In Square Circle

Track Listings

1. Part-Time Lover

2. I Love You Too Much

3. Stranger on the Shore of Love

4. Whereabouts

5. Never in Your Sun

6. Spiritual Walkers

7. Land of la La

8. Go Home

9. Overjoyed

10. It's Wrong (Apartheid)

In Square Circle,Stevie Wonder,Motown / Pgd,Funk,Pop,Pop-Soul,Pop/Rock,R&B,Soul,Soul/Reggae/Rhythm & Blues,Urban

In Square Circle

Tracks:

Part-Time Lover
I Love You Too Much
Whereabouts
Stranger on the Shore of Love
Never In Your Sun
Spiritual Walkers
Land Of La La
Go Home
Overjoyed
It's Wrong (Apartheid)

Customer Reviews:

Some fantastic tunes but Stevie's muse got him to do mechanical stuff too.......2006-08-30

This album has 3 or 4 fantastic tunes, which rank with the best stuff Stevie's ever produced. However,a few disappointing tracks due to their "machanical" feel. A very good album, but I can't give it five stars.

Part-Time Lover Deserves a 2nd Listen.......2006-03-23

Give yourselves a treat to 3minutes & 42seconds of one of music's most magical moments. Singing together here are two of the most beautiful, soul inspired, talented individuals that ever were. As Ron below said, that's Luther Vandross with Stevie. I know that Luther was a very close personal friend of Stevie Wonder, I heard Stevie's voice mail message of hope & prayer for his good friends recovery.
Sadly the full recovery did not happen but on this song we have those two together, in what is a thing of beauty and joy to cherish forever. Thank our stars for this.
If you don't like this particular album, get this song on a best of, I'm writng this review here since this album was the origin of the song.
BTW there are 34 grammy awards between these two guys. Stevie's latest one comming from the Tribute to Luther Album.

Stevie Can Do Better Than This.......2005-12-26

I have owned this on CD and cassette. I have long since traded the CD off...Stevie can do better than this. Their are a few highlights on this CD. Go Home, Land Of La La, and Whereabouts are among the best songs. But, overall this is a pretty lame effort for Stevie. Sorry, but I just rate them as I hear them.

The Melodies Save It.......2005-10-16

this album did it for stevie; after a decade of inspired and inspiring songs, arrangements, melodies and lyrics, he totally sold out and offered a bland, awful, completely uninspiring product, and this continued throughout to this very day.

Or did he? Well, this is partially true, except for one thing; Stevie was always about selling albums. Yes, he did it in an amazing, beautiful way, but stevie has always been a commercial artist. This album reflects that; he has become very interested in digital synths with this one. And, unfortunatley, he is not as creative with digital synths as he is with analogue. Not only that, but the album does not feature his great drumming either! It's all drum machines. A disaster?

Well, the arrangements are sometimes a mess. Not quite a disaster, but this album doesn't live and breath like classic stevie. In the 70's, stevie would make a song on which he played every instrument live and breath like a real funk jam. Prince was someone who inherited this tendency from Stevie, but Stevie did it better. But on this album, his arrangements are not as "living" as before, and it's easily blameable on Stevie fully embracing digital technology. For this reason, this album sounds much more dated than his 70's albums; well, in a way, all albums are dated by their time period. But I could see somebody creating an album like, say, Talking Book today; it's sound is timeless. This album is very 80's.

This is why this album loses one star; also, there are more weak songs on this one album (one or two) than all of Stevie's output in the seventies put together (zero). So, I can't help but see this as the beginning of Stevie's "unimportance" in music. Stevie has, or never will, have the impact on music he once had.

So why four stars?! I spend this whole review bashing this album, but then I give it four stars; well my fellow Stevie fans, I give this album four stars because even if Stevie has lost his edge, importance, and arrangement creativity he still has one very important thing; his pure melodic ability. All of these songs are very very melodic and catchy (part time lover) or beautiful (overjoyed). Only one misstep; Apartheid (It's Wrong) was a stupid, dated mistake. I know Stevie couldn't resist doing his political commentary thing but it just doesn't work here.

All in all, this is a very good album. But there is a reason I focused so strongly on the negatives. This is the beginning of the end for Stevie. He still has his wonderful melodic sense; it hadn't failed him at this point. Unfortunatley, however, Stevie's melodic ability begins slipping rapidly after this album, making his music very adult contemporary. Most fans shoudl stop here, proceed with caution after this.

