All Night Long (All Night)

"All Night Long (All Night)"
7" cover
Single by Lionel Richie
from the album Can't Slow Down
B-side	"Wandering Stranger"
Released	31 August 1983 [1]
Format	7", 12"
Length	4:20 (Single edit) 6:19 (Album version)
Label	Motown
Writer(s)	Lionel Richie
Producer(s)	Lionel Richie James Anthony Carmichael
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Lionel Richie singles chronology
"My Love" (1983) "All Night Long (All Night)" (1983) "Running with the Night" (1983)

"All Night Long (All Night)" is a hit single for American singer-songwriter Lionel Richie from 1983. Taken from his second solo album, Can't Slow Down, it combined Richie's soulful Commodores style with Caribbean influences. This new, more dance music and pop inspired approach proved popular, as the single reached number one on three Billboard charts (pop, R&B and adult contemporary).^[2]

In the UK, the song was kept off the top spot by Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl", peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks.

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 "Tom bo li de say de moi ya," and "Jambo jumbo," were in fact made-up gibberish of his own invention.^[3] 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.^[4]

The song has achieved massive popularity in the Arab World, in which Richie is well known as much as if not more than in his native U.S. The Independent has referred to Richie as "a phenomenon" over the past decade or so in nations such as Iraq, with "Hello" also achieving much success.^[5]

Music video

An accompanying music video was produced by former Monkee and TV video pioneer Michael Nesmith and directed by Bob Rafelson.^[6][7]

Notable performances

Richie performed the song at the closing ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.

In popular culture

• U.S. military personnel told Richie that "All Night Long (All Night)" was playing in the nighttime streets of Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[8]
• The song can be heard twice in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's eighth season episode "Charlie Kelly Rules the World".
• The song can be heard in The Simpsons' twenty-third season episode "Moe Goes from Rags to Riches".
• The online comedy duo, Rhett and Link, performed a karaoke version of All Night Long continuously for 11 hours in September 2012.
• The song was used in 1984 Turkish film, Ortadirek Şaban.^[9]
• It was used in an episode of Everybody Hates Chris.
• The song was used in The Cleveland Show episode, "Da Doggone Daddy-Daughter Dinner Dance".
• The song was used in the South Park episode, "Taming Strange," when the school's computer interface program fails.
• In Luc Besson's sci-fi action film The Fifth Element (1997), Chris Tucker's character Ruby Rhod, a flamboyant 23rd-century broadcaster, uses the first lines of the chorus in a scene.
• On April 2, 2015, the rapper Common used the song in his second performance on the Spike TV show Lip Sync Battle.^[10] Common also had a song called "All Night Long" from his 1997 album One Day It'll All Make Sense.
• The song was used in the 2014 film While We're Young and featured on its soundtrack.
• WWE wrestler Rich Swann used the song as his entrance in the independent circuit.

Remix version

"All Night Long (All Night)"
Single by Lionel Richie featuring Guy Sebastian
Released	18 Mar 2011 [11]
Format	digital download
Recorded	2011
Genre	Pop
Length	4:11
Writer(s)	Lionel Richie
Producer(s)	RedOne
Certification	Lionel Richie singles
Lionel Richie featuring Guy Sebastian singles chronology
"Just Go" (2009) "All Night Long (All Night)" (2011) "Endless Love" (2012)
Guy Sebastian chronology "Who's That Girl" (2010) "All Night Long" (2011) "Don't Worry Be Happy" (2011)

Richie recorded a remix of the song with Australian singer-songwriter Guy Sebastian in 2011. All proceeds will go towards the Queensland Floods and New Zealand Earthquake Appeal.^[12] The re-recorded version was produced by RedOne^[12] and was released to iTunes Stores in Australia and New Zealand on 18 and 16 March respectively.^[13][14]

It debuted on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number twelve on 21 March 2011^[15] and on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number twenty-six on 28 March 2011.^[16]

Charts

Original 1983 version Chart (1983) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[17] 8 Germany (Official German Charts)[18] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[19] 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[20] 4 Norway (VG-lista)[21] 3 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 8 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 8 UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[24] 2 US Billboard Hot 100[25] 1 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[26] 1 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[27] 1

2011 version (featuring Guy Sebastian) Chart (2011) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[16] 26 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[15] 12

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1983 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B singles of 1983 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1983 (U.S.)

References

1. RIAA Gold and Platinum Database
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 492.
3. Fleming, Kirsten (21 September 2013). "Five surprising facts about Richie's classic 'All Night Long'". New York Post.
4. Id.
5. Sherwin, Adam (27 May 2013). "Lionel Richie hits big time again… as an Iraq 'n' roll star". The Independent (London).
6. "Classic Motown: Lionel Richie". Retrieved 24 February 2008.
7. "The Golden Age Of Music Video". Retrieved 11 April 2012.
8. John Berman (19 May 2006). "Baghdad's Lionel Richie Obsession". Nightline. ABC News.
9. http://topsuzalandafaul.blogspot.fr/2011/06/orta-direk-sabandaki-erkan-ve-her.html
10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACrb54lzzBg
11. http://www.itunescharts.net/aus/artists/music/lionel-richie/songs/all-night-long-2011-mix-feat-guy-sebasti/
12. Adams, Cameron (26 February 2011) Lionel Richie and Guy Sebastian have teamed up to record a charity single for earthquake relief. Daily Telegraph, (Sydney). Retrieved 27 February 2011
13. "All Night Long (2011 Mix) feat. Guy Sebastian - Single". iTunes Store Australia. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
14. "All Night Long (2011 Mix) feat. Guy Sebastian - Single". iTunes Store New Zealand. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
15. "Charts.org.nz – Lionel Richie feat. Guy Sebastian – All Night Long 2011". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
16. "Australian-charts.com – Lionel Richie feat. Guy Sebastian – All Night Long 2011". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
17. "Austriancharts.at – Lionel Richie – All Night Long (All Night)" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
18. "Musicline.de – Lionel Richie Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
19. "Dutchcharts.nl – Lionel Richie – All Night Long (All Night)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
20. "Charts.org.nz – Lionel Richie – All Night Long (All Night)". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
21. "Norwegiancharts.com – Lionel Richie – All Night Long (All Night)". VG-lista. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
22. "Swedishcharts.com – Lionel Richie – All Night Long (All Night)". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
23. "Swisscharts.com – Lionel Richie – All Night Long (All Night)". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
24. "Chart Stats - Lionel Richie - All Night Long (All Night)". UK Singles Chart. Chart Stats. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
25. "Lionel Richie – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Lionel Richie. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
26. "Lionel Richie – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Lionel Richie. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
27. "Lionel Richie – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Lionel Richie. Retrieved 28 March 2011.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics