Straight Up
Paula Abdul
1988

Last week we saw The Bangles' "Eternal Flame" hit the Top 100; another week, another middle school masterpiece.  Forever Your Girl was one of the first cassettes I ever bought (I think I may have bought this and LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out together?), and what a purchase it was.  I don't know if any of you were actually coherent in 1988, but Paula Abdul just completely blew up y'all.  That album featured the title track, this song, "Cold Hearted" (aka, "Cold Hearted Snake"), and oh, do you remember the classic "Opposites Attract" featuring MC Skat Kat in the music video (of course you do).  She was one of the biggest stars of the moment and certainly one of, if not the, biggest musicians in my world.  Then she went out and released her follow up album Spellbound in 1991 and it all went to hell.  Well, at least until her career was resucitated by some music tv show in the aughts.

Anyway, back to this song.  No, she didn't write it.  Shoot, she may not have even sung it!   But regardless, nostalgia is a helluva drug as they say and this one still hits home.  This one immediately takes me back to turtlenecks, square dancing with Mr. Duncan (what the?), and birds pooping on my blue sweatpants (long story.  Actually it's a short story:  a bird pooped on my blue sweatpants two weeks in a row in 6th or 7th grade.)  I still rock this one on playlists and straight up, this song is awesome.

Other Songs Considered:
No, but Cold Hearted and Opposites Attract were catchy back in the day!