Classic R&B with a touch of Wonder.......2004-10-28

Fall 1985 saw the release of this three-hit album. PART-TIME LOVER was the first,containing what's called Detroit Pop(where Stevie Wonder's first label Motown is based in). OVERJOYED is a nice easy listening piece. GO HOME is cool. Wonder,sort of,had a hit in January 1985,WE ARE THE WORLD,by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie,which was recorded by an all-star ensemble called USA For Africa. Four months earlier,his hit I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE YOU from the movie THE WOMAN IN RED,was on hit parade and was one of 1984's biggest hits. After the release of this album,he joined forces with Dionne Warwick,Gladys Knight and Elton John recording THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR for Warwick's FRIENDS album. Another song of Wonder's,MOMENTS AREN'T MOMENTS,also from WIR,is on FRIENDS. So Wonder was quite busy in 1985. Shortly after the release of this album,he guest-starred as himself on NBC's The Cosby Show. In the episode entitled "A Touch Of Wonder",Theo Huxtable(Malcolm Jamal Warner) and his sister Denise(Lisa Bonet) are involved in a car accident with a limousine transporting Wonder. Wonder makes it up to the Huxtable siblings by inviting them to a recording studio where Wonder was working on an album,which I believe was 1987's CHARACTERS. Wonder and the Huxtable siblings' mother Clair(Phylicia Rashad) sing a duet of IJCTSILY. This episode premiered on February 20,1986. Man,this album is awesome!

Average customer rating:

Doug has done it again!!
We play it nonstop in the car
And mom and dad'll like it too

In Our Circle
Jr. Doug Fleming
Manufacturer: Little Square Wheels Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Children's Music | Styles | Music

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Pop Rock | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Shufflin' Farm
Little Square Wheels

ASIN: B0000TQDDO
Release Date: 2003-10-17

Tracks:

Bouncing, Hopping, Wiggling
In Our Circle
"Baby, Won't You Use Good Manners?!"
Going To See The Captain (A True Story)
Shimmy, Shimmy, Shimmy
Dad
Slither Like A Snake
Friends & Family, They Rock Our World
Rug Surfing
The Wind Is Laughing
I Am Worm, I Am Strong
Walt Bender (Maverick Milkman)
I'm The Engine On The Train

Album Description

Fleming, Jr's long awaited follow-up to "Little Square Wheels" & "Shufflin' Farm" is well worth the wait! While still a rocking piece of work with serious 60's & 70's influence, the instrumentation is more varied than on his first two discs. While still technically "children's music", the beauty of "In Our Circle" is that any age can dig it. Like it's predecessors, it's still educational, it's still interactive, & yes...it still rocks!

Customer Reviews:

Doug has done it again!!.......2004-07-14

We've really been enjoying Doug's newest CD...all the songs on "In Our Circle" have catchy melodies. Just like the songs on Mr Fleming's two prior CD's, most of the tunes get everyone up and moving and expressing themselves...even some of the grown-ups!! And, as if that weren't enough, he teaches some important lessons in the process...like good manners. We can all use a refresher course in that!!
When Doug's first two CD's were released we bought one copy for the house and later realized we needed another CD for the car. This time we just ordered two from Amazon from the start and we're glad we did. Gotta go...there is shimmying, carpet surfing, bouncing and hopping to be done!! Thanks for another winner, Doug. You rock OUR world!!

We play it nonstop in the car.......2004-04-15

This is one children's CD you can play in the car and actually ENJOY time and time again! The tracks are great - they send a really good message, and invite all passengers to sing along and bop to the tunes!
My 2 1/2 year old knows most of the words to "Baby, Won't you use good manners?", "In Our Circle", and "Bouncing, Hopping, Wiggling". Yesterday he picked up "The Wind is Laughing"!
I guess not so surprisingly I have found myself humming to "I Am Worm, I Am Strong" and "I'm the Engine on the Train" - long after I've left the car in its parking space at work.
This CD will be one you'll like from the get-go and will want to share with all of your kids' friends and parents!

And mom and dad'll like it too.......2003-12-22

My four year old and seven year old kids both love this CD. Flemming rolls together Beatles-inspired melodies, Byrds-like harmonies, Tom Petty's rock-n-roll edge and a sense of humor all his own to make music that will get everyone hopping and giggling. There are dancing tunes like "Shimmy, Shimmy, Shimmy," "Slither like a snake," and "Rug surfing" that'll have your kids twisting in every imaginable position. I especially liked "Baby won't you use good manners," a stomper which cracked me up while getting the important point across. There is also a tenderness to Flemming's music that will make you and your kids trust the humor and want to hear more. Doug Flemming's "In Our Circle" is a real find. Your kids will want to hear it over and over, and, here's the really good part: you'll actually like playing it for them.