Straight Up (Paula Abdul song)

"Straight Up" is a song recorded by American singer-choreographer Paula Abdul for her debut album Forever Your Girl (1988). A mid-tempo dance-pop song with influence from the pop rock and new jack swing genres, the song finds Abdul asking her partner to "straight up now tell [her]" if he was genuinely in love with her or not. Written and produced entirely by musician Elliot Wolff, the single version was released as the album's third single on November 22, 1988 by Virgin Records.

"Straight Up"
Single by Paula Abdul
from the album Forever Your Girl
ReleasedNovember 22, 1988
Recorded1988
Genre
Length
  • 4:11
  • 3:51 (single version)
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Elliot Wolff
Producer(s)Elliot Wolff
Paula Abdul singles chronology
"(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me"
(1988)		 "Straight Up"
(1988)		 "Forever Your Girl"
(1989)

"Straight Up" eventually became a breakthrough success for Abdul in the States, earning the singer her first chart-topper on the US Billboard Hot 100, further catapulting its parental album to reach the top-twenty on the Billboard 200 chart, before it finally reached number one after a record-setting 64 weeks on the market.. "Straight Up" was also one of Abdul's signature hits, brought her to widespread public attention, and remained as her biggest international hit to date, reaching the top-ten region in over eleven countries. The song was then included in all of her six compilation albums, released sometimes between 1998 and 2013.

The song also received positive reviews from music critics, with Daniel J. Levitin's This Is Your Brain on Music praises the song as "hold[ing] a certain appeal over many, many listenings." It also earned Abdul several nominations in the States, most notably including her first Grammy Awards nomination in the category of Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female in 1990, and six other nominations for its music video at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards.

Background

According to Paula Abdul, her mother found this song for her. She says 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 didn't think the song was any good but Abdul offered to record 2 songs they wanted, which she didn't 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 [it] sold 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".[1]

"Straight Up" was the third single released from her debut album Forever Your Girl, after "Knocked Out" and "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 "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 "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 with a shuffling tempo of 96 beats per minute in common time 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".[2][3]

Commercial performance

"Straight Up" attained breakthrough success for Abdul in the States. After debuting at number seventy-nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of December 3, 1988, the single quickly rose up the chart in the following week. By the week of January 21, 1989, the song reached number thirteen on the chart, becoming her first top fifteen entry.[4] It ultimately reached atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week of February 11, 1989, dethroning Sheriff's "When I'm with You" and remaining on the top spot for three consecutive weeks.[5] The song has since spent a total twenty-five 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 by the RIAA with sales of more than one million units, and remained as her best-selling single in the country to date.[6]

The song also attained international success, reaching the top ten in over eleven countries. In addition to topping the charts in the United States, the single also reached the top in Norway. It reached number three in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany. It also reached number eight in Austria, number five in Belgium, and number two in Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden. In France, the single fell short of the top ten, reaching number 12. In Oceania, the single received mixed success. The song fell short of the top twenty in Australia, reaching number 27. In New Zealand, however, the single did much better, reaching number six.

Music video

The song became so popular that it ascended up the charts before a music video had even been shot for the song. The black and white video, directed by David Fincher 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, whose popular talk show had premiered a few weeks prior to the video shoot. Djimon Hounsou 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

US/UK/Euro 12-inch; UK 3-inch/Euro 5-inch CD singles

  1. Straight Up — 12-inch remix (6:53)
  2. Straight Up — Power mix (3:05)
  3. Straight Up — House mix (7:10 on 3-inch, remix fades at 5:13)
  4. Straight Up — Marley Marl mix (6:48 on 3-inch, remix fades at 4:48)

NB: the UK 12" and both CD singles feature shorter versions of the latter three mixes, as listed below.

Ultimix 7-inch

  1. Straight Up (Ultimix) (6:53)
  2. Opposites Attract-1990 mix (6:49)

Charts

See also

References
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  2. "Straight Up — Paula Abdul — Spot On Track". www.spotontrack.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  3. Wolff, Elliot. "Paula Abdul "Straight Up" Sheet Music in D Minor (transposable) - Download & Print". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  4. "The Hot 100 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  5. "The Hot 100 Chart | Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  6. RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - Straight Up, accessed July 10, 2009
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  10. "RPM 100 Singles – March 18, 1989" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 49 no. 20. March 18, 1989. p. 6. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
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  14. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
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  20. "Charts.nz – Paula Abdul – Straight Up". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
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  35. "Top 25 Dance Singles of '89". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  36. "Eurochart Hot 100 of 1989" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 6 no. 51. December 23, 1989. p. 6. Retrieved January 17, 2020 – via American Radio History.
  37. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1989". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
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  40. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1989" (in German). Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  41. "Year-End Charts '89 – Top 100 Singles". Music Week. London, England: Spotlight Publications. March 3, 1990. p. 16.
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  46. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
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