AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Eddie Murphy

Artist:Eddie Murphy f/Rick James

Song:Party All the Time

Album:Chart Toppers: Dance Hits of the 80s

Of course most fans are familiar with Eddie Murphy's stand up comedy, his days on Saturday Night Live and his successful film career. But he also scored a top five hit with the 1985 single Party All the Time. Most fans perceive it as a one hit wonder. But one other song charted so technically he is not a one hit wonder. Most fans will only remember Party All the Time. The big problem is that Murphy has a very thin high pitched singing voice. Richard Pryor was among those who told Murphy that he couldn't sing. They even made a $100,000 bet about his possible success. But by 1984, Murphy was a big enough star that he could do what he wanted. Murphy sang backup for The Bus Boys who appeared in the 1982 film 48 Hrs. and the comedy special Eddie Murphy Delirious. Plus he had recorded successful comedy records for Columbia. He would sometimes sing as part of his comedy act. But he was not really a singer. He convinced Columbia head of black music A&R Larkin Arnold to let him record music. The first guy he recruited to help him was Rick James. James was supposed to produce the album. But he only wrote and produced Party All the Time before they had a falling out. Fortunately the song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has been named as one of worst songs of all time by VH1 and Blender among others. But a hit is a hit. Murphy brought Stevie Wonder in and supposedly Wonder brought in his cousin Aquil Fudge to produce the album. Wonder wrote and produced two songs and Fudge produced most of the album. I'm not convinced that Aquil Fudge is a real person. It may be an alias for Murphy himself. Murphy wrote three songs on the album. The album was certified Gold but even Murphy admitted that it wasn't very good. You can get Party All the Time on this various artists budget comp. Murphy released the 1989 album So Happy mostly produced by Narada Michael Walden. He also got to work with Nile Rodgers of Chic and Cameo leader Larry Blackmon. Murphy wrote several songs with David Allen Jones. He had worked with Murphy before. That album didn't sell and neither did the 1992 album Love's Alright for Motown. Murphy and Jones also produced that album. And that was Murphy's final music album. He does sing occasionally in films like Shrek and Dreamgirls. There was talk in 2014 that he was working on a new albums. And four singles were released. But the album never came out. Hopefully it never escapes. I think most of us think Murphy should stick to movies and forget about singing. Here's the video for Party All the Time by Eddie Murphy featuring Rick James.