All Night Long - Lionel Ritchie (1984) 6/17/23

Lionel Ritchie was having no end of trouble trying to finish today's Great Song of the '80s.

He knew what he wanted: An internationally-flavored calypso party song (although his record label, Motown, thought he was nuts to even attempt it).

Actually, the instrumental part came rather easy, but the lyrics took several months to work out.

That's because he wanted to incorporate some foreign languages into the song. A few, like "fiesta" (Spanish for "party") and Karamu, (Swahili for "feast or banquet") he was able to toss in from personal knowledge, but when he wanted to incorporate more African words, he ran into a HUGE roadblock.

In an interview with "Q" Magazine, Lionel explained: "I called the UN and said 'I need something African for the breakdown in this song I'm writing.' They informed me that there are thousands of different African dialects. I couldn't believe it. One region doesn't have any idea what the other is talking about."

So Lionel decided to make up his OWN African dialect:

"Tambo liteh sette mo-jah! Yo! Jambo jambo."

The only REAL word in there is "Jambo," which is Swahili for "Hello."

Finally, Llionel had a complete song, and "All Night Long" was added to his 1983 album, "Can't Slow Down."

Lionel wanted it to be released as a single, and again Motown thought he was nuts...but his logic was sound. Everywhere Lionel went around the world, he saw people dancing to calypso music--many of them Americans on vacation and having a good time..

Motown finally relented, and Lionel was instantly proven correct!

In early 1984 "All Night Long" went to #1 in 7 countries and reached the Top 10 in 7 more. In the US alone, the song topped Billboard's Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and Black Charts...while reaching #5 on the Dance Chart (proving that people will indeed dance to calypso music!

TRIVIA: Richard Marx sang backup on the track!

In the years since, "All Night Long" has appeared in TV shows like "Miami Vice," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "The Simpson's," "South Park," and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." It was also used in the film, "The Wedding Singer," and in commercials for Bud Lite Lime-a-Ritas and Ameritrade.

Lionel himself performed the song during the closing ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

"All Night Long" by Lionel Ritchie: proof that calypso can make you party for decades--and a "Great Song of the '80s!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqAvFx3NxUM

Tomorrow: Survivor Search