''Characters'' is the twenty-first studio album by American singer-songwriter

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

, released in late 1987 on

Tamla Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''motor'' ...

. The album features six singles including the

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-nominated "

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" (No. 19) and "

You Will Know "You Will Know" is a song written and recorded by American R&B singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, taken from his 1987 '' Characters'' album. It is the opening track on the album, and is the second single from the album as well. This is Stevie W ...

" (No. 77), which both reached number one on the ''Billboard'' R&B Singles chart (the former being the most-recent American top-40 hit of Wonder's career). The album also contained a duet with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, " Get It" (No. 80), that was a minor hit.

Overview

Highly anticipated like his last album, 1985's '' In Square Circle'', Characters debuted at number one on the US

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Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart for seven weeks. While peaking at No. 17 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. With this Characters became Wonder's first album since '' Music of My Mind'' not to reach the top ten of the charts. In the UK, it also fared less well, reaching only #33, the first album to miss the top 20 since '' Music of My Mind,'' which failed to chart in 1972. What's more, Characters featured three singles that charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. As in " Get It" (#80) (duet with Michael Jackson), "

" (#19) and the ballad "

" (#77). With each of these songs being hits on the ''

'' R&B singles charts. Along with two other singles "My Eyes Don't Cry" (#6, R&B) and "With Each Beat of My Heart" (#28, R&B). The album's final single, "Free", hit #49 on the UK Pop Singles chart.

Critical reception

With a A-

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

of the

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

wrote "Nine lines in, he assumes the voice of God to assure sufferers that everything's gonna be all right, and instantly you lose heart. But then his chronic self-importance disappears--the worst it gets is spacy, and Stevie can make spacy a trip when he's on. Which he definitely is--melodically, rhythmically, emotionally, politically, sonically." Lynn Van Matre of the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

wrote "There are no big surprises here, just plenty of the polished, assured mix of pop, soul and funk that has kept Wonder on the charts for nearly 25 years...Wonder wrote, arranged and produced all of the songs with the exception of ”Dark `n` Lovely,” about the situation in

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, which features lyrics by Gary Byrd. While there is the occasional lush ballad, more of the songs are uptempo, with lots of percussive punch." David Wild of

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

in a 3/5 stars review claimed, "even if Characters isn’t quite up to the level of Wonder’s best work, it is still an undeniable pleasure to have him communicating his compelling inner visions to the rest of us."

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noted, "The ''Characters'' concept is a flexible one; liner notes say it involves people's characters, written characters and the ''character of being positive.'' In practice, the lyrics are about various people - as Mr. Wonder's songs have been since he came into his own with '' Music of My Mind'' in 1972. Regardless, the concept embraces some fine songs." Robert K. Oermann of

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also ranked this album at No. 28 on his list of 1987's top 50 R&B albums.

Awards and nominations

The album earned Wonder three

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominations in 1988–89. The album's first single, "Skeletons" received two nominations for

Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record five times, while Ba ...

and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the

30th Grammy Awards The 30th Annual Grammy Awards were held March 2, 1988, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Album of the Year went to U2 for '' The Joshua Tree'', and Song of the Year we ...

, losing to Bill Wither's " Lean On Me" and

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

's "

Just to See Her "Just to See Her" is a 1987 song written by Jimmy George and Lou Pardini and recorded by American R&B recording artist Smokey Robinson from his studio album '' One Heartbeat'' (1987). "Just to See Her" peaked at No. 7 in ''Cash Box'' and No. 8 ...

" respectively. ''Characters'' received a nomination at the

31st Grammy Awards The 31st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 22, 1989, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. This also the first Grammy Awards Ceremony with a separate rap section. Album ...

for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, losing to

Terence Trent D'Arby Sananda Francesco Maitreya (born Terence Trent Howard; March 15, 1962), who started his career with the stage name Terence Trent D'Arby, is an American singer and songwriter who came to fame with his debut studio album, '' Introducing the Hard ...

's debut ''

Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby ''Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby'' is the debut studio album by Terence Trent D'Arby. It was first released in the United Kingdom on July 13, 1987 on Columbia Records, and debuted at number one there, spending a total ...

''. To promote the album, Wonder performed a one-hour ''Characters'' special on

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, in which he also performed unreleased material as well as a duet with

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (also known as SRV; October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble (band), Double Trouble. Although his ma ...

