Straight up
Straight Up is a pop / R&B song and number one hit from 1989 by American pop and R&B singer and dancer Paula Abdul . The single reached # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989 , bringing Abdul's commercial breakthrough. The song was written and produced by Elliot Wolff .
The official release of the title was in Germany on March 6, 1989, while the single in the US was released on November 22, 1988. The single version of the song is 3:51 min. and in the original version 4:10 min. long.
The song is an up-tempo pop / R&B song with dance elements. The synthetic trumpet sound was created with the Roland D-50 .
history
Straight Up was released as the third single from Abdul's debut album Forever Your Girl , after Knocked Out and (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me . Because the latter song hit the R&B charts, Straight Up was played on the radio many weeks before it was released . The record label released Straight Up with the song (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me on the B-side. This strategy achieved commercial success, Straight Up became a number one hit and three more number one hits from the same album followed.
The single spent from 11 February 1989 for three weeks # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 4 in the charts of the year 1989. The song was in the United States with Platinum Award, for more than one million sold units of Straight Up . The single peaked at number 3 in the UK and Germany .
Music video
After the song became popular in the Hot 100, filming began on the music video . The music video is in black and white , directed by David Fincher , the choreography was done by Paula Abdul herself. She won four Moonmen for the music video in the categories of Best Female Video , Best Director , Best Choreography and Best Dance Video at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards . Abdul's friend Arsenio Hall , who also hosted the event, played in the music video .
Commercial win
Straight Up was one of the most popular R&B and dance singles of 1989. The single stayed in the top ten for seven weeks, nine in the top 20 and 16 weeks in the top 40. Straight Up's success brought their debut album, Forever Your Girl, into the top 20 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Two more US number one hits from the album reached the top 5 and alternated in front of places 2 to 5 (both singles reached number 2, 3, 4 and 5, but not number 1). This change of the top 5 places lasted a total of 64 weeks, a record on the Billboard Hot 100 that is still unique today . After 64 weeks, the next single finally reached number 1, followed by the next number one hit in the USA after a few weeks. In Canada , the single became a number one hit for Paula Abdul. In Australia the single reached number 2 in the charts.
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
3 (20 weeks) | 20th |
 Austria (Ö3)
|
8th (14 weeks) | 14th |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
|
3 (16 weeks) | 16 |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
3 (13 weeks) | 13 |
 United States (Billboard)
|
1 (25 weeks) | 25th |
Cover versions
- Straight Up was from the punk - band Halifax gecovert . They recorded the cover for their 2005 compilation Punk Goes 80's .
- The Filipino singer Regine Velasquez recorded a cover version for her album Covers Vol. 2 from 2005.
- Dismantled covered the song for their EP Breed to Death .
- The band Sugar Charlie covered the song for their album End of the World .
- The song was covered by American Idol candidate Andrew Garcia. The YouTube video of Garcia's performance has been viewed and viewed over 2.9 million times.
- The song was covered by the gypsy jazz band The Lost Fingers in their album Lost in the 80s in 2008 .
- In 2014 a cover version appeared on the album Are we not Men? We are Diva! the punk rock band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes .