"Party All the Time" is a song by comedian and actor

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

, written and produced by

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in ...

. It was the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from Murphy's 1985 debut musical album '' How Could It Be''. It reached number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three weeks, behind "

Say You, Say Me "Say You, Say Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer and songwriter Lionel Richie for the film ''White Nights''. The single hit number one in the US and on the R&B singles chart in December 1985. It became Richie's ninth number-on ...

" by

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

Production

Murphy stated that the song was made in response to a $100,000 bet made between himself and actor/comedian

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

, wagering on whether Murphy had singing talent or not. The single was recorded at Rick James's home studio in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. In addition to his duties as the song's writer and producer, James also provided backup vocals.

Reception

A reader in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', Barbara Bryson, criticized the song, characterizing it as "

Gumby ''Gumby'' is an American clay animation Media franchise, franchise, centered on the titular green clay humanoid character created and modeled by Art Clokey. Gumby stars in two television series, the feature-length ''Gumby: The Movie'', and oth ...

goes disco" (referring to the character parodied by Murphy on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

''). The publication also placed the song at number one on "The Video Bottom 10" list. Meanwhile, critic Scott Benarde in the Ft. Lauderdale ''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'' awarded the song his worst single for 1985, calling it a "catchy uptempo dance number" but asserting that "Murphy adds nothing but his ego to it. His voice is paper thin and buried in the mix. Anyone could have sung that tune the way it was produced. Murphy should stick to imitating Gumby." The song's music video won best urban contemporary video award at the American Video Awards in November 1985.

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– drums, percussion, backing vocals, production * Kenny Hawkins – guitar * Greg Levias – keyboards * Levi Ruffin – keyboards, backing vocals * LaMorris Payne – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Remixes and covers

In 2006,

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

DJ and producer

Sharam Tayebi Sharam Tayebi ( fa, شهرام طیبی, born August 12, 1970), better known as Sharam, is an Iranian techno and house DJ and producer. Born in Tehran, Iran, he emigrated to Washington D.C. at the age of 14. A mainstay of the Washington underg ...

of Deep Dish released a

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of the song, known simply as "PATT" (an acronym for "Party All the Time"), which peaked at No. 8 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on December 30, 2006. The song also peaked at number 87 on the Australian

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. Finnish band

Children of Bodom Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of Alexi Laiho (lead guitar, lead vocals), Jaska Raatikainen (drums), Henkka Sep ...

covered the song in 2011, as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their album '' Relentless Reckless Forever''. In 2014, Gwyneth Paltrow covered the song in the ''Glee'' season 5 episode " New Directions". Finnish stoner rock band Mangoo also covered the song on their 2017 album ''The Heat''. Guitarist

Eric Calderone Eric Calderone is an American guitarist and YouTuber. Calderone is best known for some of his videos on his YouTube channel "331Erock" in which he performs electric guitar renditions of songs from pop culture. Background and career Calderone be ...

covered the song in 2022 on his YouTube channel.

References

{{Authority control 1985 singles Eddie Murphy songs Songs written by Rick James 1985 songs Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Rick James American synth-pop songs American funk songs