The Story Behind "Word Up!" by Cameo

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Funk, Hip Hop, Movies, Pop Culture, R&B, Retro, Video  No Responses »
Mar 012013
 

Cameo released “Word Up!” on May 27, 1986. It peaked at #3 on the U.K. Sin­gles Chart, charted at #6 on the U.S. Bill­board Hot 100, and topped the U.S Hot Dance Sin­gles Chart. The song is based on urban slang for enthu­si­as­tic agreement.

The band based the con­cept of “Word Up!” on a char­ac­ter they named Vicious, whom they used as a voice for their frus­tra­tion at rap­pers who recorded what they referred to as psy­chodrama, when they felt music lovers wanted to hear some­thing that could dance to, instead.

“Word Up!” starts off with a sam­ple of Ennio Morricone’s the main theme from spaghetti west­ern The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Lead singer Larry Blackmon’s dis­tinc­tive “Ow!” in the song was sam­pled four years later in Ital­ian dance band Black Box’s hit, “Every­body, Every­body.” Sly Stone, one of Blackmon’s heroes, inspired his gut­tural vocal style.

Ver­sions
Word Up! [7″ Version/7″ Vocal Version/Edited Ver­sion] 4’15
Word Up! [12″ Version/Extended Version/Full Length Ver­sion] 5’54
Word Up! [Spe­cial Club Mix] ?’??

Music Video
In the music video, Cameo is pur­sued by a detec­tive, played by LeVar Bur­ton, who pur­sues them through the city and into a club. Lead singer Larry Black­mon chan­nels Fred­die Mer­cury in his lycra pants, tank top, and bright red codpiece.


Mem­o­ries
I had no idea “Word Up” was released so many months before it became a hit on the radio. When I started col­lege that Sep­tem­ber, “Word Up!,” along with “Venus” by Bana­narama, seemed to be every­where. My best friend, Kent, and I loved imi­tat­ing Blackmon’s sig­na­ture “Ow!” When­ever I heard the song, it always brings back fun memories.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Word Up!” by Cameo?

The Story Behind "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Hip Hop, Music, Pop Culture, Rap, Retro, Video  No Responses »
Feb 172012
 

Salt-N-Pepa orig­i­nally released “Push It” as the B-Side to “Tramp” on Sep­tem­ber 8, 1986.  The sin­gle peaked at #21 on the U.S. R&B Chart.  Cameron Paul, a DJ and pro­ducer in San Fran­cisco, remixed “Push It,” and Next Plateau Records released it as a sin­gle.  “Push It” peaked at #19 on the U.S. Bill­board 100 on Feb­ru­ary 20, 1988.  The song charted at #2 on the U.K. Sin­gles Chart.  The suc­cess of the sin­gle helped their debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious sell one mil­lion copie.  Salt-N-Pepa was the first female rap act to score a gold or plat­inum album.  “Push It” was also nom­i­nated for Best Rap Per­for­mance at the 1989 Grammy Awards, but lost to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “Par­ents Just Don’t Under­stand.”  The song was released again on Feb­ru­ary 8, 1999 as “Push It (Again)” to pro­mote The Best of Salt ‘n Pepa compilation.

Ver­sions
Push It [Remix/7″ Remix/Full Length Remix] 4’29
Push It [U.S. Remix] 3’30
Push It [UK Mix (The Shuv’d Mix)] 6’50
Push It [Orig­i­nal 4’09

Music Video
The music video for “Push It” cap­tures Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandy “Pepa” giv­ing an ener­getic per­for­mance in front of a crowd, while Dee Dee “DJ Spin­derella” Roper scratches records, Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor pro­vides spo­ken bits and plays key­boards, and two males dance behind the James and Denton.

Mem­o­ries
Salt-N-Pepa have always had an empow­ered sense of humor in their music that I’ve appre­ci­ated. How can you not want to get up and move when you hear “This dance ain’t for every­body, just the sexy peo­ple”? I remem­ber hear­ing “Push It” on the radio and in clubs, but I don’t remem­ber ever see­ing the music video on MTV.  As sur­pris­ing as it may seem, I don’t recall the sug­ges­tive nature of the title reg­is­ter­ing with my friends or myself, we just like the exu­ber­ant energy of the music and rap.  I remem­ber bor­row­ing my friend Duane’s cas­sette of Hot, Cool & Vicious.  I’m not sure if I ever gave back to him.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa?