Word Up! (song)

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"Word Up!"
Single by Cameo
from the album Word Up!
B-side "Urban Warrior"
Released May 27, 1986
Format 7" single, 12" single, CD single
Genre Funk, hip hop, R&B
Length 4:20
Label Atlanta Artists
Writer(s) Larry Blackmon
Tomi Jenkins
Producer Larry Blackmon
Cameo singles chronology
"Single Life"
(1985)
"Word Up!"
(1986)
"Candy"
(1986)

"Word Up!" is a funk/hip hop song written and originally recorded by Cameo in 1986. Due to its heavy play on American dance and R&B radio, as well as music video play on MTV (which has LeVar Burton as a police detective trying to arrest the band), the single became the band's most well-known hit.

From the album Word Up!, "Word Up!" was Cameo's first US Top 40 hit, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and also spent three weeks at number one on the US Hot Black Singles chart[1] and one week at number one on the US Hot Dance Singles chart. In the UK it spent thirteen weeks in the top 40, peaking at number 3 in September 1986. The song was written by Lawrence Ernest Blackmon & Thomas Michael Jenkins.

Like the band's previous single, "Single Life," "Word Up!" features a sample of the opening notes of Ennio Morricone's theme to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Rear cover of the original Cameo single

Contents

Gun Version [edit]

"Word Up!"
Single by Gun
from the album Swagger
Released July 1, 1994
Format 12" single, CD single
Recorded 1994
Genre Hard rock, heavy metal, glam metal
Length 4:21
Label A&M
Gun singles chronology
"Welcome to the Real World"
(1992)
"Word Up!"
(1994)
"Don't Say It's Over"
(1994)

In the 1990s, "Word Up!" was first covered by Scottish rock band Gun,[2] whose version carried a harder, more rock-oriented sound, including a guitar solo. Taken from their album Swagger, it was released on July 1, 1994 and reached #8 in the UK singles chart.[3] Two versions of the CD single were released in the UK, each carrying different cover art and different tracks.[4]

Gun's version of the song was featured on the soundtrack to 1996 film Barb Wire, and was also used in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation season one episode "Who Are You?". The Gun version was also featured on the 2011 series of British television show Dancing on Ice, when Vanilla Ice used it as background music for his dance in the first episode.

Chart Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 8

Melanie B version [edit]

"Word Up!"
Single by Melanie B
Released 28 June 1999
Format 12" single, CD single
Recorded 1999
Genre R&B, funk, hip hop
Length 3:25 (Radio edit)
5:23 (CD single version)
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Timbaland
Melanie B singles chronology
"I Want You Back"
(1998)
"Word Up!"
(1999)
"Tell Me"
(2000)
Music video
"Word Up" on YouTube

"Word Up!" was later covered by Melanie B (known as Melanie G at that time).[5] It was released on June 28, 1999. It peaked at #14 at UK Singles Chart. The single was also on the Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack. "Word Up!" sold about 77,996 copies in the UK, which was the lowest selling solo Spice Girls-related single of the 1990s.

Chart Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 14

Uk Sales: 77,996

Korn version [edit]

"Word Up!"
Single by Korn
from the album Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
Released 16 November 2004
Format 7" single, 12" single, CD single
Recorded 2004
Genre Funk metal
Length 2:53
Label Epic
Producer Jonathan Davis, Korn, and Toby Wright
Korn singles chronology
"Everything I've Known"
(2003)
"Word Up"
(2004)
"Another Brick in the Wall, Pts. 1-3"
(2004)

"Word Up!" by American nu metal band Korn is a cover of the song by R&B group, Cameo.[6] Its musical arrangements are similar to that of the cover version by Gun, except it is played in a lower sounding 7 string guitar tuning instead of the standard E. "Word Up!" was the first track featured on Korn's 2004 retrospective album, Greatest Hits, Volume 1, and was one of three new tracks along with Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" that was exclusive to the album (the "Word Up!" CD single also featured a live performance of the latter).

It was released as the album's first single in July 2004, and received heavy airplay on alternative radio at its time of release, peaking in the top twenty of both Billboard charts,[7] whilst making a respectable impression on the mainstream charts of other countries, including Australia (where it debuted at number 28),[8] and Germany (number 46).[9] It is the only Korn single to be sent out to Top 40 radio stations, notably receiving airplay on New York City's Z-100, the largest Top 40 station in the US. Lead singer Jonathan Davis has said of the band's decision to include the song on their greatest hits, "We've been doing 'Word Up!' for years as a sound-check song - not the full version, just messing around with the riff".[10]

The music video for the song, directed by Antti Jokinen, featured the band-member's faces digitally edited onto dogs in a club scene with women dancing topless the parody of Basement Jaxx - "Where's Your Head At" music video. The track is featured in the video game Lego Rock Band.

Chart (2004) Peak
position
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 23
US Billboard Alternative Songs 17
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs 16
German Singles Chart 46
Australian Singles Chart 28
Swiss Singles Chart 47
Norwegian Singles Chart 15
Austrian Singles Chart 58

Other cover versions [edit]

Live cover performances [edit]

  • American artist Keller Williams included the song in a medley following his infamous "Freaker by the Speaker."
  • Covered by Australian group Taxiride for the "Musical Challenge" segment of the Andrew Denton Breakfast Show on Australian radio station Triple M in the early 2000s.
  • That 1 Guy performs the song as part of his encore at almost every show since the mid 90's, averaging 200 shows per year.

Appearances in other media [edit]

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 98. 
  2. ^ "Gun - Database entry covering all released versions with tracklists and credits". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-11-16. 
  3. ^ "Gun - Top 75 Releases". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  4. ^ "Gun CD Singles". Matt's CD Singles. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
  5. ^ "Melanie B - Master release containing all published versions with tracklists". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-11-16. 
  6. ^ "Korn - Master release containing all published versions with tracklists". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-11-16. 
  7. ^ "Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-05-03. 
  8. ^ "Australian Charts Archive". Retrieved 2008-05-03. 
  9. ^ "German Charts Archive". Retrieved 2008-04-22. 
  10. ^ http://v4.korn-locker.com/modules.php?name=Lyrics&file=show&album=7&lyric=0701
  11. ^ "Members Only". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-11-16. 
  12. ^ "Take You High EP". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-11-16. 
  13. ^ ."Internashville Urban Hymns". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-11-16. 
  14. ^ "Hummpasirkus". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-11-16. 
  15. ^ "Mercedes-Dance Live". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-11-16. 
  16. ^ "True Blue". CD Baby. Retrieved 2012-11-16. 
  17. ^ "Trans//Lation 2". Discogs. Retrieved 2012-11-16. 
  18. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Y_BHyZNa8
Preceded by
"The Rain" by Oran "Juice" Jones
Billboard's Hot R&B Songs number one single
October 4, 1986 - October 18, 1986
Succeeded by
"Shake You Down" by Gregory Abbott
Preceded by
"Human" by The Human League
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
November 15, 1986
Succeeded by
"Don't Leave Me This Way" by The Communards with Sarah Jane Morris