Shirley Murdock (born May 22, 1957) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, who is best known for her 1986 R&B

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

"As We Lay" and for her vocals on

Zapp and Roger Zapp (also known as the Zapp Band, Zapp & Roger) is an American funk band that emerged from Dayton, Ohio, United States, in 1977. Particularly influential in the electro subgenre of funk, Zapp were known for their trademark use of the talk-b ...

's hit single " Computer Love". Her lead vocal special guest appearance with Smooth Jazz artist Ben Tankard, climbed to #1 Gospel and #20 on Billboard Top 200 on

WOW Gospel 2006 WOW Gospel 2006 is a gospel music compilation album from the WOW series. Released on January 31, 2006, it comprises thirty-two songs on a double disc album. The release reached 20 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2006, the highest peak of any of t ...

and is certified Gold. Their collaboration of the

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 ...

song "Jesus Is Love" is one of the most played songs on Sirius XM Radio gospel channel for eight years since its initial release.

Career

Murdock started out singing

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

in her native Toledo. Singer/musician Roger Troutman hired Murdock as a backing singer for his family's band Zapp, which had several hits on Warner Bros. (and its

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imprint). Based on this success, Troutman began recording tracks with Murdock and lead singer Sugarfoot of the

Ohio Players Ohio Players is an American funk band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their songs "Fire (Ohio Players song), Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster", and for their erotic album covers that featured nude or nearly nude women. Many of t ...

, among others, at his Dayton-based

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

, Troutman Sound Labs. Murdock and Troutman's first

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

was a Warner Bros. single issued as Roger (featuring Shirley Murdock), "Girl, Cut It Out", which charted at number 79 R&B in early 1985. Murdock signed with

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

and released "No More", written by Shirley Murdock and Gregory Jackson (Cincinnati, Ohio funk keyboardist and member of Zapp), which made it to number 24 R&B in early 1986. Then came her signature hit, "As We Lay", written by Zapp's Larry Troutman and keyboardist Billy Beck (of the Ohio Players). The tender, melancholy ballad made it to the R&B Top Ten in 1986 and peaked at number 23 pop and number 21 on the adult contemporary chart in early 1987. Her debut album went gold, also helped along by the follow-up hits "Go on Without You" and "Be Free." She also released albums in 1988 (''A Woman's Point of View'') and 1991 ('' Let There Be Love!''). In early 2000, Murdock toured in the inspirational/gospel play ''Be Careful What You Pray For'' with

Cuba Gooding, Sr. Cuba Mark Gooding Sr. (April 27, 1944 – April 20, 2017) was an American singer. He was the most successful lead singer of the soul group The Main Ingredient, replacing former lead singer Donald McPherson who was diagnosed with leukemia in ...

and David Peaston. Murdock released ''Home'', her gospel-music debut album, in 2002 on

T.D. Jakes Thomas Dexter Jakes (born June 9, 1957), known as T. D. Jakes, is an American bishop, author and filmmaker. He is the bishop of The Potter's House, a non-denominational American megachurch. Jakes's church services and Evangelistic sermons are b ...

' Dexterity Sounds record label. She made her acting debut in the movie ''Sweating in the Spirit''. Most recently, Murdock has signed with Tyscot Records and released her most recent album in March 2007. In 2009, Murdock collaborated with Teena Marie on the song "Soldier", from Marie's album '' Congo Square''. She also appeared in the 2009 stage play ''A Mother's Prayer'', with Johnny Gill, Robin Givens, and

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. She also appeared in "A Mother's Love" a stage play produced by Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker in 2014.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

Shirley Murdock official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murdock, Shirley 1957 births Musicians from Toledo, Ohio Living people 20th-century African-American women singers American gospel singers American rhythm and blues singers Singers from Ohio Elektra Records artists Zapp (band) members 21st-century American women singers Ballad musicians 21st-century American singers 21st-century African-American women singers