From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Straight Up (Paula Abdul song)
Straight Up (Paula Abdul song)
Country Release date
United States November 1988
United Kingdom March 6, 1989
"Straight Up" History
"Straight Up" was the third single released from her de-
but album Forever Your Girl, after "Knocked Out" and "(It’s
Just) The Way That You Love Me". While the latter was
enjoying success on the R&B charts, radio station KMEL
in San Francisco started playing "Straight Up" from the
album. The label decided to abandon "(It’s Just) The Way
That You Love Me" and refocus its attention on "Straight
Up". The strategy paid off, as "Straight Up" was followed
by three more number-one hits from the same album.
One of the 12" versions was remixed by LA "Power-
mixers" Chris Modig and Boris Granich, known for their
special Power mixes at Power 106 during the 1980s.
The record spent three weeks at the top of the Bill-
Single by Paula Abdul board Hot 100 chart from February 11, 1989 and was
ranked fourth in the Top 100 hits of 1989. It was certified
from the album Forever Your Girl Platinum by the RIAA with sales of more than one million
Released November 1988 units.[1] It reached number three in the UK and Germany.
Format CD Single
Genre R&B, Dance-pop
Music video
After debuting at number 79 on the chart the week of De-
Length 4:10 (Album Version)
cember 3, 1988, the song became so popular that it as-
3:51 (7" Edit)
cended to the Hot 100 top 20 before a music video had
Label Virgin Records even been shot for the song. The black and white video,
Writer(s) Elliot Wolff directed by David Fincher and choreographed by Paula
herself, won four 1989 MTV Video Music Awards for Best
Producer Elliot Wolff Female Video, Best Editing, Best Choreography, and the
Certification Platinum (RIAA) first Best Dance Video. The video features a special ap-
pearance by Paula’s friend, comedian Arsenio Hall, whose
Paula Abdul singles chronology popular talk show would not premiere until a few weeks
after the video was shot. The video at the time went
"(It’s Just) The Way That Straight
"Straight "Forever
You Love Me" Up
Up" Your Girl" into very heavy rotation on MTV, and it also made Abdul
(1988) (1988) (1989) known for her exceptionally creative and distinct videos.
"Straight Up is a 1988 hit single by American singer
Straight Up" Release history
Paula Abdul, which reached number one on the Billboard
Hot 100 and brought her widespread public attention. It
was written and produced by Elliot Wolff. Chart performance
The song is a mid-tempo dance tune. The synthetic In the US, "Straight Up" reached the number-one spot on
lead trumpet sound comes from the Roland D-50 (preset the Billboard Hot 100 by February 11, 1989, where it stayed
1-5). for three consecutive weeks. "Straight Up" was one of the
most popular R&B and dance-pop singles of the entire
year, remaining in the Top 10 for seven weeks, the Top
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Straight Up (Paula Abdul song)
Chart (1988/1989) Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 1
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play 1
US Billboard Hot Black Singles 2
Australian Singles Chart 2
Canadian Singles Chart 1
German Singles Chart 3
UK Singles Chart 3
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single Succeeded by
"When I’m with You" by Sheriff February 11–25, 1989 "Lost in Your Eyes" by Debbie
Gibson
20 for nine weeks, and the Top 40 for sixteen weeks. The
success of "Straight Up" catapulted the "Forever Your
Cover versions
Girl" album into the top 20 on the album chart. 2 more • In their early days, Limp Bizkit would attract
number-one hits from the album boost it up further into audiences by covering this song.[2]
the top 5 where it lingered before it finally reached the • "Straight Up" was covered by punk band Halifax for
pole position in October after a record-setting 64 weeks the 2005 compilation Punk Goes 80’s.
on the market. • Filipino singer Regine Velasquez did a cover of this
song for her Covers Vol. 2 album in 2005.
• In 2005, electro-industrial group Dismantled covered
Track listings and formats the song for their EP Breed to Death.
• A cover of the song by rock band 10 Sugar Charlie
US/UK/Euro 12"; UK 3"/Euro 5" CD sin- was included on their 2007 End of the World album.
gles • The song was covered by American dream pop indie
1. Straight Up - 12" remix 6:53 band Luna for the 2007 compilation Guilt by
2. Straight Up - Power mix 3:05 Association Vol. 1.
3. Straight Up - House mix 7:10 on 3", remix fades at • The song was covered in an edited acoustic version
5:13 by American Idol Season 9 contestant Andrew
4. Straight Up - Marley Marl mix 6:48 on 3",remix fades Garcia. A YouTube clip of Garcia’s performance has
at 4:48 received over 2.9 million viewings.
NB: the UK 12" and both CD singles feature shorter ver- • The song was covered by the Gypsy Jazz band The
sions of the latter three mixes, as listed below. Lost Fingers in their 2008 album Lost in the 80s.
ultimix 7" a straight up-ultimix 6:53 b opposites at- • The song was interpolated by rapper J. Cole for his
tract-1990 mix 6:49 2011 single "Work Out".
• In the show 10 Things I Hate About You, the episode
Official mixes (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party), Lindsey
Shaw’s character, Kat, sings this song.
• Album version 4:10
• On the show A Different World, Jaleesa performs the
• 7" edit / Single Version 3:51 - Elliot Wolff/Keith
song to audition for a telethon.
Cohen; edited album version
• 12" remix 6:54 - Elliot Wolff/Keith Cohen; extended
album version See also
• Power mix 5:36/4:57/3:01 - Boris Granich/Christer
• Hot 100 number-one hits of 1989 (United States)
Modig; released in several different edits
• House mix 7:10/5:13 – Kevin Saunderson/Ben Grosse;
shorter version is faded early References
• Marley Marl mix 6:38/4:40 - Marley Marl; shorter [1] RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database -
version is faded early Straight Up, accessed 2009-07-10
• Ultimix 6:55 – Les Massengale/Bradley Hinkle [2] Devenish, Colin (2000). Limp Bizkit. St. Martin’s.
• Razormaid! remix 8:29 – Dave Bareither p. 27. ISBN 031226349X.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Straight Up (Paula Abdul song)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Straight_Up_(Paula_Abdul_song)&oldid=468149502"
Categories:
• 1988 singles
• 1989 singles
• Paula Abdul songs
• Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
• Number-one singles in Norway
• MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video
• Singles certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
• Dance-pop songs
• Songs written by Elliot Wolff
• Music videos directed by David Fincher
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