I Just Called to Say I Love You

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"I Just Called to Say I Love You"
Motown – MOT-684
Songwriter(s)Stevie Wonder[3]
Producer(s)Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder singles chronology
"Front Line"
(1983)
"I Just Called to Say I Love You"
(1984)
"Love Light in Flight"
(1984)
Official audio
"I Just Called To Say I Love You" on
YouTube

"I Just Called to Say I Love You" is a ballad written, produced, and performed by American R&B singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder.[3] It was a major international hit, and remains Wonder's best-selling single to date, having topped a record 19 charts.

The song was the lead single from the 1984 soundtrack album

Best Pop Instrumental Performance
.

The song's lyrics have Wonder surprising his love interest with an unexpected telephone call. Throughout the song, Wonder lists events in a yearly calendar that might prompt someone to call a loved one. Yet he explains no special annual event such as

Cash Box described the song as "a tender and romantic love letter which captures the ever-present and Wonderous feeling of love and optimism."[5]

There was a dispute among Wonder, his former writing partner Lee Garrett, and Lloyd Chiate as to who actually wrote the song. Chiate claimed in a lawsuit that he and Garrett wrote the song years before its 1984 release. However, a jury ultimately sided with Wonder.[6]

Personnel

Mixing at Frank Farian's FAR STUDIOS in Germany, 1984

Music video

A music video of the song has Wonder, during a concert, singing into a telephone receiver while seated at a piano.[7] By the end of the song, he and the audience are standing and swaying to the music. The video features concert footage recorded in Rotterdam Ahoy, in the Netherlands, on August 10, 1984.[8]

Charts

Sales and certifications

Certifications and sales for "I Just Called to Say I Love You"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[60] 3× Platinum 408,000[59]
France (
SNEP)[62]
Gold 800,000[61]
Germany (BVMI)[63] Gold 500,000^
Italy (FIMI)[64] Gold 50,000
Netherlands (NVPI)[65] Platinum 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[66] Gold 10,000*
Portugal (AFP)[67] Platinum 170,000[67]
Russia (
NFPF)[68]

Ringtone
Gold 100,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[70] Platinum 1,874,225[69]
United States (RIAA)[71] Gold 1,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

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  4. ^ "I Just Called to Say I Love You" topped the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and R&B charts simultaneously from October 13 to 27, 1984:
  5. ^ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 11, 1984. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  6. ^ Weinstein, Henry (February 23, 1990). "Wonder Wins Suit Over Song". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  7. ^ "Stevie Wonder - I Just Called To Say I Love You". YouTube. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  8. ^ NPO Radio 5: Clip van 'I Just Called To Say I Love You'
  9. La Opinión (Los Angeles)
    (in Spanish). 29 April 1985. p. 10. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  10. ^ Grant. "Every AMR Top 100 Single in 1984". Retrieved 2020-07-25.
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    (in Spanish). 4 Feb 1985. p. 12. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
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