THE #1 SONG 25 YEARS AGO TODAY WAS.....

....Straight Up by Paula Abdul. Obsessed! I was so into Paula Abdul in the 80s it was crazy. It was almost like I was straight. ALMOST! This song and this album were my life for an entire year, y'all! Straight Up was technically the third single off of Paula's debut album Forever Your Girl (although the first two singles, Knocked Out and (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me were not successful and were re-released after the success of Straight Up) and it took it a while to start getting attention. Released on November 22, 1988, the song took almost three months to climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, but when it did it kicked off a landslide of hits for Paula. Also, her album Forever Your Girl gained momentum and, after 64 weeks on the chart, finally hit #1 later that year. Anyhoo, Straight Up also boasted a sexy little dance video that introduced Paula's amazing skills as a choreographer to a broader audience and also highlighted her mysterious relationship with Arsenio Hall, who makes a cameo in the video just weeks after his talk show debuted. Were they or weren't they? Who knows? Who cares? The video, directed by David Fincher,  went on to win won four 1989 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video, Best Editing, Best Choreography, and the first Best Dance Video award. WERQ! There is no denying that Straight Up is a 80s and pop classic hit and it helped change the landscape of dance music and music videos for years to come. Paula, I miss you. Enjoy the #1 song from 25 years ago, Straight Up by Paula Abdul.