Part-Time Lover by Stevie Wonder

Album: In Square Circle (1985)

Charted: 3 1

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Songfacts®:

This song is about a cheating couple, and the machinations they go through to keep their affair a secret. They are part-time lovers because they have to keep it on the down-low:

We are strangers by day, lovers by night
Knowing it's so wrong, but feeling so right

The song ends in a twist (or maybe, a tryst), when it becomes clear to the singer that his wife has a part-time lover of her own who is playing the same game.

Wonder says that he has been in a similar position, with a guy calling his home and trying to disguise his voice when Stevie answered it.
Wonder was a pioneer when it came to making and recording music using electronics and computers. This is an early example of digital audio recording, which Wonder put together at his own Wonderland Studios.

One of the devices he used was a LinnDrum, a popular drum machine/sampler. "He bought the second drum machine I ever made," Roger Linn said in a Songfacts interview. "I think he used my drum machine very well on 'Part-Time Lover.'"
According to Wonder, he drew on two songs by The Supremes as a musical influence for this one: "You Can't Hurry Love" and "My World Is Empty Without You."
Syreeta Wright, who was Wonder's wife from 1970 to 1972, sang backing vocals. She co-wrote Wonder's 1970 song "If You Really Love Me" and had her own Top 10 hit with her duet with Billy Preston, "With You I'm Born Again."

Also featured on this track is Luther Vandross, who can be heard humming at the end of the verses.
This reached #1 on the Billboard Pop, R&B, Dance and Adult Contemporary charts, making Stevie Wonder the first artist to score a #1 hit on four different Billboard charts.
When this song reached the top of the US charts, it was 22 years and three months after his first hit, "Fingertips (Part 2)." At the time, this was the longest span between first and last #1s. The Beach Boys would break this record when "Kokomo" took the top spot in 1988. >>>
Suggestion credit:
Bertrand - Paris, France
Wonder contributed to The Woman in Red soundtrack, released in 1984, but In Square Circle was his first full album in five years - something that didn't sit well with Motown boss Berry Gordy. Wonder was working on an important non-musical project at this time: getting Martin Luther King's birthday recognized as a national holiday in America.

Comments: 6

Steveazo from San Mateo, CaAm I misunderstanding your Songfacts comment about Stevie Wonder's "Part-Time Lover" being the "next" #1 song he had after "Fingertips (Part 2)"? Your exact Songfacts observation is 'Stevie Wonder was 12 years old when he released his first #1 hit, "Fingertips (Part 2)." He had to wait 22 years for his next one: "Part Time Lover."' But his true NEXT #1 hit after "Fingertips (Part 2)" came only 9 years later when "Superstition" hit the top spot in early 1973. So either your wording is incorrect/confusing or you're misinterpreting the Songfact above: '"Part-Time Lover" went to #1 22 years and three months after his first hit, "Fingertips (Part 2)." At the time, this was the longest span between first and last #1s.' In between "Fingertips (Part 2)" and "Part-Time Lover," Stevie actually had 7 #1 songs, giving him 9 total #1's in his career.
Seventhmist from 7th HeavenThe background beat always sounded like Hall and Oates's "Maneater" to me.
Tina from Norcross, GaSyreeta Wright may well have sung background on Part-Time Lover, but she was NOT married to Stevie Wonder at the time this record was released. They married in 1970 and divorced in 1972. Part-Time Lover was released in 1984, twelve years AFTER their divorce.
John from Nashville, TnThis song was sung as a duet between Wonder and Boy George on the Emmy-winning MOTOWN RETURNS TO THE APOLLO tv special three months before it was released as a single.
Rick from Columbus, GaOh, she was a part time lover and a part time maid
She had nothing to complain about, I mean, she got paid.

Man, the lyrics are great.
Douglas from Portland, OrThis has a great beat, melody and lyrics. One of my Stevie Wonder favorites.

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