"Rip It Up" is a 1983 single by Scottish

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. A ...

. It was the second single to be released from their 1982 album of the same name. The song became the band's only UK top 40 success, reaching no. 8 in the chart. "Rip It Up" signalled a departure from the sound of the band's earlier singles, with

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English diction ...

-influenced guitars and using a synthesiser to create a more disco-oriented sound. The song was sampled in 2009 by British soul singer

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English recording artist and musical theatre actress. She released her first album, ''The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke and ...

on her song "

In Your Shoes "In Your Shoes" is the second single release from British singer-songwriter Beverley Knight's sixth studio album, 100%, released on 9 November 2009. The radio edit was added to the BBC Radio 2 playlist on 14 October 2009 and peaked on the B-list. ...

" from the album '' 100%''. In 2014, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' ranked it at number 216 in its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was also included by ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' at number 157 in a list of The Best 200 Songs of the 1980s.

Recording and influences

The song was recorded as part of the sessions for

's second studio album and would go on to become the title track of said album. It marked a departure from their previous guitar-pop based material, instead utilising

style guitar-funk and a bubbling

Roland TB-303 The Roland TB-303 Bass Line (also known as the 303) is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were ...

synthesiser bassline, becoming the first chart single to feature the instrument. The song also quotes two lines of lyrics (''"You know me, I'm acting dumb-dumb / You know this scene is very humdrum"'') and a snatch of the guitar riff from "Boredom", a song by

Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

that featured on their debut ''Spiral Scratch'' EP. The riff chimes briefly in, just as Collins namechecks the song in the lyrics claiming that "...and my favourite song is entitled 'Boredom'." Backing vocals on the song were provided by Paul Quinn, the lead singer of fellow Scottish band

Bourgie Bourgie Paul Walter Quinn (born 1959) is a Scottish musician who was the lead singer of cult 1980s band Bourgie Bourgie, and also released records with Jazzateers, Vince Clarke and Edwyn Collins and sang on an early track by the French Impressionists ...

, with whom Collins would later record a single in 1984, a cover of the

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabri ...

song "

Pale Blue Eyes "Pale Blue Eyes" is a song written and sung by Lou Reed and performed by The Velvet Underground. He recorded a demo with John Cale in May 1965. It was included on the band's 1969 album ''The Velvet Underground''. Despite the name, "Pale Blue Eye ...

Music video

The video opens with the band in a futuristic, but cheaply constructed, control room as they sing, dance and operate various controls. The band then watch themselves on a monitor screen as they walk down a rainy British high street dressed in incongruous, brightly coloured summer clothes. The video then cuts back to the control room, this time with the band playing their instruments superimposed over it, before returning to more scenes of a British city in torrential rain as the band walk around in scuba diving gear. The video finally cuts back to the band playing in a silver foil covered room, before superimposing them over a pile of random photographs.

UK single release

"Rip It Up" was released as a single in the UK in February 1983. The seven inch vinyl version of the single was available in three versions, a double pack including a second seven-inch and a fold out poster, along with two versions of the standard release, initially with a silver injection moulded labels, and then subsequently with paper printed labels. The song was also released on twelve inch vinyl, with extended versions of the title track and B-side. All versions were housed in a paper sleeve depicting a US P-40 Warhawk fighter plane (decorated with eyes and teeth) partially submerged, tail first, in the sea, drawn by

Edwyn Collins Edwyn Stephen Collins (born 23 August 1959) is a Scottish musician, producer and record label owner from Edinburgh, Scotland. Collins was the lead singer for the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice, which he co-founded. After the group split in ...

Track listing

Chart positions

References

External links

* {{Orange Juice, state=expanded 1983 singles Orange Juice (band) songs 1983 songs Polydor Records singles Songs written by Edwyn Collins