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"Straight Up" is the breakthrough song for American recording artist
Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographe ...
from her debut studio
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
, ''
Forever Your Girl ''Forever Your Girl'' is the debut studio album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 21, 1988, through Virgin Records. The album was Abdul's breakthrough into the music industry after being a choreographer for high-profile ar ...
'' (1988). The song is a mid-tempo
dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...
song with influence from the
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
and
new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing was m ...
genres. Written and produced entirely by
Elliot Wolff Elliot Marvin Wolff (January 1956 – June 2016) was an American musician, songwriter, and music producer. Born in Oklahoma, he was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. His music catalog is represented by Downtown Music Publishing. Career Wolff ...
, the song was released as the album's third single on November 22, 1988, by
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwi ...
. "Straight Up" became Abdul's first top 40 hit in the United States, before going on to be her first chart-topper on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her first two singles had been modest hits that had sparked only mild interest in her album, but "Straight Up" helped the album reach the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, before it finally reached number one following a record-setting 64 weeks on the market after spawning three more number-one hits. "Straight Up" brought Abdul widespread public attention, and has remained as her biggest international hit to date, reaching the top 10 in at least 16 countries. The song was also included in her six compilation albums, released between 1998 and 2013. The song also received positive reviews from music critics, with Daniel J. Levitin's ''
This Is Your Brain on Music ''This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession'' is a popular science book written by the McGill University neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin, and first published by Dutton Penguin in the U.S. and Canada in 2006, and updated and ...
'' praising it as "hold nga certain appeal over many, many listenings." It also earned Abdul several award nominations in the US, most notably including her first
Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
nomination in the category of
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...
in 1990, and six other nominations for its music video at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards.


Background

According to
Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographe ...
, her mother found this song for her. She explains that her mother knew someone whose boyfriend was an aspiring songwriter, and she got "Straight Up" as an 8-track demo. The demo version was "so bad" that Abdul's mother was "crying laughing" at it, and threw it in the trash. But Abdul heard something she liked in it, and retrieved it. At that time she was a full-time choreographer, and on the side, late at night she was recording music. The record label did not think the song was any good but Abdul offered to record two songs they wanted, which she did not like, if they would let her do "Straight Up". The song was recorded at a cost of $3,000. Later a friend of hers told her that somebody with her same name was being played on a northern California radio station. "Literally, within 10 days I tsold a million copies." The song was originally recorded in a bathroom, and in the masters of the recording, someone in the next apartment can be heard yelling "Shut up". "Straight Up" was the third single released from her debut album ''
Forever Your Girl ''Forever Your Girl'' is the debut studio album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 21, 1988, through Virgin Records. The album was Abdul's breakthrough into the music industry after being a choreographer for high-profile ar ...
,'' after "
Knocked Out A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...
" and " The Way That You Love Me." While the latter found modest success on the R&B charts, radio station
KMEL KMEL (106.1 FM) is an urban contemporary radio station that is licensed to San Francisco, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. KMEL has studios located in the SoMa district, and broadcasts ...
in San Francisco started playing "Straight Up" from the album. The label switched promotion "The Way That You Love Me" to "Straight Up". The strategy paid off, as "Straight Up" spent three weeks at No. 1 in the U.S. "The Way That You Love Me" was promoted a year later and became Abdul's fourth (of five) Top 5 hits from the album in the U.S. One of the 12" versions was remixed by LA "Powermixers" Chris Modig and Boris Granich, known for their special Power mixes at Power 106 during the 1980s.


Composition

"Straight Up" is performed in the key of
D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for t ...
with a shuffling
tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
of 96 beats per minute in
common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure ( bar), and which note va ...
and a chord progression of Dm–B–Gm–Am. Running a total length of four minutes and eleven seconds in its original version, the song finds Abdul's vocals span from A3 to C5 in the song, while the singer questioning her partner if he was genuinely loving her or "just having fun".


Commercial performance

"Straight Up" attained breakthrough success for Abdul in the States. After debuting at number 79 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on the week of December 3, 1988, the single quickly rose up the chart. By the week of January 21, 1989, the song reached number 13 on the chart, becoming her first top 40 entry and her first number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on the week of February 11, 1989, dethroning
Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transl ...
's " When I'm with You" and remaining on the top spot for three consecutive weeks. The song has since spent a total 25 consecutive chart weeks, thus tying with her later re-released second single as her longest charting performance on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and was eventually ranked as the fourth biggest hit of 1989 on ''Billboard''s year-end chart for that year. The single was certified
Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platin ...
by the RIAA with sales of more than one million units, and remained as her best-selling single in the country to date.RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - Straight Up
accessed July 10, 2009 The song also attained international success, reaching the top 10 in at least 16 countries. In addition to topping the charts in the United States, the single also reached the top in Norway. It reached number two in Canada, Greece, The Netherlands and Sweden, and number three in Denmark, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and West Germany. It also reached number five in Belgium and Finland, number six in Ireland and New Zealand, and number eight in Austria and Finland. In France, the single fell short of the top 10, reaching number 12. The single fell short of the top 20 in Australia, reaching number 27.


Music video

The song became so popular that it ascended up the charts before a
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
had even been shot for the song. The black and white video, directed by
David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. Fin ...
and choreographed by Abdul herself in mid-January 1989, won four 1989 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video, Best Editing, Best Choreography, and the first Best Dance Video. The video features an appearance by her friend, comedian
Arsenio Hall Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted the late-night talk show, ''The Arsenio Hall Show'', from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014. He has appeared in ''Martial Law'', ''Comi ...
, whose popular talk show had premiered a few weeks prior to the video shoot.
Djimon Hounsou Djimon Gaston Hounsou (; ; born April 24, 1964) is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos. He made his film debut in '' Without You I'm Nothing'' (1990) and earned widespread recognition for his role as ...
also appears. Released later that month, the video at the time went into very heavy rotation on MTV, helping further Abdul's popularity.


Track listings and formats

* Australia 12-inch single # "Straight Up" (Ultimix) # "Opposites Attract" (1990 mix) # "Straight Up" (single version) * French 12-inch vinyl # "Straight Up" (12-inch remix) # "Straight Up" (Power mix) # "Straight Up" (House mix) # "Straight Up" (
Marley Marl Marlon Williams (born September 30, 1962), better known by his stage name Marley Marl, is an American DJ, record producer, rapper and record label founder, primarily operating in hip hop music. Marlon grew up in Queensbridge housing projects ...
mix) * US 12-inch single # "Straight Up" (12-inch remix) # "Straight Up" (Power mix) # "Straight Up" (House mix) * Japanese mini-CD single # "Straight Up" # "Cold Hearted"


Charts and certifications


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


All-time charts


Certifications


Release history


See also

* List of ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one singles of the 1980s


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Straight Up (Song) 1988 singles 1988 songs 1989 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Black-and-white music videos Cashbox number-one singles MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video Music videos directed by David Fincher Number-one singles in Norway Paula Abdul songs Songs written by Elliot Wolff Torch songs Virgin Records singles