Eddie Murphy Tells Us, In No Uncertain Terms, He Likes To ‘Party All The Time’
How hot was Eddie Murphy in 1985? As hot as any star who has ever risen the ranks of Pop Culture. So hot that, during a five year stretch from 1981-1985, he completely revitalized a Lorne Michaels-less Saturday Night Live; starred in three box office hits in 48 Hours, Trading Places, & Beverly Hills Cop; had a hit stand up special in Eddie Murphy: Delirious; and won a Grammy for his comedy album, Eddie Murphy: Comedian.
Yes, that’s all well and good. But can he sing? The answer might just be, “Does it matter?”
No, it doesn’t really matter all that much, so long as you have legendary Funk mastermind Rick James writing, producing, and singing backing vocals on your big hit single. As was the case with Eddie Murphy’s big swing for the fences at the musical mainstream, ‘Party All the Time.’
But unlike most actor-to-singer pipeline singles, ‘Party All The Time’ was a bonafide hit. Reaching as high as number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart.
Whether this was due to the actual merits of the song itself or just a byproduct of the Eddie Murphy hype train being too big to fail in 1985 is certainly up for debate. But I’d argue that there’s a world out there where Eddie’s vocals are just too jarring. Too much of a barrier to entry to ever allow even a Rick James produced banger to take flight.
But luckily, we’re in the world where Eddie took the assignment seriously enough that his vocals are… fine. They’re, well, there. Completely inoffensive at worst and they even have an icy glide to them, if I’m being generous.
Everyone involved knows what they are working with here and that the goal is to work with, and around, Eddie to give the man a song worthy of being a hit. The music video has that mission statement written all over it.
The whole video is set in Rick’s studio, full of producers and background singers. Eddie meekly walks in, ready to give it his all. He’s there to do his part, for sure. But he’s also never seen with Rick tinkering with the production or giving notes etc.
It’s extremely clear that everyone in the room is there to support Eddie. They all know this isn’t his domain and you get the vibe that everyone just wants the kid to have fun and let them worry about that actual music stuff.
There’s joy in seeing Eddie break out a little and get more into the song as it goes on. It’s funny to watch as Rick and his team get absolutely unhinged at one point, like a proud father. As if to say, “Yes. YES! He’s getting it!”
Is he, though?
It really does feel like we’re all here to gas up Eddie, get his vocals down, and then add all the sweeteners and extra touches needed to get this song out the door.
As previously mentioned though, the fact remains that ‘Party All The Time’ was as much of a success as anyone could have hoped for. The credit for that has to go to Rick James for putting all the right pieces together. But also to Eddie Murphy. At a time when he could have easily pulled rank and taken over the entire project, he let the pros be pros and was rewarded with yet another accomplishment in a young career full of them.
Be sure to help out and share this article on social media. I’d really appreciate it. You can follow me on social media or subscribe (for FREE) so you don’t miss future articles:
Follow on Twitter: MightyVin
Follow on Bluesky: VinForte
Follow on Instagram: VinForteNYC