Movie of the Week - Coming to America (1988)

This was our first taste of Eddie Murphy doing multiple characters in his movies. In my opinion, it is also his best at the multiple character genre. The scene above is absolutely hilarious. When the old man in the middle says "Damn that boy can sing!!! He good!!!", I lose it every time.

The barber shop scenes are classic, as well. Murphy and Arsenio Hall own this movie from start to finish. This movie is a quote machine from beginning to end. "Give it up for my band, Sexual Chocolate!!!". Classic.

I know most of you guys have seen it, but this movie is worth multiple viewings every year. It'll make you laugh and put you in a good mood.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Top 10 Actors Turned Singers of the 80's

All actors want to be singers and all singers want to be actors. At least that's what they say and, it seems, quite a few of them give it a try. Some with excellent results and others disastrous.

Following are my Top 10 Actors Turned Singers of the 80's. My guidelines in making this list was, first they had to have notoriety as an actor before notoriety as a singer. Second, their notoriety for both had to come in the decade of the 80's. With that said, let's get to the list.

#10

Bruce Willis

bruce willis" respect yourself"
Uploaded by gourbyland. -

Although I wasn't a huge fan of the song, Bruce Willis didn't do too bad of a job, with the help of a Pointer Sister, in turning this cover into a top 5 hit in 1987.

#9

Gloria Loring

Although, Gloria Loring was singing before making it as an actor, it was her acting that first gained her large notoriety. Gloria played Liz Chandler on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.

In 1986 she paired with Carl Anderson for the #2 hit Friends and Lovers.

A bit of trivia about Loring. She co-wrote, composed (with ex-husband Alan Thicke) and sang the Diff'rent Strokes and Facts of Life theme songs. Also, the R&B singer Robin Thicke is her son with Alan Thicke.

#8

Don Johnson

Don Johnson capitalized on his Miami Vice fame by putting out this #5 hit single in 1986.

#7

Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze rode his Dirty Dancing fame all the way to #3 with this 1987 hit from the movie.

#6

Michael Damien

Damian used his acting gig on Young and the Restless, playing Danny Romalotti, as a launching pad for his singing career which included this #1 1989 hit Rock On from the Dream a Little Dream soundtrack.

#5

Eddie Murphy

It must be Eddie Murphy week or something. He was our actor of the week yesterday and here he is showing up on our Actors Turned Singers list at #5.

With a little help from Rick James, who wrote and produced this song, Murphy hit #2 on the charts in 1985 with this song.

#4

Jack Wagner

What's with these soap stars becoming singers? Jack Wagner, who played Frisco Jones on General Hospital, hit #2 with this early 1985 song.

#3

Kylie Minogue

Already a pretty big star in Australia for playing on the soap opera Neighbours, Kylie tried her hand at singing in the U.S. and hit it big with this song and Locomotion back in 1987. She has had even further and greater success in the 2000's with hits such as Can't Get You Outta My Head.

#2

Janet Jackson

For those who forgot, Janet played little Penny on Good Times and also had a role on Diff'rent Strokes. Her hits are way too many to list and besides everybody already knows how huge a star she is.

#1

Rick Springfield

Springfield played Dr. Noah Drake on the soap opera (yeah I know, another soap star) General Hospital. He hit it huge in 1981 with Jessie's Girl and never looked back.

Like Janet Jackson, he has too many hits too list. I know a lot of you may say Janet deserves to be #1, but my personal preference is Rick Springfield. He has a ton of hits in the 80's just go take a look at his discography and pick up his greatest hits and you won't regret it.

So ends another top 10 list. I hope you enjoyed. Agreed or disagreed? Leave it in the comments below.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger

Actor of the Week - Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy

April 3, 1961 -

Eddie Murphy is, arguably, the most successful Saturday Night Live alumni to move onto the big screen. He absolutely ruled the 80's with hit movie after hit movie.

Murphy was only 19 years old, in 1980, when he landed a spot on Saturday Night Live and he took major advantage of his good fortune. His characters on SNL are legendary and are still as hilarious today as they were back then.

It didn't take Hollywood long to come knocking on Murphy's door, knowing full well he would be box office gold. Murphy's debut movie co-starred Nick Nolte and was called 48hrs. It was a huge hit and his career exploded into the stratosphere afterwards.

Murphy left SNL in 1982 to focus on his big screen career, and as much as everyone hated to see him leave, it was the right move for him.Murphy starred in some of the best comedies of the 80's or any other decade, for that matter. He pretty much couldn't miss throughout the decade, save for possibly The Golden Child, which was panned by critics.

After having one of the most successful decades in the movie business an actor could ever wish for, Eddie moved on into the 90's looking to keep up the success. Right off the bat he hit it big with a 2nd installment of the movie that got the whole ball rolling for him. Eddie returned to the role that made him famous in Another 48hrs.

After this, though, Eddie unfortunately began moving away from his hilariousness and tried to be the romantic lead in films like Boomerang. You won't hear me pan Boomerang too much, though, because it was most peoples first exposure to future mega-star Halle Berry. She looks as good, or better, today as she did way back then in 1992.

The decade of the 90's were hit and miss for Eddie. He'd mix in his usual thigh slapping funny movies, like The Nutty Professor, with clunkers, such as Vampire in Brooklyn.

The new millennium has not slowed Eddie down, although he's not automatic gold like he was in the 80's, he still mixes in plenty of the old type of roles that endeared us to him.

News of a 4th installment of Beverly Hills Cop in 2010 has got me pretty excited. I'll be glad to see Eddie starting his 4th decade of making us laugh.

Eddie Murphy's 80's acting credits:

48hrs (1982)

Trading Places (1983)

Best Defense (1984)

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

The Golden Child (1986)

Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)

Coming to America (1988)

Harlem Nights (1989)

Also the two stand-up comedy tour shows, Delirious in 1983 and Raw in 1987. I'd say that makes a pretty good decade for Mr. Murphy.

I'll be typin' at ya later,

Bob the Blogger