Word Up! (song)
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| “Word Up!” | |||||
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| Single by Cameo from the album Word Up! |
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| B-side | "Urban Warrior" | ||||
| Released | 1986 | ||||
| Format | 7" single, 12" single | ||||
| Recorded | 1986 | ||||
| Genre | Funk, R&B | ||||
| Length | 4:20 | ||||
| Label | Atlanta Artists Records | ||||
| Cameo singles chronology | |||||
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"Word Up!" is a funk/R&B song originally written and recorded by Cameo. Due to its heavy play on American pop and R&B radio, as well as music video play on MTV, the single became the band's most well-known hit. From the album of the same name, "Word Up!" was Cameo's first top-forty U.S. hit, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. It also spent three weeks at number one on the U.S. Hot Black Singles chart and reached number three in the UK.
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[edit] Melanie B version
| “Word Up!” | |||||
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| Single by Melanie B from the album Austin Powers 2: Original Soundtrack |
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| B-side | "Sophisticated Lady" | ||||
| Released | June 28, 1999 | ||||
| Format | CD | ||||
| Recorded | 1999 | ||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||
| Length | 3:25 (Radio Edit) 5:23 (Full Length Version) |
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| Label | Virgin | ||||
| Producer | Timbaland | ||||
| Melanie B singles chronology | |||||
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"Word Up!" was a single from Melanie Brown (better known as Melanie B) and a cover of Cameo's hit. It was released on June 28, 1999. It peaked at #14 at UK Singles Chart. The single was also on the Austin Powers 2 soundtrack. "Word Up!" sold about 77,000 copies in the UK, which was the lowest selling Spice Girls-related single of the 1990s. It was her second top 40 U.S hit thanks to Strong Airplay peaking at #34
[edit] Melanie B chart performance
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 14 |
[edit] Melanie B track listing
- UK CD
- "Word Up!" [Radio Edit] - 3:25
- "Sophisticated Lady" - 2:44
- "Word Up!" [Tim's Dance Mix] - 5:32
- "Word Up!" [Music video]
- European 2-Track CD
- "Word Up" [Single Version] - 3:55
- "Sophisticated Lady" - 2:44
- UK/Europe 12"
Side A
- "Word Up!" [Tim's Dance Mix] - 5:32
Side B
- "Word Up!" [Full Length Version] - 5:23
- "Word Up!" [Radio Edit] - 3:25
[edit] Korn version
| “Word Up!” | |||||
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| Single by Korn from the album Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 |
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| Released | November 16, 2004 | ||||
| Format | 7", CD | ||||
| Recorded | 2004 | ||||
| Genre | Nu metal | ||||
| Length | 2:53 | ||||
| Label | Epic Records | ||||
| Producer | Jonathan Davis, Korn, and Toby Wright | ||||
| Korn singles chronology | |||||
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"Word Up!" by American rock band Korn is a cover of the song by R&B group, Cameo. "Word Up!" was the first track featured on Korn's 2004 retrospective album, Greatest Hits, Volume 1, and was one of two 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 rock radio at its time of release, peaking in the top twenty of both Billboard charts,[1] whilst making a respectable impression on the mainstream charts of other countries, including Australia (where it debuted at number 28),[2] and Germany (number 46).[3] 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 U.S. 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" [1]. The music video for the song directed by Antti Jokinen featured the band's faces digitally edited onto dogs' in a club scene with women dancing topless. Guitarist Brian "Head" Welch was unhappy with this decision, citing it as one of his reasons for leaving the band.[4] (The digital effects are similar to Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At?" video where peoples' faces were digitally edited onto monkeys' faces.)
[edit] Korn chart performance
| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles | 23 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 17 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 16 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Tracks | 26 |
| Germany | 46 |
| Australia | 28 |
| Switzerland | 47 |
| Norway | 15 |
| Austria | 58 |
[edit] Korn track listing
- "Word Up!" – 2:54
- "Word Up!" (Atticus Clark remix) – 3:54
- "Word Up!" (Damizza Ree mix) – 6:36
- "Word Up!" (radio edit) – 2:54
- "Another Brick in the Wall" (live) – 8:21
- "Word Up!" video (multimedia)
[edit] Trivia
The video for Cameo's version of the song is noteworthy for a cameo appearance by Levar Burton as a police detective.
The Cameo version of the song is also featured on adverts for Season two of the show Everybody Hates Chris, on the UK TV Channel Paramount Comedy 1in August 2007.
Korn's cover version was used in a 2006 and 2007 promotional advertisement for HBO's series Entourage in the United Kingdom on ITV2.
[edit] Additional cover versions
- covered by Cochino for the soundtrack of Party Monster
- covered by the Scottish rock band Gun, which reached #8 in the UK.
- covered by the band The BossHoss in 2005 for the album Internashville Urban Hymns.
- covered by Country-soul singer Willis did a cover (on her 2004 single "Take You High") that was featured on the Season Seven CSI episode "Post Mortem", with trace analyst Hodges dancing to the music.
- The song is also featured in the Euromix version of the popular arcade game "Dance Dance Revoloution".
- covered by Yonder Mountain String Band in their live performance at the Melkweg in Amsterdam on March 20, 2007 (available on archive.org).
- covered by Keller Williams 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. It was one of many cover versions that was later released on a compilation CD of that segment's highlights.
| Preceded by "The Rain" by Oran "Juice" Jones |
Billboard's Hot R&B Songs number one single October 4-October 18, 1986 |
Succeeded by "Shake You Down" by Gregory Abbott |
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