Characters

Characters is Stevie Wonder's twenty-first studio album, released in 1987 on Motown Records. 'Skeletons,' an infectious funk track built on a rolling groove, became a substantial hit and featured a satirical lyrical edge that showed Wonder's social commentary hadn't softened since 'You Haven't Done Nothin'.' 'Get It,' a duet with Michael Jackson, brought two of soul music's greatest forces together in a playful call-and-response that was a commercial highlight of both artists' late-80s output. 'With Each Beat of My Heart' demonstrated Wonder's ballad writing was still operating at the highest level. The album was entirely self-written and self-produced, maintaining the creative model Wonder had held since 1971. Characters is a solid, occasionally overlooked entry in his catalog, less celebrated than the classic period but containing some of his most commercially effective work of the decade.