Songoftheday 5/26/16 - Lost in a dream I don't know which way to go, you are all that you see the minute I'm movin' way to slow...

"Straight Up" - Paula Abdul
from the album Forever Your Girl (1988)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1 (three weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 16

Today's song of the day comes from dancer/singer Paula Abdul, who back in the day got her start as a dancer and cheerleader, being picked to become one of the "L.A. Lakers Girls", performing at the basketball teams' games, where she was spotted by the Jacksons, who took her on as their own choreographer during their Victory album videos and tour. Also, sister Janet had hired her to lead the dancing on her videos from her classic Control album as well (appearing in "What Have You Done For Me Lately" as well). With the exposure and money from these jobs, Paula set out for her own recording career. The first single from her debut album Forever Your Girl, "Knocked Out", went top-10 on the R&B chart, but missed the pop top-40 by one notch. The second, "The Way That You Love Me", also reached the R&B top ten (#10), but only slipped into the Hot 100 at #88 (it would later become a much bigger hit, thankfully).

The third single from Forever Your Girl was a slinky mid-tempo dance-pop slice of heaven called "Straight Up". Written and produced by Elliot Wolff, a relative newcomer to the pop scene who had worked with Chaka Khan, the sassy no-nonsense delivery of Paula's along with her dance prowess in the video (which friend Arsenio Hall makes a cameo in) made a superstar out of a cheerleader. The tap-dancing before the opening note won me over..

"Straight Up" not only became Paula's first top-40 hit, it topped the pop singles chart in America for three weeks in February of 1989. The song also spent two weeks at #2 on Billboard's R&B chart (her biggest hit there), and snuck on to their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") radio chart at #39. The extended remixes by house king Kevin Saunderson (Inner City) and Marley Marl peaked at #3 on the Dance Club Play chart. Internationally, "Straight Up" made the top ten in the UK (#3), Canada (#1), Germany (#3), Sweden (#2), the Netherlands (#3), New Zealand (#6), Belgium (#5), Norway (#1), Switzerland (#3), and Austria (#8). The video ended up grabbing four MTV Video Awards in 1989.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


Here's the house mix done by Inner City's Kevin Saunderson...

...and the hip-hop flavor from Marley Marl...

Lastly, here's a (grainy) clip of Paula performing "Straight Up" live on the Arsenio Hall show...

Up tomorrow: An L.A. rapper serves up some delicious vinyl for some crazy lovin'.