djzyonseven
Stevie Wonder made cheating sound entirely too happy. 😂
The rhythm is bouncy and upbeat, like nothing scandalous is happening at all.
Meanwhile, the relationship is a complete mess. 👀
But what caught my attention first was that voice scatting at the beginning.
That familiar voice wrapped around the opening of Part-Time Lover.
It wasn’t Stevie.
But I knew that voice.
It was Luther Vandross. 🎤
And just like that…
The song had me.
I’ve loved Stevie Wonder for as far back as I can remember.
Songs in the Key of Life is my favorite Stevie album, but In Square Circle, Original Musiquarium, and Characters run a close second, third and fourth.
But this jam right here has always been one of my favorite Stevie songs.
And even though Luther is officially part of the background vocals, he’s so present that it feels more like a duet.
His voice doesn’t simply sit behind Stevie’s.
It moves around him, answers him and gives the record another personality.
Little did I know back then, that perfect backing harmony was even more loaded.
Philip Bailey was there.
Syreeta Wright was there.
That’s not a background choir.
That’s vocal Avengers. 😂🔥
No wonder every response, harmony and ad-lib sounds so full.
Part-Time Lover opened In Square Circle, an album that also gave us Go Home and one of Stevie’s finest slow jams, Overjoyed.
Stevie wrote, arranged and produced Part-Time Lover.
He also played the drums and synthesizers, building a groove that deliberately reached back to The Supremes and the Motown pulse of You Can’t Hurry Love and My World Is Empty Without You.
That beat feels familiar because it’s supposed to.
It’s classic Motown wearing 1985 clothes. 🎶
The music is ready for the dance floor while the people inside the song are sneaking around, using secret signals and trying not to get caught.
Then comes that ending.
The man who thought he had everything under control discovers that his woman has a part-time lover of her own.
Well…
You can’t create the rules and then get mad when somebody else learns the game. 😂
Every part of this record works.
The rhythm.
The story.
Those voices.
That surprise ending.
And the world agreed.
Part-Time Lover became the first single to reach No. 1 on FOUR different Billboard charts:
the Hot 100, R&B, Dance and Adult Contemporary.
That means everybody was playing this cheating mess. 📻💃🏾
Me included!
Part-Time Lover has been on many of my mixtapes.
I’ve played it at parties and clubs, and it still lives on a couple of my Spotify playlists today.
That’s the real test of a song for me.
Can it survive every version of my life?
The teenager.
The music lover.
The DJ.
Part-Time Lover has survived all of them. 💿
Nearly forty years later, I still hear that familiar voice at the beginning.
I still wait for those harmonies.
I still love the twist.
And I’m still hooked.
It’s just Stevie Wonder at his best.
With Luther Vandross right there beside him.
Come on now…
How was I ever supposed to resist that? ❤️
DJZ7
#TheSoundtrackOfWhoIBecame, #StevieWonder, #PartTimeLover, #InSquareCircle, #LutherVandross, #PhilipBailey, #SyreetaWright, #Motown, #ClassicRNB, #80sMusic, #GenXMusic, #MusicHistory,
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