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"You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
Single by Stevie Wonder
from the album Talking Book
B-side"Tuesday Heartbreak"
ReleasedMarch 1973
Recorded1972
Genre
Length2:58
Label Tamla
Songwriter(s)Stevie Wonder
Producer(s)Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder singles chronology
" Superstition"
(1972) 		"You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
(1973) 		" Higher Ground"
(1973)
Official audio
"You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" on YouTube

"You Are the Sunshine of My Life" is a 1973 single released by Stevie Wonder. The song became Wonder's third number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his first number-one on the Easy Listening chart. [3] It won Wonder a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. [4] This song was the second single (following " Superstition") released from the 1972 album entitled Talking Book, which stayed at number one on the R&B albums chart for three weeks. [4]

Rolling Stone ranks the song at number 183 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". [5] Billboard called it "a soft, haunting ballad with outstanding electric piano runs and outstanding production work." [6]

Background

The first two lines of the song are sung, not by Wonder, but by Jim Gilstrap; Lani Groves sings the next two. [7] Gilstrap and Groves, together with Gloria Barley, also provide backing vocals. The single version of the song differs from the album version with the addition of horns to the mix; this version is also included in the greatest hits compilation album Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I (1982).

Reception

Cash Box said that Wonder "changes the pace [from ' Superstition'] and delivers a stirring ballad performance that is also certain to go gold instantly." [8] Record World said that the "tune that's been covered many times is done best by the originator." [9]

Personnel

Source: Talking Book, Tamla: T 319L, October 27, 1972 (album cover)

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, drums
  • Jim Gilstrap – first lead vocal, background vocal
  • Lani Groves – second lead vocal, background vocal
  • Gloria Barley – background vocal
  • Scott Edwards – electric bass
  • Daniel Ben Zebulon – congas
  • unknown — horns

Chart performance

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom ( BPI) [18] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. ^ Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved February 24, 2024. Is there a lovelier, more embracing description of timeless romance than Wonder's entrance in this 1973 soul-pop classic...
  2. ^ Stanley, Bob (2014). "Freddie's Dead: Electrified Soul". Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 227.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 262.
  4. ^ a b Hogan, Ed. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (song review), AllMusic.com.
  5. ^ "You Are the Sunshine of My Life ranked #183 on Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs List". Rolling Stone. 15 September 2021. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Radio Action & Pick Singles" (PDF). Billboard. March 10, 1973. p. 53. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  7. ^ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits: Updated and Expanded 5th Edition. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 333.
  8. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. March 10, 1973. p. 20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  9. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. March 10, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  10. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN  0-646-11917-6.
  11. ^ Canada, Library and Archives (July 17, 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". bac-lac.gc.ca. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  12. ^ "NZ Listener chart summary". Flavour of New Zealand. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  13. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 5/19/73". Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  14. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2014-04-08.
  15. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1973/Top 100 Songs of 1973". Musicoutfitters.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  16. ^ "Billboard Year-End Charts 1973" (PDF).
  17. ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1973". Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  18. ^ "British single certifications – Stevie Wonder – You Are the Sunshine of My Life". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 18 February 2022.

External links


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