~ Paula Abdul - Straight Up Now Rank Me! ~

[Deleted]

Aug 11, 2020 15:03:19 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

Surprised "Way That You Love me" beat out FYG and OA.

By the by- some of the lesser-successful singles did see better success elsewhere. For instance, "Crazy Cool" nearly made the top 20 at pop radio, and "My Love Is For Real" made top 15. :) Though those still were not close to the success of the other singles.

Elsewhere you mean Canada?

[HolidayGuy]

^Not sure about that, but the mentioned pop radio. :) Elsewhere, other than Hot 100.

[Juanca]

10. My Love is for Real (7): Yes!! Glad to see this in the top 10! It was a top 5 with good longevity in my personal chart, and I was astonished at its underperformance int he Hot 100. I thought and still think this is a very strong song. The melody, middle Eastern influences, lush production, vocals, vibe all work very well for me and make it a unique, interesting and adventurous song.

9. Vibeology (4): Huh??!!!! Why is Promise higher than this?! The is a JAM. It reached the top of my personal chart, and I still like hearing it once in a while. I love the production, with so many sprinkles of unique, fun components like the gospel choir, sax sounds, the Go Paula! lol, the great piano chords, and the overall melody make this one of my favorite early 90s dance bops. (And I liked the US video, too!)


8. Knocked Out (13): This has always been my least favorite FYG single. Not bad, but the melody isn't as strong or captivating as the others.

7. Rush Rush (2): WHAT??!!! Outside the top 5??!!! Below Promise??!!!! Come on, now! This was love at first listen. This had a classic ballad style, with the more subdued instrumental in the verses to that goosebump-inducing strings in the bridge. Paula's vocals are pretty good, too, as she really emotes well here. And the melody is superb. It reached the top of my personal chart for two nonconsecutive weeks and made my yearend top 15. And I still like it just as much as I did back then. Oh, and I also loved the video



6. The Promise of a New Day (14): Whereas I never charted this song ;P There is a nice production here, but how many times can she say "promise" in one song???? and how many times the same melody can be repeated. I actually get frustrated at times when I kept hearing the same two lines over and over and over and over... and that's the main hook of this song

5. Opposites Attract (12): I used to like this much more back in 1990. The video was a favorite of mine that year, too. However, I've been liking it less with time, as I find the chorus and verses melodies very similar adding a bit of monotony to the otherwise fun of this song. For many years I thought the act was called MC Skat Kat and not the Wild Pair I mean, they did have a song that featured Paula, right?

[Anticonformity]

Cold Hearted
Straight Up
(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me

I am bit surprised about (IJ) TWTYLM, but I'm glad...

not a fan of Opposites Attract...

At least The Promise Of A New Day made it that high...

Still sad about my faves :'(

[SHOOTER]

1-2-9

Wouldn’t mind TWTYLM pulling an upset! 😏

[Deleted]

And here we are in the top 3! As I wrote yesterday, the song at #3 has only 1 point more than song at #4! (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me is a song for her debut album Forever Your Girl (1988). Written and produced solely by producer Oliver Leiber, the song was originally released in its remix form as the second single from the album on August 2, 1988 by Virgin to minor success in the States. Following the breakthrough success of her next two singles, the song was re-released on September 15, 1989 under its original version to commercial success, becoming Abdul's third consecutive top three entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and to date, tying with "Straight Up" as her longest charting performance on the chart. The song, however, did not replicate the same success in the UK where it managed to peak at number seventy-four on the UK Singles Chart, thus becoming her lowest charting single in the region to date. In June 1988, Forever Your Girl was released, along with the follow-up single "The Way That You Love Me". Virgin and Abdul's producers felt that it was necessary to remix the song for its single release, hence the addition of (It's Just) to the song's title; also, Karyn White's "The Way You Love Me" was out at this time, thus helping to avoid confusion among consumers. The song failed to attract much attention, despite its dance-pop remix. The song stalled at #88 on the Billboard Hot 100 but reached the top 10 of Billboard's R&B chart.



