1984 No. 1, Penned For A Gene Wilder Movie, Hit The Top 42 Years Ago Today

The new No. 1 song in the U.S. on October 10, 1984, was "I Just Called to Say I Love You," which Stevie Wonder wrote and recorded for Gene Wilder's film "The Woman in Red." Wilder, whose "Young Frankenstein" inspired a nearly perfect rock song from the '70s, co-wrote, directed, and starred in the mature comedy about a middle-aged married man desperate to cheat on his wife with a glamorous woman in a red dress he sees on the street one day.

With a box office take of $25 million, "The Woman in Red" was only a moderate hit, and it's largely forgotten today — it was significantly overshadowed by its soundtrack album. Consisting entirely of original songs written or performed by Stevie Wonder, the album of material originally heard in "The Woman in Red" peaked at No. 4 on the LP chart and sold a million copies by the end of 1984. All that attention and all those sales are due in large part to the enormous success of "I Just Called to Say I Love You."

Producers of "The Woman in Red" hired soft pop icon Dionne Warwick to serve as the film's song coordinator. Her main order of business was recommending Stevie Wonder (not his real name) to handle the entire soundtrack. Even though Motown Records president Jay Lasker wasn't thrilled with the idea, or the first few songs Wonder generated after a screening, the performer recorded an entire LP. Warwick remained a factor; she sings on three of the album's eight cuts, including two duets with Wonder — but not "I Just Called to Say I Love You." That one was almost entirely a Wonder solo project, as the musician wrote, produced, and arranged the song, which he'd started work on years before "The Woman in Red" was even written.

It spent three weeks atop three major Billboard charts: the Hot 100, adult contemporary, and R&B. The song was so successful that it earned Wonder his first-ever Oscar nomination for best music, original song. "I Just Called to Say I Love You" won the prize over four other soundtrack cuts that ruled the pop charts: Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters," Phil Collins' "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)," Kenny Loggins' "Footloose," and Deniece Williams' "Let's Hear It for the Boy."