Shirley Murdock was already a gospel music veteran when she found secular success with the hit single "As We Lay" in 1986. Since then her soulful vocals have graced a string of recordings for the Elektra label, the cream of which can now be heard on Rhino's The Very Best Of Shirley Murdock. We caught up with Shirley while she was out on tour, and picked her brain for the following question-and-answer session:
Rhino's Question: What album do you insist that all your friends get?
Shirley Murdock's Answer: Well, I like all kinds of music, anywhere from Solid Rock Sire Choir (which is gospel), Yolanda Adams, Fred Hammond, to Luther [Vandross]. Let's see, who else do I like? Kelly Price, Mase, Monica « I tend to stick to the singers; I just love really great singing. I also happen to like a little Lenny Kravitz; there's a song he has out now that I think is great. I like all kinds of stuff so I really wouldn't limit it to just one album.
Q: What's your all-time favorite movie?
A:Actually, I have two. One is called It Happened One Night with Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable, and there’s another called Imitation Of Life — it’s a classic!
Q:What have you been watching on TV most recently?
A:TBN, Nickelodeon with my 9-year-old, Star Trek: Voyager, and Survivor (like everybody else in the country).
Q:What book is on your nightstand at the moment?
A:The Bible is on my nightstand, and there’s a book called The Hidden Power of Prayer And Fasting by Mahesh Chavda, and another book called The Prayer Of Jabez.
Q:What comedian has made you laugh the most?
A:I would say Sinbad. The stuff he talks about, like growing up, getting smart with your mama, and all that -- really, really funny stuff that I can really, really relate to. And I love him because I don’t have to bleep through a lot of profanity in order to get to the comedy.
Q:Who would you most like to work with?
A:Stevie Wonder.
Q:What was the first thing you bought when you got your first check from playing music?
A:I don’t remember exactly what I did with my first check, but I remember what I got when I really "got paid." I built myself a brand new house, and then I built one for my mother right next door; I really felt great about doing that.
Q:Before they had you, what were your parents' greatest claims to fame?
A:I’d say my other brothers and sisters.Q:Who did you want to be when you grew up?
A:I wanted to be Shirley Temple. I used to watch those black and white movies — she could sing and she could dance. And when I got a little older I wanted to be Aretha Franklin.
Q:Where was your first kiss?
A:I was hanging out with an older cousin — I was probably about 13 or 14 years old — and we were on a boat going from Detroit to an island on the Canadian side. She looked a little older than she really was, and I was hanging out with her, and she met this guy. He had a friend and so she was talking to this one guy, I had to put up with his friend — who turned around and kissed me and it was the worst! It was my first kiss and he put his tongue in my mouth and I thought I was gonna throw up! It was just the worst experience, but later on in life I had some better experiences with kissing. But that first kiss was NOT the one — I was traumatized for a while, too, because I was not expecting it. I learned not to hang out with people who are older than you!
Q:What accomplishment are you proudest of?
A:I’m proud of being a mother. I’ve got a 9-year-old son who’s really the greatest. I’m proud of the fact that I was blessed enough to have my dreams come true — of wanting to sing all over the world, make records — I’ve done all that stuff, and there are a lot of people who live and die and never get the chance to do that, and I really, really count my blessings with that. And flying my mother to New York when I was on tour with Luther and receiving my first gold album when she was there -- I was really proud of that moment. I’ve had a lot of proud moments in my life, but that would be at the top of the list.
Q:What's your favorite food?
A:I love soul food, like greens and cornbread, and I also like pizza. I’m a cheese nut; I’m a cheese head!
Q:If your picture turned up in the dictionary, what word would it be next to?
A:Somewhere around "loyal" or "friend." In friendship, I think the thing which is really important is loyalty. As a young girl, I loved the example that my mother gave me of being a friend. You know, women can be pretty catty, but I never saw her backbiting a friend or talking about one friend behind another’s back. I’m loyal to my friends. Even if it’s somebody that I may not have contact with, or the relationship didn’t continue, the secrets that they shared with me while we were friends will go with me to the grave, because I’m loyal to that time in our lives when we were together.
Q:Which public figure, living or dead, do you most admire, and why?
A:I think Jesus Christ, because he’s an awesome example of unconditional love.
Q:When did you realize for the first time that you are a grown-up?
A:When the bills started coming in with my name on them. That’ll let you know!
A:What’s your favorite household chore, if there are any?
Q:None. But I’ve learned to enjoy cooking over the years, because my husband Dale and my son Devin love my cooking and because I’m in and out a lot, it’s a special treat for me to give them a really nice meal.
Q:What was the most confusing thing anyone ever tried to explain to you?
A:I don’t really know if this is something anyone’s tried to explain to me, but I don’t understand racism. I don’t understand why people can be so upset with each other because they look different. A rose is a rose is a rose, whether it’s a red rose, a pink rose, a yellow rose or whatever; it’s still a rose. We’re all human beings, we’re all the same race — the human race. I heard a preacher say one time that "All of us ain’t nothin’ but dirt. There’s red dirt, there’s brown dirt, there’s black dirt, there’s yellow dirt, and we all came from the dirt." I could put my kidney in somebody else that’s not necessarily African American and it would function, so I don’t know why we’re trippin’ over all of this. So if somebody could explain that one to me!
Q:What is your greatest joy in life?
A:The greatest joy in my life is knowing that God loved me so much that He gave me Dale and Devin. And beyond that He’s given me a successful career. And just knowing I’m a child of God and that after all that I’ve been assigned to do in this life that I have another home, eternal in Heaven, where I’ll spend eternity with my savior Jesus Christ, with my mother who passed on three years ago in October and who I love and miss dearly, and all my family and friends who’ve gone on before. That’s my greatest joy in life — of knowing about my future. That after this is over with, my afterlife is gonna be alright.
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