DEF: Paula Abdul “Straight Up”

After building a name for herself as a choreographer, Paula Abdul tried her hand at a pop music career and released the album Forever Your Girl in 1988. The album’s first two singles, “Knocked Out” and “(It’s Just) The Way That You Love Me,” failed to crack the Top 40 on Billboard‘s Hot 100, but the album’s third single, “Straight Up,” would make Abdul a household name, as it climbed to the top of the chart to become her first of five number one singles. Exactly 30 years ago, “Straight Up” rose to number one for a three-week reign. To commemorate that anniversary, “Straight Up” by Paula Abdul is today’s Daily Eighties Flashback.