In the UK, "The Way That You Love Me" was also Abdul's second single release, following "Knocked Out" in 1988. It failed to chart in the Top 100, although after the success of "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl" and the re-release of "Knocked Out" in 1989, this song was also rereleased but it was not a success. It charted at #86 on 25 November 1989, going on to peak at #74 the following week, becoming Abdul's least successful single in the UK.



In the autumn of 1989 in the US, "The Way That You Love Me" was re-released in its original edit. This time, it became a huge success, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. But it peaked one spot higher at #2 on the Radio & Records CHR/Pop Airplay Chart on December 2, 1989. 


# 3

(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me
Points: 287

No perfect rankings for this song

Anticonformity - 6
George - 13
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 2
mamooshka - 8
HolidayGuy - 7
.indulgecountry - 9
Juanca - 9
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 7
SHOOTER - 2
divasummer - 7
Private Dancer - 6
@phillippe - 9

[Deleted]

And... the moment of truth! No, Straight Up is not #1 as many were thinking. Even the points between #2 and #1 are not as tight as between #3 and #4. 
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 pop rock music, 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. It eventually became a breakthrough success for Abdul in the States, earning the singer her first chart-topper on the 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 "holding 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 Vocal Performance, Female in 1990, and six other nominations for its music video at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards.
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. 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. 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.



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.

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.

# 2

Straight Up
Points: 327

Two perfect rankings for this song. Not a single placement outside top 10!

Anticonformity - 5
George - 2
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 1
mamooshka - 3
HolidayGuy - 4
.indulgecountry - 5
Juanca - 3
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 2
SHOOTER - 9
divasummer - 1
Private Dancer - 3
@phillippe - 7

[Deleted]

Yes! Cold hearted is the #1 song by Paula Abdul on this forum! It hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the album's third song to top the US chart. The official music video was directed by David Fincher and spent more than three weeks on top of MTV's video rotation list. The inspiration for the video came from Bob Fosse's choreography of the "Take Off with Us" scene in the movie All That Jazz. Cold Hearted topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week in September 1989, ending Richard Marx's three-week run at the summit with "Right Here Waiting". Cold Hearted ranked sixth in Billboard's Year-End Hot 100 of 1989. It spent a total of eight weeks within the Billboard top ten.



Cold Hearted was the final UK release from Forever Your Girl in 1990. It was issued in remixed form unlike in the US and elsewhere, where an edit of the album version was released instead. It charted on 29 September 1990 at number 55, going on to peak at #46 the following week. This remixed version was the follow to the Shep Pettibone remix of "Knocked Out", which had reached number 21 three months previously.


# 1

Cold Hearted
Points: 336
Five perfect rankings for this song and only one rank outside top 5!

Anticonformity - 3
George - 8
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 - 4
mamooshka - 1
HolidayGuy - 5
.indulgecountry - 1
Juanca - 1
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 - 4
SHOOTER - 1
divasummer - 5
Private Dancer - 1
@phillippe - 2

[🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲]

Wow! I really thought Straight Up was coming for that #1 for sure!! 😳

[Deleted]

And that is IT!
Straight up it was fun to host my first ever rankdown! 
I hope it was a pleasure for you as it was for me. 
And I hope it was not too much with all my colorful lines for each song etc.

Are you surprised with the results?
Are you happy with your rankings?
Biggest let down? Biggest surprise?
Any final thoughts?

Big thanks 2

Anticonformity
George
🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲
mamooshka
HolidayGuy
.indulgecountry
Juanca
🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾
SHOOTER
divasummer
Private Dancer

for the lists and playing! I hope I will see some of you in my Lana Dal Rey rankdown. 

[Private Dancer]

Finally my #1 won!!!! Cold Hearted is better than straight up and my favorite Paula song

[.indulgecountry]

Yasssssssssss! Omg! I was totally expecting this to be reversed, but I am 100% here for this outcome. "Cold Hearted" is her best song hands down. I'm so happy it pulled off the upset!

