Shirley Murdock (born May 22, 1957) is an American R&B singer-songwriter, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger's hit single " Computer Love". Her lead vocal special guest appearance with Smooth Jazz artist

Ben Tankard Ben Tankard (born January 10, 1964) is an American gospel/smooth jazz musician, producer, and arranger. Biography Tankard's father was a minister and his mother a missionary. In church, he played drums at an early age. He played tuba in school ...

, climbed to #1 Gospel and #20 on Billboard Top 200 on WOW Gospel 2006 and is certified Gold. Their collaboration of the Lionel Richie song "Jesus Is Love" is one of the most played songs on

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

gospel channel for eight years since its initial release.

Career

Murdock started out singing gospel music in her native Toledo. Singer/musician

Roger Troutman Roger Troutman (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999), also known as Roger, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and heavily influence ...

hired Murdock as a

backing singer A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

for his family's

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

Zapp, which had several hits on

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

(and its Reprise Records imprint). Based on this success, Troutman began recording tracks with Murdock and lead singer Sugarfoot of the Ohio Players, among others, at his

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

-based recording studio, Troutman Sound Labs. Murdock and Troutman's first chart single 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 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 A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

Billy Beck (of the Ohio Players). The tender, melancholy

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

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 Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, also helped along by the follow-up hits "Go on Without You" and "Be Free." She also released

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s 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. and

David Peaston David Peaston (March 13, 1957 – February 1, 2012) was an American R&B and gospel singer who in 1990 won a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist. He was mostly known for the singles, "Two Wrongs (Don't Make it Right)" and ...

. Murdock released ''Home'', her gospel-music debut album, in 2002 on T.D. Jakes' Dexterity Sounds

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. She made her acting debut in the movie ''Sweating in the Spirit''. Most recently, Murdock has signed with

Tyscot Records Tyscot Records is an independent American gospel music record label based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Tyscot Records was founded by Craig Tyson and Dr. Leonard Scott in 1976 in to record their church choir, Christ Church Apostolic Radio Choir. ...

and released her most recent album in March 2007. In 2009, Murdock collaborated with

Teena Marie Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the sta ...

on the song "Soldier", from Marie's album ''

Congo Square Congo Square (french: Place Congo) is an open space, now within Louis Armstrong Park, which is located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, just across Rampart Street north of the French Quarter. The square is famous for its ...

''. She also appeared in the 2009 stage play ''A Mother's Prayer'', with

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and actor. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has released e ...

Robin Givens Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: ** European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin ** Forest ...

, and Jermaine Crawford. 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