Track listing

All songs written by

, except where noted. ;Side one #"

" – 5:00 #"Dark 'n' Lovely" ( Gary Byrd, Stevie Wonder) – 4:39 #"In Your Corner" – 4:30 #"With Each Beat of My Heart" – 5:28 #"One of a Kind" – 5:10 ;Side two #"

" – 5:24 #" Get It" (duet with

) – 4:33 #"Galaxy Paradise" – 3:51 #"Cryin' Through the Night" – 5:48 #"Free" – 4:12 ;CD bonus tracks #"Come Let Me Make Your Love Come Down" (featuring

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

) – 5:20 #"My Eyes Don't Cry" – 7:05

Personnel

* Stevie Wonder – lead vocals (all tracks), background vocals (tracks 1-2, 4, 7-8), synthesizers (2–7, 9, 11–12), moog bass (1), synth bass (9), synth horns (12), piano (9–10), keyboards (including harpsichord – 10), synclavier (1, 5, 8, 11), Fairlight CMI (1, 3, 5, 8), bass (tracks 2, 7–8, 11–12), drums (1–2, 4–12), percussion (1–2, 4, 6–7), synth strings, bells (1), drum machine (3), harmonica (5) *

– lead vocals (7) *

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

- Michael Jackson’s vocal producer (7) *

– guitar (11) * B. B. King – guitar (11) * Ben Bridges – guitar (5, electric on 7, acoustic on 10) * James Allen - additional backing vocals (2) * Windy Barnes - backing vocals (11) * Judith Bennett - gospel choir vocals (10) * Shirley Brewer - backing vocals (3, 6, 12), kazoo (12) * Alex Brown - backing vocals (11) * Bridgette Bryant - backing vocals (2, 5, 9-10) * Bobby Carr - gospel choir vocals (10) * David Daniels - gospel choir vocals (10) * Kevin Dorsey - backing vocals (3, 6, 12), kazoo (12) * Alexis England - backing vocals (3, 6, 12), kazoo (12) * Marcia Escoffery - gospel choir vocals (10) * Sandra Escoffery - gospel choir vocals (10) * Mary Lee Evans – backing vocals (7, 9) * Lynne Fiddmont - backing vocals (3, 5-6, 9-10, 12), kazoo (12) * Gina Foster - gospel choir vocals (10) *

Junior Giscombe Norman Washington "Junior" Giscombe (born 6 June 1957) is an English singer-songwriter often known as Junior who was one of the first British R&B artists to be successful in the United States. He is best known for his 1982 hit single, " Mama Us ...

- backing vocals (5) * Derek Green - gospel choir vocals (10) * Renee Hardaway - backing vocals (11) *

Marva Hicks Marva Denise Hicks (May 5, 1956 – September 16, 2022) was an American R&B singer and actress. She signed with Polydor in the late 1980s, recorded her self-titled album in 1991, Biography at AllMusic/ref> and later worked in Broadway theatre and ...

- backing vocals (5, additional on 10) * Dorian Holley - backing vocals (3, 6, 12), kazoo (12) * Keith John - backing vocals (2-6, 8, 10, 12), kazoo (12) * Paul Johnson - backing vocals (9) * Patricia Knight - gospel choir vocals (10) * Paul Lee - gospel choir vocals (10) * Melody McCully - backing vocals (3, 6, 12), kazoo (12) * Myx - background vocal group (2) * Darryl Phinnessee - backing vocals (3, 6, 12), kazoo (12) * Iris Sutherland - gospel choir vocals (10) *

Syreeta Syreeta Wright (born Rita Wright, February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), known mononymously as Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights were songs ...

- additional backing vocals (2) *

Carroll Thompson Carroll Thompson is a British lovers rock singer, best known as the "Queen of Lovers Rock" Biography Thompson was born in England and is of Jamaican descent. Thompson undertook classical piano training on the piano and sang in school and chur ...

- gospel choir vocals (10) *

Cleveland Watkiss Cleveland Watkiss, (born 21 October 1959), is a British vocalist, actor, composer and educator. Biography Cleveland Watkiss was born in Hackney, East London, to Jamaican parents, and was one of nine children. He is the older brother of pianis ...

- gospel choir vocals (10) * Steve Wise - additional backing vocals (8) * Robert Arbittier - synthesizer programming (all tracks), synclavier programming (1, 5, 8, 11), computer music programming (6) * Julian Bahula - African drums (10) *

Brad Buxer Bradley Buxer is an American keyboardist and composer, known for his many collaborations with the American musician Michael Jackson. In addition to recording with Jackson, Buxer was also the musical director for Jackson's tours for many years. Pr ...

- Moog synth (10), additional synthesizer (5) *

Dennis Davis Dennis Davis (August 28, 1951 – April 6, 2016) was an American drummer and session musician best known for his work with David Bowie, playing on ten albums—including seven successive studio albums—during the singer's classic mid- and late ...

- percussion (10) * Isaiah Sanders - synth horns (10), additional synthesizer (5) *

Nathan Watts Nathan Lamar Watts (born March 25, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan.) is an American session bassist, best known for his work with Stevie Wonder from the 1970s to the present. He has served as Stevie Wonder's musical director since 1994. Biography ...

- synth bass (10) * Gary Olazabal – engineer, associate producer, mixing, keyboard programming, additional keyboard overdubs (all tracks)

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Characters (Album) Stevie Wonder albums 1987 albums Motown albums Albums produced by Stevie Wonder