"All Night Long (All Night)" is a song by American singer and songwriter Lionel Richie from his second solo album, Can't Slow Down (1983). The song combined Richie's Commodores style with Caribbean influences. The single reached number one on three Billboard charts (pop, R&B and adult contemporary).[5] In the UK, it peaked at number two on the singles chart.[6]
The song lyrics were written primarily in English, but Richie has admitted in at least one press interview that "African" lyrics in the song, such as "Tam bo li de say de moi ya" and "Jambo jumbo", were in fact gibberish.[7] Richie has described these portions of the song as a "wonderful joke", written when he discovered that he lacked the time to hire a translator to contribute the foreign-language lyrics he wished to include in the song.[8]
Production
When composing the song, Richie was able to write all of the verses easily but got stuck when he got up to the hook. He told GQ that he kept repeating, "come on and sing along" over and over to no avail:[9]
Now I have this song, 'Well, my friends the time has come to raise the roof and have some fun,' that's great. 'Karamu, fiesta, forever — come on and sing along. Da-da-da-da…' I don’t have a hook. And so, it took me probably another month of just walking around my house and everywhere trying to find out what is the hook to 'come on and sing along?' I’ve got to give you the sing-along.
Finally, inspiration struck him while he was visiting a friend's house and about to go back to work in the studio:
So, I went to one of my dear friends' houses, Dr. Lloyd Greg, and I went by for dinner. He’s from Jamaica. And I’m leaving at now it's — I took a break from the studio, I'm leaving his house now about two o'clock in the morning. And as I'm leaving the house, I’m saying to him, "Hey man, I got to go back and work all night long, man." All night long. All night long. All night long. All night long. Got it.
Reception
Cash Box summed up its review of the single saying "Richie's command of these diverse musical elements and shifts in melodic direction is as impressive as it is pleasurable."[10]Mat Snow of NME said it "is amongst the most justly infectious floor-fillers ever."[11]
Diane Burt, James Anthony Carmichael, Melinda Chatman, David Cochrane, Dr. Lloyd Byro Greig, Calvin Harris, Brenda Harvey-Richie, Jeanette Hawes, Janice Marie Johnson, Richard Marx, Deborah Joyce Richie, Lionel Richie, Suzanne Stanford and Deborah Thomas
Hoopa hollers
Marilyn Ammons, Sue Ann Butler, Melinda Chatman, Sheldon J. Cohn, Esq., Sandy Dent-Crimmel, Ruth Diaz, David Egerton, Sylvia Genauer, Rejauna Lynn Green, Gabrielle Greig, Sally Greig, Tanya Greig, Darrell Jones, David Malvin, Alison Maxwell, Jerry Montes, John Michael Montes, Billy "Bass" Nelson, Greg Phillinganes, Carlos Rios, Suzanne Stanford, Randy Stern, Wilbert Terrell and Susan Wood
Production
Lionel Richie – producer
James Anthony Carmichael – producer
Calvin Harris – recording engineer
Steve Crimmel – second recording engineer
David Egerton – second recording engineer, gibberish vocals
It debuted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number twelve on 21 March 2011[58] and on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number twenty-six on 28 March 2011.[59]
In 2018, English singer, arranger, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier collaborated with Take 6 and the Metropole Orkest on a version of "All Night Long". Collier's arrangement won the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals. The version was included on Collier's studio album, Djesse Vol. 1 (2018). The album peaked at number six on the BillboardTop Classical Albums and Top Jazz Albums.
In 2019, Swedish singer Benjamin Ingrosso recorded a version at the Spotify studios, Stockholm. It was released in March 2019 and peaked at number 5 on the Swedish charts and was certified platinum in June 2019.[60][61] The rearranged version of the song, titled as "All Night Long (All Night) [2020 Edit]" was released on 17 July 2020.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. † Streaming-only figures based on certification alone.
Thijs Boontjes Version
"Deze Nacht" is a song by the Dutch musician Thijs Boontjes[nl][67] from 2020. The song is a Dutch-language adaptation of "All Night Long (All Night)" by Lionel Richie.
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