"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, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...

, 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, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

. It was the

lead single A lead single (or first 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. A similar term, "debut ...

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" 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 the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

Production

When Murphy informed actor/comedian

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

that he was doing an album, Pryor offered him a $100,000 bet that Murphy wouldn't be able to do a purely musical album without jokes. In a 2023 appearance on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'', Murphy said that Pryor never paid him the money before his death in 2005. The single was recorded at Rick James's home studio in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, during what would go on to be named Buffalo's "Six-Pack" storm (named after a quote from Mayor James D. Griffin), where 33 inches of snow and 50 mile per hour wind speeds shut down the city. Originally only planning to stay in Buffalo for a weekend to record the song, Murphy ended up being stuck inside with James for two weeks. In addition to writing and producing the song, James also provided backup vocals.

Reception

A reader in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

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

Gumby Gumby and Pokey figures ''Gumby'' is an American cartoon character and associated media franchise created by Art Clokey. He is a blocky green humanoid made of clay. Gumby stars in two television series, '' Gumby: The Movie'', and other medi ...

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

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''). 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, and Broward County, an ...

'' 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 vocal *

– 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 c ...

DJ and producer Sharam Tayebi of Deep Dish released a

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, 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, poem, or photograph ca ...

of the song, known simply as "PATT" (an acronym for "Party All the Time"), which peaked at No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart on December 30, 2006 and at No. 4 on the Polish Airplay Chart in early 2007. The song also peaked at number 87 on the Australian

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, 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 beca ...

. 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 frontman Alexi Laiho, drummer Jaska Raatikainen, bassist Henkka Seppälä, ...

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''. In 2019, American progressive rock/metal band Thank You Scientist released a cover of the song, accompanied by a humorous music video. Guitarist Eric Calderone covered the song in 2022 on his YouTube channel. In 2023, American boy band Big Time Rush released their version of the song titled "I Just Want To (Party All the Time)" for their album '' Another Life''. Also in 2023 a remix by Hannah Laing and HVRR reached number 51 in the UK Singles Chart.

References

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