How A Buffalo Blizzard Led To The “Greatest” Disco Song Ever

Buffalo and Western New York are known for quite a few things, but probably one of the things that we're best known for is our food and the weather. It goes without saying that most people in the region know that we get a lot of snow in the 716. We're routinely hit with snowstorms during the wintertime that can wreak havoc on the area. From driving bans to school closures, it's just a regular part of life.

For the most part, the people of Western New York can handle snow pretty well. However, from time to time, the weather gets so bad that it just shuts the region down. It happens often enough that the best thing we can do is to make sure we're prepared for it when it does come and find something to do to pass the time until the weather breaks.

That exact thing happened during the Blizzard of 1985, except some of the folks in Buffalo who were snowed in were quite famous, and the result of them being snowed in led to what some consider to be the greatest disco and funk song ever made.

Now, most people in Buffalo will remember the Blizzard of 1985 as the Six-Pack Blizzard, when Mayor Jimmy Griffin told the good people of Buffalo to "stay inside, grab a six-pack and watch a good football game." With wind gusts peaking at more than 50 mph and over 33 inches of snow falling in just a day, schools around Western New York were closed for a week while the region dug out.

Many folks were stuck inside and could not go anywhere, including Rick James, who owned a country estate and recording studio on Jewett-Holmwood Road in Orchard Park and was stuck in the house for more than a week with one of his best friends, Eddie Murphy.

So when you're a rich and famous comedian, and you're stuck in the house with a rich and famous singer, musician, and songwriter, what do you do to pass the time? You record a song that will live on forever.

Of course, Eddie Murphy was partially motivated by a $100,000 bet that fellow comedian Richard Pryor made with him, daring Murphy to make an album without any jokes.

Murphy and James recorded two songs for Murphy's album How Could It Be, which was released in September 1985 and earned an RIAA Gold Album certification. Party All The Time peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned an RIAA Platinum Album certification for selling more than 1 million copies.

We all know that Buffalo is famous for many things, but who knew we had this place in music history?