How Could It Be | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1985 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1985 [2] | |||
Studio | Wonderland Studios, Joint Recording Studios, Soundworks Studios, Clinton Recording, Power Station | |||
Length | 34:53 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer |
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Eddie Murphy chronology | ||||
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Singles from How Could It Be | ||||
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How Could It Be is the debut musical studio album by comedian/actor Eddie Murphy, released in September 1985 [1] on Columbia Records. It was produced by Aquil Fudge, with the exception of the hit top ten single "Party All the Time", which was produced by Rick James.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Robert Christgau | (C-) [4] |
New York Daily News | (unfavorable) [5] |
New York Daily News | [6] |
The Cincinnati Post | [7] |
The Cincinnati Enquirer | [8] |
Detroit Free Press | [9] |
The Boston Globe | (unfavorable) [10] |
The Gazette | (favorable) [11] |
The Buffalo News | (unfavorable) [12] |
The Commercial Appeal | (favorable) [13] |
Gannett News Service | (unfavorable) [14] |
The Honolulu Advertiser | (unfavorable) [15] |
The Canadian Press | (unfavorable) [16] |
Copley Press | (favorable) [17] |
Daily Press | (favorable) [18] |
The Morning Call | (unfavorable) [19] |
The Daily Oklahoman | (favorable) [20] |
Oakland Tribune | [21] |
Lexington Herald-Leader | (unfavorable) [22] |
Los Angeles Times | [23] |
The Toronto Star | (unfavorable) [24] |
The album was a commercial success, making it to No. 26 on the Billboard 200 and No. 17 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Two singles were released: "Party All the Time", which made it to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the title track, which became a minor R&B hit. This studio album was recorded as part of fulfilling a $100,000 bet that Richard Pryor had made with Eddie Murphy that he could not sing.[ citation needed ] In the album's liner notes, Eddie Murphy wrote the following "To Richard Pryor, my idol, with whom I have a $100,000 bet. No, motherfucker, I didn't forget." [25]
In an interview in 1987, Murphy said: "My album could have been much better but it came out okay". [26]
For this album, Murphy enlisted other well-known musicians to help him create his first musical studio album. The record has two Stevie Wonder produced and written tracks, "Do I" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses". There are also two songs that Rick James produced and wrote—the title track (a minor R&B hit) and the successful hit, "Party All the Time". [2]
Murphy wrote three tracks on the album in which he also gets sole writing credit for: "C-O-N Confused", a disco track, "I, Me, Us, We", a Parliament homage, and "My God Is Color Blind", an anti-racism song. Murphy took an experimental approach to test himself in what he could do with music. [2]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Do I" | Stevie Wonder | 3:56 |
2. | "C-O-N Confused" | Murphy | 3:41 |
3. | "How Could It Be" (featuring Crystal Blake) | Frank Hamilton, Rick James, Murphy | 4:39 |
4. | "I Wish (I Could Tell You When)" | David Allen Jones, Murphy | 4:28 |
5. | "Party All the Time" (featuring Rick James) | Rick James | 4:12 |
6. | "I, Me, Us, We" | Murphy | 4:41 |
7. | "My God Is Color Blind" | Murphy | 4:42 |
8. | "Everything's Coming Up Roses" | Stevie Wonder | 4:34 |
Chart (1985–86) | Peak position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard Top Current Albums [28] | 26 |
U.S. Billboard 200 [29] | 26 |
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums [30] | 17 |
U.S. Cash Box Top 200 Pop Albums [31] | 25 |
U.S. Cash Box Top 75 Black Contemporary Albums [32] | 23 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA) [33] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Stevland Hardaway Morris, known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. One of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the 20th century, he is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of contemporary R&B. He also helped drive such genres into the album era, crafting his LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder.
James Ambrose Johnson Jr., 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 teenage years. He was in various bands before entering the U.S. Naval Reserve to avoid being drafted into the army. In 1964, James moved to Toronto, Canada, where he formed the rock band The Mynah Birds, who eventually signed a recording deal with Motown Records in 1966. James's career with the group halted after military authorities discovered his whereabouts and eventually convicted him of desertion related charges. He served several months in jail. After being released, James moved to California, where he started a variety of rock and funk groups in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
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"Party All the Time" is a song by comedian and actor Eddie Murphy, written and produced by Rick James. It was the lead single 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.
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