Part-Time Lover

Not to be confused with Night Time Lover or Part-Time Love.

"Part-Time Lover" is a song by American R&B singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder, released as the first single from his twentieth studio album, In Square Circle (1985). The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B, dance, and adult contemporary 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"
Single by Stevie Wonder
from the album In Square Circle
B-side	"Instrumental"
Released	August 24, 1985
Genre	Synth-pop R&B soul
Length	4:12 (album version) 3:43 (7" version) 8:20 (12" version)
Label	Tamla
Songwriter(s)	Stevie Wonder
Producer(s)	Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder singles chronology
"We Are The World" (1985) "Part-Time Lover" (1985) "That's What Friends Are For" (1985)

"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 in late 1985.

The song featured R&B singer Luther Vandross singing the ad-libs and backing vocals, in addition to Syreeta Wright and Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire. Wonder earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance 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 "You Can't Hurry Love" and "My World Is Empty Without You", both by the Supremes, former Motown labelmates of Wonder.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1985–1986) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[1] 3 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[2] 11 Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[3] 1 Canada 100 Singles (RPM)[4] 1 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[5] 1 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[6] 4 France (SNEP)[7] 3 Ireland (IRMA)[8] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] 11 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] 17 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[12] 5 Portugal (Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa)[13] 1 South Africa (Springbok)[14] 7 Spain (AFYVE)[15] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 3 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] 5 UK Singles (OCC)[18] 3 US Billboard Hot 100[19] 1 West Germany (GfK)[20] 12 Chart (2019) Peak position Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[21] 69

Year-end charts Chart (1985) Rank Australia (Kent Music Report)[22] 29 Canada[23] 9 New Zealand[24] 34 UK[25] 37 US Billboard Hot 100[26] 22

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[27]	Gold	500,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[28]	Silver	250,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

• Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, synthesizers, drums
• Luther Vandross – lead vocal, background vocal
• Syreeta Wright, Philip Bailey (Earth Wind & Fire), Keith John, Melody McCully, Billy Durham, Peter Byrne (Naked Eyes), Renee Hardaway, Darryl Phinnessee - background vocal^[29]

Cover versions

• Puerto Rican salsa musician Bobby Valentin covered the song in 1986. His cover peaked at number 23 on the Hot Latin Tracks chart.^[30]

See also

• List of RPM number-one singles of 1985
• List of number-one singles of 1985 (Ireland)
• List of number-one singles in 1985 (New Zealand)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1985 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B singles of 1985 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1985 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance singles of 1985 (U.S.)

References

1. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
2. "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
3. "part time lover - stevie wonder". VRT (in Dutch). Top30-2.radio2.be. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2013. Hoogste notering in de top 30 : 1
4. "Top Singles - Volume 42, No. 22, September 10, 1985". Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
5. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1985-11-09. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
6. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Stevie Wonder". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 284. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
7. "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
8. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Part Time Lover". Irish Singles Chart.
9. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Stevie Wonder" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
10. "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
11. "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
12. "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover". VG-lista.
13. "TOP 20 TMP Portugal - number one in the 80's airplay charts".
14. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
15. Salaverri, Fernando (September 1985). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
16. "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover". Singles Top 100.
17. "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover". Swiss Singles Chart.
18. "Official Charts Company -". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
19. Stephen Thomas Erlewine (1940-10-14). "Stevie Wonder | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
20. "Offiziellecharts.de – Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
21. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
22. "Kent Music Report No 599 – 30 December 1985 > National Top 100 Singles for 1985". Kent Music Report. Retrieved January 23, 2023 – via Imgur.
23. "RPM's Top 100 Singles of 1985". RPM. Vol. 43, no. 16. 28 December 1985. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
24. "End of Year Charts 1985". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
25. "Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. 24 January 1987. p. 24.
26. Musicoutfitters.com
27. "French single certifications – Stevie Wonder – Part-Time Lover" (in French). InfoDisc. Select STEVIE WONDER and click OK. 
28. "British single certifications – Stevie Wonder – Part-Time Lover". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
29. "In Square Circle on". Discogs.com. 1985. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
30. "Bobby Valentin: Hot Latin Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. September 27, 1986.

External links

• Listen to "Part-Time Lover" on YouTube