Oops Up Side Your Head

"I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops!)", (re-titled "Oops Up Side Your Head" on the single as well as being known by other titles such as "Oops Upside Your Head"), is a 1979 funk anthem recorded by the R&B group The Gap Band. Released off their fourth studio album, The Gap Band II, the song and its parent album both achieved commercial success.

"I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops!)"
One of side-A labels of the U.S. 7-inch vinyl single
Single by The Gap Band
from the album The Gap Band II
A-side"The Boys Are Back in Town" / "Steppin' (Out)" (UK MERX2)
B-side
  • Main title (UK MERX2)
  • "The Boys Are Back in Town" (UK MER22/X22)
  • "Party Lights" / "The Boys Are Back in Town" (Netherlands)
  • None (France)
Released1979
Recorded1979
GenreFunk
Length3:29 (7")
8:39 (12")
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)Ronnie Wilson, Rudy Taylor, Robert Wilson, Lonnie Simmons & Charlie Wilson.
Producer(s)Lonnie Simmons
The Gap Band singles chronology
"Steppin' (Out)"
(1979)		 "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops!)"
(1979)		 "Party Lights"
(1979)

The single was released in several countries in different formats. In the United States, it was a 12" with the B-side being "Party Lights". In the Netherlands, the 12" B-side was "The Boys Are Back in Town". In France, the single was a 7" with no B-side.

In the UK the track first surfaced in mid-late 1979 as the B-side of the 12" release of "The Boys Are Back In Town" / "Steppin' (Out)" (Mercury Records MERX2). Then in 1980, due to its popularity, was flipped and re-titled with just "The Boys Are Back In Town" as the B-Side (Mercury Records 7" MER22 / 12" MERX22). It was later released once again as the B-side to some copies of the remix version of "Party Lights" (Mercury Records 12" MERX37). In 1987, a 12" remix was released in the UK with a Dub version B-side (UK Club records JABX54).

The single became an international hit for the group upon its late 1979 release, though it failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at number-one on its Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart), the song hit the top ten on the US R&B and disco charts and became a big-seller overseas where it peaked at number six in the UK in 1980 and number six in the Netherlands.

Structure
  • The song, which runs for nearly nine minutes in the full 12" single version, features a driving bass-line with a simple repeated E-G-A-B pattern.

P-Funk influence
  • The humorous monologues throughout the song by Gap Band lead singer Charlie Wilson were inspired by his cousin Bootsy Collins' own humorous slant in his songs.
  • Wilson's spoken intro, "this is radio station W-GAP", was a reference to Parliament's opening line in "P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)", "welcome to radio station W-E-F-U-N-K, better known as WE-FUNK."[1]
  • The line, "the bigger the headache the bigger the pill, the bigger the doctor the bigger the bill" was said to be influenced by similar lines from Parliament-Funkadelic in the mid-'70s including the line "the bigger the headache, the bigger the pill" in "Dr. Funkenstein". The Jack & Jill line would later be continued on their next anthem, "Humpin'".
  • The horn break is a direct lift from the intro to "Disco to Go" by The Brides of Funkenstein.
  • The band made little use of the synthesizer prior to this song, and the use of the synthesizer expanded with each passing album. By 1982, most of the band's hits were synthesizer-laden electrofunk.

Nursery rhyme allusions
  • "Jack and Jill went up the hill to have a little fun/stupid Jill forgot her pill and now they've got a son."
    • Their 1980 song, "Humpin'", also references Jack & Jill.
  • "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall/Humpty Dumpty had a great fall... I say he cracked on the whack!"

Little Miss Muffet is also mentioned.

Legacy

The song is said to be one of the first songs to use hip-hop-styled monologues in a song. The song's success broke ground for the group, who would go on to become a successful R&B outfit throughout the 1980s. It remains a popular song in the Gap Band's repertoire to this day.

In the UK, this song is typically "danced" to by sitting on the floor in rows and performing a rhythmic "rowing" action. The origin of this unusual dance is credited to DJ Nigel Tolley , while others credit English broadcaster Alex Dyke.[2] (The same rowing on the floor is also done to Rock the Boat by The Hues Corporation.) It was especially popular during the 1980s.

In April 2015, it was announced that the writers of "Oops Up Side Your Head" had had their names added to the writing credits of Mark Ronson's hit single "Uptown Funk".[3]

Charts
Chart (1980) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[4] 17
Germany (Official German Charts)[5] 18
Ireland (IRMA)[6] 17
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[7] 7
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[8] 4
UK Singles (OCC)[9] 6
US Billboard Hot 100[10] 102
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[11] 52
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[12] 4

References
  1. P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up) lyrics at LetsSingIt.com
  2. Owens, David (2014-09-26). "The dance crazes we've known and loved". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  3. Davidson, Amy (1 May 2015). "'Uptown Funk' now has 11 co-writers thanks to 'Oops Upside Your Head'". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  4. "Ultratop.be – The Gap Band – Oops Up Side Your Head" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  5. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Gap Band – Oops Up Side Your Head". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  6. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Oops Upside Your Head". Irish Singles Chart.
  7. "Nederlandse Top 40 – The Gap Band" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  8. "Dutchcharts.nl – The Gap Band – Oops Up Side Your Head" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  9. "Gap Band: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  10. "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" (PDF). Billboard. 5 April 1980. p. 32. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  11. "The Gap Band Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard.
  12. "The Gap Band Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.
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