In the days before he was donning fat suits or voicing a cartoon ass, Eddie Murphy was actually in some pretty good stuff. One of the hits of the golden years is Coming to America, a movie about an African prince who travels to the city of Queens, NY in order to find – what else? – a queen! Part of the film’s enduring appeal is the fun alternate world it creates, fleshed out nicely by fictional products, restaurants, bands – even a fictional country.
Rather than do these one at a time, I thought I’d go for an epic roundup. How epic? Almost as epic as the jingle for Soul Glo!
Paramount Pictures won’t let me upload the video, but you can hear the song being sampled in this dirty south jam from Hood Headlinaz.
Just let your soul glow
Just let it shine through
Just let your soul glow, baby
Feeling oh so silky smooth
Just let it shine through, yeah
Just let your soul glow
The empassioned theme for this high-viscosity curl activator was written and produced by Nile Rodgers, who you may know from some of his other work, like David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, Madonna’s Like a Virgin, or a little ditty called We are Family that he co-wrote for Sister Sledge.
The gent with the lovely locks is Clyde R Jones, who you may know from some of his other work, like Homeboys in Outer Space or Treasure n tha Hood.
McDowell’s
Poor Cleo McDowell. As if fending off merciless hounding by lawyers from McDonald’s wasn’t enough trouble, he has to worry about his daughter getting romantically entangled with illegal immigrants working at his restaurant. And as to McDonald’s Corporation’s completely baseless accusations – well, I’ll just let Mr. McDowell explain it himself:
“Look…me and the McDonald’s people got this little misunderstanding. See, they’re McDonald’s…I’m McDowell’s. They got the Golden Arches, mine is the Golden Arcs. They got the Big Mac, I got the Big Mick. We both got two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions, but their buns have sesame seeds. My buns have no seeds. “
As you can see, the lawsuit is entirely without merit.
Wanna visit the set? Just put 8507 Queens Boulevard, Flushing, NY into your GPS, and you’ll be on your way. It’s now a Wendy’s.
Zamunda
This tiny African monarchy, ruled justly by King Jaffe Joffer and Queen Aoleon, is blessed with immense wealth from its abundance of resources which include exports and… stuff. The heir apparent, Prince Akeem, is featured on Zamunda’s currency. When Cleo McDowell learns that his undocumented fast-food employee is, in fact, the Crown Prince, he utters the memorable quote:
"And, baby, when I tell ya the boy has got his own money, I mean the boy has got his own MONEY!"
If you’re interested in visiting, check out Zamunda’s online tourist guide.
Sexual Chocolate (featuring Randy Watson)
If his introduction at the 1988 Black Awareness Rally in Queens is to be believed, Randy Watson is also an actor who portrayed “Joe the Policeman” in the “What’s Goin’ Down” episode of That’s My Mama. (Not a real episode)
Stay on top of all the latest Randy Watson and Sexual Chocolate news by becoming a fan on Facebook!
