How Lionel Richie's "All Night Long" Became An All-Timer
By | February 7, 2022
Lionel rocking one of the premier jheri curls. pinterest
Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” topped the Hot 100 for four weeks in 1983 and likely became a bedroom staple for many years after that. The Jheri curl king put the classic together, thanks to Caribbean vacations, the United Nations, and even his wife’s gynecologist! The song epitomizes Richie’s aim of universality, "What I try to write about are real events. There will always be an easy like Sunday morning. There will always be an endless love. There will always be an all night long." Here’s how “All Night Long” came to be.
Richie still enjoying the Caribbean all these years later, with Prince Charles no less. smoothradio
Vacation Inspiration
By 1983 Richie had long come into stardom, so naturally, he took advantage by taking everyone’s dream vacations. One constant he noticed on all his exotic expeditions? Calypso.
"I'm one of those guys that - I don't look for something new. I look for what people do every day. And I noticed that anytime I would come on vacation, everybody who can rap is on vacation doing a calypso dance. Everybody who's singing opera, they conform to some form of calypso or some form of reggae. So when I went back to do 'All Night Long' it was very simple. All I had to do was find that beat that everybody dances to when they go on vacation."
Lionel saw Calypso's potential early on. varietyshow
Bumps In The Road
Unfortunately, many in Richie’s corner failed to see the appeal. "Even my own record company said to me, 'Are you out of your mind?' And I said, 'Guys, I've traveled the world. This is the rhythm that the whole world dances to on vacation.'" To make things worse, the male siren of sensuality also ran into some writer’s block.
"I just couldn't find the ending - I couldn't find all night long to save my life. I had everything, the verses, the middle part, all the stuff. I just did not have all night long. It took me forever to find it. And finally one night, the heavens opened up and came through."
An all-time '80s 'stache as well. stereogum
United Nation’s Education
The answer from above arrived as a heaping helping of international flavor. Looking for an assist, Richie sought the counsel of the United Nations. Apparently, none of the star’s vacations ever included Africa, as you’ll see. "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.”
As if consulting with the UN wasn’t enough, he also double-checked with his wife’s Jamaican gynecologist. Reportedly, his phone call referral was met with "I'm right in the middle of an appointment, can we talk later?"
"All Night Long" notched another #1 hit in Riche's impressive collection. musictimes
The Jambo Section
Armed with that vital piece of information, Richie went rogue, “So, 'Tambo liteh sette mo-jah!'? I made it up on the spot. Now I think that 'Jambo' might have a meaning in Swahili ("hello"), but you gotta be careful because it might mean 'welcome' in one dialect and you might get your head cut off for saying it in another.”
Richard Marx, who provided vocals on “All Night Long '' and other Richie hits, remembered the trickiness of the artist's freestyling, "It kept changing. He kept getting different notes from people saying, 'That's actually not what that means. Change this vowel.' So, we had to do it a couple of times on different days."
Turns out a long longer than just all night. tenor
Cultural Footprint
Besides bolstering Lionel’s collection of #1 hits, the song echoed decades of pop culture. According to Richie, it helped break down the door for black artists on MTV. "When MTV started, it wanted nothing to do with black artists. But then I gave them 'All Night Long' after Michael (Jackson) had broken down the door. And from then on I was on MTV."
It’s hard to argue when you review the song’s pop culture resume which includes South Park, The Simpsons, The Wedding Singer, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and The Fifth Element. Not only all night long but all century-long as well.
