I’ll Do Anything For You
I’ll Do Anything for You was the game changer for Denroy Morgan’s career. The Morgan Heritage patriarch, who died on Thursday at age 76, saw his stakes rise when the disco nugget became a global hit.
In an interview with this writer two years ago, Morgan said I’ll Do Anything for You was released in 1981, by indie label Becket Records. He later signed with major label RCA Records.
“My association with RCA Records was a very good experience. The label brought a lot to the table professionally with the making of the album and the releasing of the video. They have the machinery to give you the exposure,” Morgan recalled at the time.
His association with RCA lasted three years. His sole album for the label, Make My Day, was released in 1983.
I’ll Do Anything for You rocked nightclubs and became a classic. The song peaked at number nine on Billboard‘s Hot Soul Singles chart (now known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart).
Locally, the song was a monster hit scaling the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation ( JBC) Radio Top 30 and Radio Jamaica ( RJR) Top 40 charts.
Written and produced by Bert Reid, the song was a massive song throughout the United States in the summer of 1981. It made Clarendon-born Morgan — who had lived in the US since 1966 — a star.
“The first time I heard it I knew it was going to be a great song. Bert always tell mi dat him hear a hit song in mi voice,” Morgan, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer in October last year, said.
I’ll do Anything for You was not a hit right out of the gate. Released in March, it was not until June when Frankie Crocker, king of New York radio, put his considerable muscle behind the song that it took off.
Morgan later scored follow-up singles on the Billboard chart with Sweet Tender Love (number 47 in 1982) and Happy Feeling (number 74 in 1982).