"Part-Time Lover" is a song by American R&B singer and 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 as the first single from his twentieth studio album, ''

In Square Circle ''In Square Circle'' is the twentieth studio album by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder, released in September 1985 on Tamla Records. ''In Square Circle'' spent 12 weeks at number one on the US Billboard Top R&B Albums chart. The album a ...

'' (1985). The song reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, R&B,

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, and

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

charts, becoming Wonder's final number one hit to date. The song's simultaneous chart successes made Wonder the first artist to score a number-one hit on four different ''Billboard'' charts. The song was also released as a special 12" version. Lyrically, it tells the story of a man who is cheating on his wife with a mistress, only to find out in the end that his wife is cheating on him as well. "Part-Time Lover" also reached number three on the UK Singles Chart thanks in large part to a performance by Wonder on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'' in late 1985. The song featured R&B singer

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

singing the ad-libs and backing vocals, in addition to

Syreeta Wright 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 ...

and

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his fo ...

Earth, Wind and Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

. Wonder earned a

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 ...

nomination for

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

in 1986, for the song. Wonder is noted in the liner notes of the four-CD set ''Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection Volume 2 1972-1992'' as describing the music for the song as an ode to "

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" and "

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", both by

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, former

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labelmates of Wonder.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Personnel

*Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, synthesizers, drums *

– lead vocal, background vocal *

(

Earth Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling b ...

), Keith John, Melody McCully, Billy Durham, Peter Byrne (

Naked Eyes Naked Eyes are an English new wave duo"All Eyes on Pete Byrne", ''Newsday'', 15 October 2013 that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. The band had four US Top 40 singles. The group's first hit, " Always Something There to Remind Me", was ...

), Renee Hardaway, Darryl Phinnessee - background vocal

Cover versions

*Puerto Rican salsa musician Bobby Valentin covered the song in 1986. His cover peaked at number 23 on the

Hot Latin Tracks The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ...

chart.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1985 songs 1985 singles Stevie Wonder songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Songs written by Stevie Wonder Dance-pop songs Tamla Records singles The Lost Fingers songs Songs about infidelity American synth-pop songs Song recordings produced by Stevie Wonder