“Straight Up” Single by Paula Abdul from the album Forever Your Girl
B-side “Opposites Attract”
Released November 22, 1988
Label Virgin
Songwriter Elliot Wolff
Producer Elliot Wolff
Charted No.in US, No.1 in Canada, No.3 in UK, No.1 in Norway, No.3 in West Germany, No.2 in Greece.
No.1 in US, Billboard HOT 100 on February 22, 1989.
This sassy single was the breakout hit for Paula Abdul, who before she was a singer, was a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers and a dancer. She had a knack for creating dance moves that went over well on MTV and became an in-demand choreographer after working with Janet Jackson on videos for “Nasty,” “When I Think of You,” and “What Have You Done For Me Lately.” She went on to work with ZZ Top, Duran Duran and Debbie Gibson before starting her own career as a singer.
According to Paula Abdul, 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 [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”.
The video was directed by David Fincher, who also directed Madonna’s “Vogue” and The Wallflowers’ “Sixth Avenue Heartache.” Fincher directed the movies Seven, The Game and Fight Club. The clip won MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video, Best Dance, Best Choreography and Best Editing.
