Wikipedia

In Square Circle

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic3/5 stars[1]
Robert ChristgauB+[2]
Rolling Stone(favorable)[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide3/5 stars[4]

In Square Circle is the twentieth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released in 1985. The album features the hit singles "Part-Time Lover," "Go Home," "Overjoyed," and "Land of La La." The album won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 1986 Grammy Awards.

In Square Circle made the Top 5 on the Pop Albums chart, and spent 12 weeks at number one on the Top R&B Albums chart.

Track listing

All songs written, produced and arranged by Stevie Wonder.

Side one
  1. "Part-Time Lover" – 4:12
    • 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
  2. "I Love You Too Much" – 5:27
    • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion
  3. "Whereabouts" – 4:17
    • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion
    • Keith John – background vocal
    • Darryl Phinnessee – background vocal
    • Deniece Williams – background vocal
    • Howard Smith – background vocal
  4. "Stranger on the Shore of Love" – 5:00
    • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, harpsichord, accordion
  5. "Never in Your Sun" – 4:06
    • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, percussion, harmonica
Side two
  1. "Spiritual Walkers" – 5:13
    • 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
  2. "Land of La La" – 5:12
    • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, electric piano, percussion, drums
    • Ben Bridges – guitar
    • Rick Zunigar – guitar
    • Renee Hardaway – background vocal
  3. "Go Home" – 5:18
    • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, synthesizers, drums, vocoder
    • Bob Malach – saxophone
    • Larry Gittens – trumpet
  4. "Overjoyed" – 3:42
    • 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
  5. "It's Wrong (Apartheid)" – 6:52 (CD version)
    • 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

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

"Go Home" was performed during the 1986 Grammy Awards ceremony as part of a synthesizer jam with Thomas Dolby, Herbie Hancock, and Howard Jones.[5] It was also performed, along with "Overjoyed," on the May 7, 1983, episode of Saturday Night Live, which Wonder hosted.[6]

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[26] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[28] Gold 213,300[27]
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[29] Gold 10,000*
Japan (Oricon Charts) — 596,000[13]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[30] Gold 7,500^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[31] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[32] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[33] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

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

See also

  • List of number-one R&B albums of 1985 (U.S.)
  • List of number-one R&B albums of 1986 (U.S.)

References

  1. ^ AllMusic review
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert. Consumer Guide Reviews: In Square Circle. The Village Voice. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-04-06. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  5. ^ YouTube: "Synthesizer Showdown at the 1985 Grammys"
  6. ^ "May 7, 1983". The SNL Archives. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  7. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ^ "austriancharts.at Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  9. ^ Library and Archives Canada. Archived 2014-02-01 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2014-04-27
  10. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle" (ASP). dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  11. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 2013-05-07. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  12. ^ a b "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1985" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  13. ^ a b Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  14. ^ "charts.nz Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  15. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  16. ^ "swedishcharts.com Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  17. ^ "Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  18. ^ "Stevie Wonder > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
  19. ^ "allmusic ((( In Square Circle > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  20. ^ "Album Search: Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  21. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1985". RPM. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  22. ^ "Les Albums (CD) de 1985 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on October 27, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  23. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1986". RPM. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  24. ^ 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 from the original on 2013-11-02. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  25. ^ "Billboard.BIZ  – Year-end Charts – Billboard 200 – 1986". billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2014-04-27.
  26. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle". Music Canada. Retrieved 2013-09-26.
  27. ^ "Les Albums Or". infodisc.fr (in French). SNEP. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  28. ^ "French album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle" (in French). InfoDisc. Select STEVIE WONDER and click OK.
  29. ^ "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1988". IFPI Hong Kong. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  30. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  31. ^ Solo Exitos 1959-2002 Ano A Ano: Certificados 1979-1990. Iberautor Promociones Culturales. 2005. ISBN 8480486392.
  32. ^ "British album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2013-09-26. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type In Square Circle in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  33. ^ "American album certifications – Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2013-09-26. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
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