[SHOOTER]

Yassssssssssss! Taste prevailed!

Thanks for hosting @phillippe

[divasummer]

I'm not that shocked with number 1 though I thought it was going to be "Straight Up" but "Cold Hearted" has the iconic video that people love.
I wish "My Love Is For Real" was higher up but it wasn't a huge hit so...
I guess I was also surprised by the ranking of "The Way That You Love Me". It's great but I didn't think it would make it that high.
"Rush Rush" seemed to shock some people but I think listening back to that song her vocals are almost jarring.
I LOVE the song but people who didn't live through the time or haven't listened to it in years may have heard what I heard.
Her strengths were uptempo numbers.. lol

[mamooshka]

A deserving champion.
Congratulations on your first RD, @phillippe. Nicely done.

Attachment Deleted

[Juanca]

4. Forever Your Girl (3): This was her first song to enter my personal chart, reaching the runner-up spot. It's so bubbly, catchy, happy that it's a joy to listen to. I still listen to it once in awhile as t brings back good memories. Good to see it in the top 5!

3. (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me (9): This didn't enter my personal chart, as it didn't receive airplay -or videoplay- back home. This is a song that I've liked more with time. I prefer the more lush remix version with the stronger guitar sound. I'm surprised that it's so high in this RD, not as surprised as Promise though

2. Straight Up (3): A great classic that brought a bit of rock vibe to the dance/pop&b sound of the end of the decade. It's got great melody, instrumental, production, and she sells the song. A timeless tune that also sounds good when played acoustically, as a few Idol contestants would prove many years later

1. Cold Hearted (1): YAAAASSSS!!!!!! This song was surprisingly a hit back home -her lone #1 in a pop radio station in Peru. And it was her first personal chart-topper that has always been one of my favorites from 1989. I really love the production, the use of strings is a big plus in my book that makes it more epic. The funky bass that is left to shine in several parts of the song. The melody throughout the song and the multiple hooks and mini parts in the bridge: like the rapid-fire talk singing, the "you could find somebody better", the string solo, the ssssnake (pop!) I mean, that bridge alone is ACE. And of course the video is a CLASSIC, especially for my teenage years
GREAT deserving winner!
By the way, thanks to this RD I finally listened to the Chad Jackson Remix:


Overall happy with the results.
Definitely the biggest surprise was Promise, the biggest letdown was Rush Rush missing the top 5.
Other comments? Congrats for a great Rankdown!!!! I love that you helped us listen to a lot of music from Paula! It was super fun, and I also learned quite a bit about the history of her singles.
Thanks!!!

[Deleted]

First of all, I decided to host my 1st rankdown because I was messaging some people and were asking why don't you do this one or that one... I did not know it was this fun. Plus, I do not know how to do standard deviations and similar... so I just let it. This summer I have less work, so I decided to do this and especially Paula because when I decided I was thinking... oh just hopefully there will be not many people, but on the other hand it may be very few. So I was hoping the number of participents would be between 7 and 15 and it was like that!
:)

Before I started I thought 3 songs were for #1 - Straight up, Cold hearted and Rush rush. I was surprised Rush rush is not even top 5! Cold hearted is my favorite song too, but I know Blowing kisses in the wind is not that popular, so I put it at #1... though it is true I listen to that song often, with VERY early departed My foolish heart.

[Juanca]

By the by, I’ve been catching this commercial several times over the past couple of weeks.
It’s cute, and she looks so happy it makes me smile :) plus it’s a nice throwback to her FYG videos :)


youtu.be/5x4VusmJK0I

[Ky]

I wish I would've had time to do this one, but looks like the result turned out well! Cold Hearted would've been higher than Straight Up for me. I probably would've pushed Forever Your Girl top 3, woulda pushed Promise Of A New Day to top 5, and woulda pushed My Love Is For Real ahead of Vibeology.