetrievedDecember 15, 2024.
  2. ^abChristgau, Robert."Stevie Wonder".Village Voice. RetrievedMay 8, 2010.
  3. ^abPareles, Jon (October 24, 1985)."In Square Circle".Rolling Stone. Archived fromthe original on June 22, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 1, 2017.
  4. ^"Stevie Wonder: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music".Rolling Stone. Archived fromthe original on April 6, 2013. RetrievedSeptember 1, 2017.
  5. ^abcStevie Wonder - In Square Circle.Tamla Records. September 13, 1985.
  6. ^Smith, RJ (December 1985). "Spins".Spin. No. 8. p. 29.
  7. ^Holden, Stephen (September 15, 1985)."STEVIE WONDER -- THE POP IS VINTAGE".New York Times. RetrievedDecember 15, 2024.
  8. ^"Stevie Wonder".The Recording Academy. RetrievedDecember 15, 2024.
  9. ^YouTube: "Synthesizer Showdown at the 1985 Grammys"
  10. ^"May 7, 1983".The SNL Archives. RetrievedMay 3, 2015.
  11. ^Kent, David (1993).Australian Chart Book 1970–1992.St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book.ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ^"austriancharts.at Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(ASP).Hung Medien (in German). RetrievedApril 27, 2014.
  13. ^Library and Archives Canada.Archived 2014-02-01 at theWayback Machine Retrieved 2014-04-27
  14. ^"dutchcharts.nl Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(ASP).dutchcharts.nl.MegaCharts. RetrievedApril 27, 2014.
  15. ^abOricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005.Roppongi,Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006.ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  16. ^"charts.nz Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(ASP).Hung Medien.Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. RetrievedApril 27, 2014.
  17. ^"norwegiancharts.com Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(ASP).Hung Medien. VG-lista. RetrievedApril 27, 2014.
  18. ^"swedishcharts.com Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle"(ASP) (in Swedish). RetrievedApril 27, 2014.
  19. ^"Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle – hitparade.ch"(ASP).Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. RetrievedApril 27, 2014.
  20. ^"Official Albums Chart Top 100".Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  21. ^"Stevie Wonder Chart History (Billboard 200)".Billboard. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  22. ^"Stevie Wonder –In Square Circle" (in German).Media Control. RetrievedDecember 15, 2024.
  23. ^"RPM Top 100 Albums of 1985".RPM. Archived fromthe original on July 23, 2012. RetrievedFebruary 20, 2013.
  24. ^"Les Albums (CD) de 1985 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived fromthe original(PHP) on October 27, 2012. RetrievedFebruary 20, 2013.
  25. ^"RPM Top 100 Albums of 1986".RPM. RetrievedFebruary 20, 2013.
  26. ^年間アルバムヒットチャート 1986年（昭和61年） [Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1986] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived fromthe original on November 2, 2013. RetrievedApril 27, 2014.
  27. ^"Billboard.BIZ  – Year-end Charts – Billboard 200 – 1986". billboard.biz. Archived fromthe original on December 9, 2012. RetrievedApril 27, 2014.
  28. ^"Canadian album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle".Music Canada. RetrievedSeptember 26, 2013.
  29. ^"French album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle" (in French). InfoDisc.SelectSTEVIE WONDER and clickOK. 
  30. ^"IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1988".IFPI Hong Kong. RetrievedNovember 30, 2019.
  31. ^"New Zealand album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle".Recorded Music NZ. RetrievedNovember 20, 2024.
  32. ^Solo Exitos 1959-2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1979-1990. Iberautor Promociones Culturales. 2005.ISBN 8480486392.
  33. ^"British album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle".British Phonographic Industry. RetrievedSeptember 26, 2013.
  34. ^"American album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle".Recording Industry Association of America. RetrievedSeptember 26, 2013.
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