On This Day in 1985, This Soul Singer Hit No. 1 After a 22-Year Drought With a Shocking Tale of Infidelity Between Husband and Wife

IOn this very day in 1985, soul singer and icon Stevie Wonder hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the energetic hit, “Part-Time Lover”. And, oddly enough, it was Wonder’s first No. 1 hit on that coveted chart in a while. You’d think someone as big as Wonder would have topped the Hot 100 dozens of times. Sadly, the charts are rarely ever a true reflection of incredible talent. 

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Stevie Wonder first hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart with what was technically his first charting hit, period. That song was the famed “Fingertips (Part 2)” from 1963, which was released when Wonder was only 13 years old. Wonder enjoyed quite a few Top 40 hits in the years that followed. 

Wonder enjoyed several No. 1 hits throughout his career, but didn’t see his second No. 1 until 1972 with the release of “Superstition”. The 1970s yielded quite a few chart-topping hits for Wonder, and “Part-Time Lover” was Wonder’s last (thus far) No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 chart.

The Meaning Behind “Part-Time Lover” by Stevie Wonder

A whopping 22 years after Stevie Wonder hit No. 1 for the first time on the Hot 100, the iconic singer hit it again with the 1985 song “Part-Time Lover”. And this song couldn’t be more different from “Fingertips (Part 2)”. “Part-Time Lover”, released on the similarly successful album In Square Circle, is a song all about two people who are cheating on one another. The song also happened to be one of the first songs ever recorded via digital equipment at the time.

“Part-Time Lover” has some noteworthy influences, too. The song was partially influenced by Motown singers (and labelmates of Wonder), The Supremes. Specifically, the songs “My World Is Empty Without You” and “You Can’t Hurry Love” boast some similarities to “Part-Time Lover”. And, just as well, the lyrics of the song are inspired by some real-life experiences. Wonder once said that a man used to ring his home and disguise his voice when Wonder would pick up. Anyone who was alive before the cell phone days likely knows what that meant. Wonder’s woman at the time was likely stepping out on him.

With “Part-Time Lover”, Wonder held the record for the longest time between first and last No. 1 hit songs until around 1988, when The Beach Boys hit the top spot with “Kokomo”.

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