Maps of Music

Characters (1987)

Where the lyrics of Characters take you, and where it was really made.

Characters topped the US R&B albums chart for seven weeks but peaked only at No. 17 on the Billboard 200, becoming the first Wonder album since Music of My Mind to miss the top 10.

Key places

Recorded at Wonderland Studios, Los Angeles (1987)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Wonderland Studios in Los Angeles is credited as a recording studio for Characters. The pin sits at the city centre, so it may differ from the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Westside Studios, London (1987)

Recording site Westside Studios — Westside Studios in London is credited as a recording studio for Characters. The pin marks the studio building's exact location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Characters: twenty-first studio album by Stevie Wonder
• Released in late 1987 on Tamla Records
• Six singles, including "Skeletons" and "You Will Know," which both reached number one on the Billboard R&B Singles chart
• "Skeletons" was the most recent American top-40 hit of Wonder's career
• Duet with Michael Jackson on "Get It," a minor hit at No. 80

Background

• Highly anticipated, following the 1985 album In Square Circle
• Debuted at number one on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart for seven weeks
• Peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200
• First Wonder album since Music of My Mind not to reach the top 10 of the charts
• Reached only No. 33 in the UK, the first album to miss the UK top 20 since Music of My Mind, which failed to chart in 1972
• Three singles on the Billboard Hot 100: "Get It," "Skeletons," and "You Will Know"
• Two more R&B hits: "My Eyes Don't Cry" (No. 6) and "With Each Beat of My Heart" (No. 28)
• Final single "Free" reached No. 49 on the UK Pop Singles chart

Recording

• Wonder wrote, arranged, and produced all songs except "Dark 'n' Lovely," which has lyrics by Gary Byrd
• Recording credited to Wonderland Studios in Los Angeles and Westside Studios in London
• Gary Olazabal credited as engineer, associate producer, and mixer on all tracks
• Michael Jackson's vocal on "Get It" was produced by Quincy Jones

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Stevland Hardaway Morris, known as Stevie Wonder, was born May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan, and became blind shortly after birth.
• He signed with Motown's Tamla label at age 11 in 1961, receiving the name Little Stevie Wonder.
• His single "Fingertips" topped the Billboard Hot 100 when he was 13, the youngest solo artist ever to do so.

Career

• Music of My Mind and Talking Book (1972) marked the start of his classic period, moving away from the Motown sound toward synthesizer- and keyboard-driven music.
• Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life (1973–1976) won three consecutive Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, and he is the only artist to have done so.
• In the 1980s he campaigned to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a federal holiday and scored several number-one hits, including "Ebony and Ivory" and "I Just Called to Say I Love You".
• He has sold more than 100 million records and won 25 Grammy Awards, the most by a male solo artist.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Robert Christgau of the Village Voice gave the album an A−, writing that Wonder's chronic self-importance disappears and that the spaciness can become a trip when he is on form
• Lynn Van Matre of the Chicago Tribune wrote that there are no big surprises but plenty of polished, assured pop, soul, and funk
• David Wild of Rolling Stone gave it 3 out of 5 stars, saying it is not quite up to Wonder's best work but is still an undeniable pleasure
• Jon Pareles of The New York Times noted that the Characters concept is flexible, with the lyrics centred on various people
• Robert K. Oermann of USA Today ranked the album No. 28 on his list of the top 50 R&B albums of 1987

Records

• Billboard Top R&B Albums: number one for seven weeks
• Billboard 200: No. 17
• UK Albums: No. 33
• Three Hot 100 singles: "Get It" (No. 80), "Skeletons" (No. 19), "You Will Know" (No. 77)
• Billboard R&B Singles: "Skeletons" and "You Will Know" both reached number one
• Three Grammy Award nominations in 1988–89
• "Skeletons" nominated for Best R&B Song and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 30th Grammy Awards
• Album nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 31st Grammy Awards

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• To promote the album, Wonder performed a one-hour Characters special on MTV, which also included unreleased material and a duet with Stevie Ray Vaughan.
• The personnel list credits Stevie Ray Vaughan and B. B. King on guitar for one track.
• "Dark 'n' Lovely," the one song not written solely by Wonder, deals with the situation in South Africa.
• Wonder's nominations for "Skeletons" lost to Bill Withers's "Lean On Me" and Smokey Robinson's "Just to See Her."
• The album's Grammy nomination at the 31st ceremony lost to Terence Trent D'Arby's debut album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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