tone blind | morning after | the test
Normally my blogging activity doesn't get mixed up with my work activity, but considering the outstanding nature of this song, I made an exception.
I resolved that when a couple of my co-workers arrived at work this morning, I would play the song (hiding the cover of the YouTube video) and ask the people, "Do you know who is singing this song?"
(I chickened out on asking the question "What do you think of the song?" But see below.)
The first co-worker that was subjected to my quiz was a young adult at the time the album "How Could It Be" was released. The co-worker didn't have a clue who was singing it, although afterwards the co-worker certainly recalled "Party All The Time." In fact, the co-worker even recalled a second album by Murphy, something that I wasn't even aware of until I read the New York Sun article.
Actually, Wikipedia claims that Love's Alright was Murphy's "third musical (and fifth overall and last album)." (Well, presumably Shrek had soundtracks, and Dreamgirls certainly did, but hey, that's Wikipedia.) So what was the second? So Happy, on which Murphy worked with Nile Rodgers. (The man knew how to pick musical associates.)
Back to my test. The second co-worker who was subjected to the test was very young at the time Murphy's first musical album was released. As with the first co-worker, as the song played I noted that the person singing the song was not known for singing. The co-worker replied, "Obviously."
The co-worker continued to listen to the song and began wondering if a comedian were singing. When the first co-worker and I indicated that the second co-worker was on the right track, the second co-worker correctly guessed that Eddie Murphy was the singer. I guess in hindsight it's obvious, once you buy the fact that Murphy would sing in a falsetto.
By the way, I have slipped into my accustomed practice of playing a song to death. Specifically, I have been playing "My God is Color Blind" all morning, over and over. And yes, I'm wearing headphones - I like my co-workers.
