straight up

Paula Abdul wasn't playing games when she had a runaway hit with this danceably direct demand for a declaration of devotion. She spent six years as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers, becoming the head choreographer after only a few weeks.  Abdul says:    "I joined the Laker girls for fun, but those games aren't just games. There's a heavy show-biz scene there too. There's a lot of people in the entertainment business in the stands...There were all sorts of calls to the Forum office with job offers--TV commercials, TV shows...An executive with A&M Records who had season tickets liked what I did with the Laker Girls and wanted me to work with Janet [Jackson] on her dancing and her videos."

Her choreography on the videos for Janet Jackson's blockbuster 'Control' album led to lots more work with video conscious 80's acts and in movies and stage shows.  Using thirty five thousand dollars from her savings, she produced a demo of her singing.  Abdul admits:    "I'd always admired Liza Minnelli.  She can dance and sing. I wanted to be one of those Broadway-type performers who could do it all...I'm not a really soulful singer--not as soulful as I want to be.  With my singing, there's room for improvement."


Her debut album 'Forever Your Girl' was released in June of 1988.  The first two singles  "Knocked Out," and "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" both broke into the top ten of the US R&B chart; but it wasn't until the third single (written and produced by Elliot Wolff) 'Straight Up' that she finally broke into the mainstream.  It was released in November of 1988 and moved (way too) slowly up to number one over eleven weeks.  It became the first of eight consecutive top ten hits and one of four number one hits from her debut album.  It also charted at number twenty-seven in Australia; twelve in France; eight in Austria; six in New Zealand; five in Belgium; three in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, and on the US dance chart; two in Sweden and on the US R&B chart; and number one in Norway.  'Forever Your Girl' would eventually make it to the top of the album chart after a record sixty four weeks.  






https://paulaabdul.com/







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El1kgCqD7Xk&feature=kp



Lost in a dream
Don't know which way to go
If you are all that you seem
Then baby I'm moving way too slow

I've been fooled before
Wouldn't like to get my love caught
In the slammin' door
How about some information--please

Straight up now tell me
Do you really want to love me forever oh oh oh
Or am I caught in a hit and run
Straight up now tell me
Is it gonna be you and me together oh oh oh
Are you just having fun

Time's standing still
Waiting for some small clue
I keep getting chills
When I think your love is true

I've been fooled before
Wouldn't like to get my love caught
In the slammin' door
How about some information--please

Straight up now tell me
Do you really want to love me forever oh oh oh
Or am I caught in a hit and run
Straight up now tell me
Is it gonna be you and me together oh oh oh
Are you just having fun

You are so hard to read
You play hide and seek
With your true intentions
If you're only playing games
I'll just have to say--bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye

Do do you love me(do do you love me, baby)
Do do you love me(do do you love me, baby)
Do do you love me(do do you love me, babe, come on now!)
Do do you love me(do do you love me)

I tell my baby:

I've been fooled before
Wouldn't like to get my love caught
In the slammin' door
Are you more than hot for me
Or am I a page in your history-book
I don't mean to make demands
But the word and the deed go hand in hand
How about some information--please

Straight up now tell me
Do you really want to love me forever oh oh oh
Or am I caught in a hit and run
Straight up now tell me
Is it gonna be you and me together oh oh oh
Are you just having fun

I've been fooled before
Wouldn't like to get my love caught
In the slammin' door
Are you more than hot for me
Or am I a page in your history-book
I don't mean to make demands
But the word and the deed go hand in hand
How about some information--please

Straight up now tell me
Do you really want to love me forever oh oh oh
Or am I caught in a hit and run
Straight up now tell me
Is it gonna be you and me together oh oh oh
Are you just having fun


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YR9zxlwGe0