Buttercup

Recorded for Carl Anderson’s 1982 debut album Absence Without Love, a Stevie Wonder composition cut under producer Richard Rudolph for Epic. It presented Anderson as a polished R&B vocalist on his first solo release. The track functioned as a standout album cut on Anderson’s debut and helped define the record’s contemporary soul direction. Its release tied Anderson to Stevie Wonder’s songwriting while giving the album one of its most memorable performances. The song remained the best-known cut from Absence Without Love and later resurfaced through a 2005 sample and cover versions by The Jackson 5 and Reel People with Tony Momrelle. It continues to circulate among collectors and soul listeners as part of Anderson’s early catalog.