In Square Circle Explained

In Square Circle
Type:	studio
Artist:	Stevie Wonder
Cover:	Stevie Wonder In Square Circle CD cover.JPG
Released:	September 13, 1985
Recorded:	1984–85
Studio:	Wonderland (Los Angeles, California)
Length:	46:00 (LP) 49:22 (CD)
Label:	Tamla
Producer:	Stevie Wonder
Prev Title:	The Woman in Red
Prev Year:	1984
Next Title:	Characters
Next Year:	1987

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" (No. 1), "Go Home" (No. 10), "Overjoyed" (No. 24), and "Land of La La" (No. 86). The album earned Wonder a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 1986 Grammy Awards.

In Square Circle made the top five on the Pop Albums chart, and spent 12 weeks at number one on the Top R&B Albums chart. On the UK Albums Chart, it peaked at number five.

Reception

Spin 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."^[1]

Track listing

All songs written, produced and arranged by Stevie 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

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)

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.^[2] It was also performed, along with "Overjoyed," on the May 7, 1983, episode of Saturday Night Live, which Wonder hosted.^[3]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1985–1986)! scope="col"

Position
Australian Kent Music Report^[4]	8
Austrian Albums Chart^[5]	12
Canadian RPM Albums Chart^[6]	7
Dutch Albums Chart^[7]	16
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart^[8]	3
New Zealand Albums Chart^[9]	7
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart^[10]	3
Swedish Albums Chart^[11]	2
Swiss Albums Chart^[12]	4
West German Media Control Albums Chart^[13]	8

Year-end charts

Chart (1985)! scope="col"

Position
Canadian Albums Chart^[14]	29
French Albums Chart^[15]	21

Chart (1986)! scope="col"

Position
Canadian Albums Chart^[16]	91
Japanese Albums Chart^[17]	19
US Billboard 200^[18]	18

See also

• List of Billboard number-one R&B albums of 1985
• List of Billboard number-one R&B albums of 1986

Notes and References

1. . Spins. RJ Smith . December 1985. 8. 29.
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4p7VIE9jQk YouTube: "Synthesizer Showdown at the 1985 Grammys"
3. Web site: May 7, 1983. The SNL Archives. 3 May 2015.
4. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book. St Ives, NSW. 1993. 0-646-11917-6.
5. Web site: austriancharts.at Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle. Hung Medien. de. ASP. 2014-04-27.
6. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.9304&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=53gtrvbfj0gk7r9b4sd40dtvu0 Library and Archives Canada.
7. Web site: dutchcharts.nl Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle. dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. ASP. 2014-04-27.
8. Book: Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Oricon Entertainment. Roppongi, Tokyo. 2006. 4-87131-077-9.
9. Web site: charts.nz Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle. Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. ASP. 2014-04-27.
10. Web site: norwegiancharts.com Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle. Hung Medien. VG-lista. ASP. 2014-04-27.
11. Web site: swedishcharts.com Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle. ASP. sv. 2014-04-27.
12. Web site: Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle – hitparade.ch. de. Hung Medien. ASP. Swiss Music Charts. 2014-04-27.
13. Web site: Album Search: Stevie Wonder – In Square Circle. de. Media Control. 2014-04-27.
14. RPM Top 100 Albums of 1985. RPM. February 20, 2013. https://archive.today/20120723221952/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.0618&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062. July 23, 2012. dead.
15. Web site: Les Albums (CD) de 1985 par InfoDisc . fr . PHP . infodisc.fr . February 20, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20121027131313/http://www.infodisc.fr/B-CD_1985.php . October 27, 2012 .
16. RPM Top 100 Albums of 1986. RPM. February 20, 2013.
17. Web site: http://entamedata.web.fc2.com/music/music_a1986.html. ja: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. Oricon. ja. 2014-04-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20131102183739/http://entamedata.web.fc2.com/music/music_a1986.html. 2013-11-02. dead.
18. Web site: https://archive.today/20121209212901/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/charts/yearendcharts/1986/the-billboard-200 . Billboard.BIZ  – Year-end Charts – Billboard 200 – 1986 . billboard.biz . 2012-12-09 . 2014-04-27 . dead .