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Despite releasing three studio albums and a couple of singles, including the bizarre reggae track, ‘Oh Jah Jah’, it’s fair to say that, as a recording artist, Eddie Murphy will always be remembered for one song, and one song only, and you know exactly what it is.
40 years later, and the actor’s ‘Party All the Time’ still gets a decent amount of airplay on radio stations, streamers, and club nights with a soft spot for 1980s cheese. It sold over a million copies in the United States, but failed to reach the top of the charts after being thwarted by Lionel Richie’s ‘Say You, Say Me’.
Murphy’s debut record was made partially out of spite, too, with Richard Pryor betting him $100,000 that he couldn’t and wouldn’t lay down an album comprised entirely of music without indulging his comedy instincts. The Beverly Hills Cop star won the wager, but he never ended up getting the money his idol owed him.
The track was written and produced by Rick James, who was at the peak of his powers after his 1981 album, Street Songs, gifted the world with ‘Super Freak’ and ‘Give It to Me Baby’. These days, an entire generation knows him best because of Dave Chappelle, but Murphy continued to hold him in high esteem.
However, he wouldn’t dare call Rick bloody James the greatest musical artist of all time. Given his lifelong obsession with Elvis Presley, it would be reasonable to assume he’d bestow that honour upon ‘The King’, but it wasn’t him, either. Instead, Murphy awarded the accolade to somebody he was very familiar with, after starring in Michael Jackson’s ‘Remember the Time’ video and having him feature on ‘Whatzupwitu’ from the Academy Award nominee’s third album, Love’s Alright.
“Well, Michael was really private and he didn’t party like Rick,” Murphy reflected to The Guardian after being asked to compare the two. “When you’re around Rick, you’re having a party. But Michael was the most talented musician and artist that ever lived. So if you go to collaborate and have fun: Rick. If you want to do something really special: Michael.”
He was friends with Jackson, and even though ‘Whatzupwitu’ wasn’t exactly a great or memorable song and the video of them cavorting against a terrible computer-generated background wasn’t a patch on the cutting-edge promos the ‘King of Pop’ was famous for, Murphy still had a hell of a time making it.
“You know, I was dancing around in the clouds with Michael Jackson,” he explained. “However whack anyone thought ‘Whatzupwitu’ was, there’s not a lot of people that have footage of themselves dancing around in the clouds with Michael Jackson. I do have that forever.”
There’s no denying that Jackson was one of the most innovative, influential, and globally famous icons of his, or any other, generation, but calling him “the most talented who ever lived” has the potential to open up a can of worms around music aficionados that may never end up being closed again. Still, Murphy is entitled to his opinion, and he won’t budge.
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