Paula Abdul "Straight Up" promo

Brian, we may have gotten a promo 12" vinyl on "Straight Up" with those versions, that I have somewhere deep in my "auxiliary storage dungeon", but we only got Virgin PRCD 2539 in as a Promo CD single, 1 track, (4:11). An old radio station chief engineer buddy of mine is also very deep into promo CD singles - he would go into NYC once a month to fill in gaps/discover remix promos. We talk often, and I will ask him about it and follow up with you. Our station didn't have a big rep for playing those longer remixes - pretty much "Straight Up" (pun intended) Top 40. So we may not have been sent one that DID exist in this case, although we still did get in plenty of remix promo CD singles. I kept a careful eye out for them.

Edited by jimct

Brian: Getting back to you on this, as promised. Have touched base with my fellow promo-remixes-CD collector; he also has only the 1 track, (4:11) version on a promo CD single. There could still be a promo CD out there that's escaped the both of us, especially since you saw a Goldmine ad for a promo remix CD, but my friend is practically a "private-eye" in sniffing out the existence of these; he doesn't currently have one on his want list. And he would, if he saw what you saw - and he both bought and scoured through Goldmine EVERY week.   

Brian: I currently see a promo 12" vinyl for "Straight Up" (Virgin 1262) available for 8 bucks, by reputable dealer Craig Moerer. This may be your best bet for right now, although I realize it's not a CD. This jives with my recollection of a 12" promo coming into our station for that back in '89. Did a little investigating; I believe that the very available import 5" clone of the Japanese 3" first appeared in mid-1993, and could possibly be a boot. A couple of CD single websites I know of, as well as a Virgin label all-format release discography, does not list a 2nd promo. Anything's always possible, though...

Ok, I recalled there was a UK 3" CD so I googled for it, and for those interested, all the versions of the 12 inch and yet another mix can be found on the UK 3" CD, SRNCD111 : )

Straight Up (12" remix)
Straight Up (Power mix)
Straight Up (House Mix)
Straight Up (Marley Marl Mix)

AHA! I knew I wasn't crazy. I'd been searching Ebay for cassette singles of Straight Up, and they all had the LP version of Cold Hearted as the B-side, just like the 45. But I was sure mine was backed with the Power Mix of Straight Up.

Finally:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Paula-Abdul-Straight-Up-1988-single_W0QQ itemZ4805834327QQcategoryZ1600QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

So it seems there were two pressings of the cassette single: one backed with Cold Hearted, and one backed with the Power Mix.

Is "Circle in the Sand" one of those that has sort of a hazy film outside the area where the CD playing area is? I had the same case with Janet Jackson's Alright import, the one with the black and white cover. The extended versions faded early. My "Straight Up" is like that too -- it's a 5-inch, but it's really sort of like a three-inch on a five-inch disc.

Brian, I am at work so can't double check the disc, but your description seems quite accurate from what I can recall. I do clearly remember the disc has the legend "Another Virgin CD Single" on the label side towards the outer edge of the disc. The "Heaven Is A Place On Earth " UK CD single is like that, too, except lettering on the CD is in blue rather than black. Does the "Straight Up" have that legend, too?

My edition of Pat's book indicates that DJ 45 copies ran 3:50, while commercial copies ran 4:11 and 4:57.

For what it's worth, my commercial 45 is -

A: Straight Up - printed 4:11
B: Straight Up ("Powermix") - printed 4:57

It appears that the UK single ran 3:50 also, which is featured on two UK compilations:

Now That's What I Call Music 14 (Virgin EMI PolyGram UK CD NOW 14, 1989)
Now That's What I Call Music 1989 (Virgin EMI PolyGram UK 8 27077 2, 1993)

The 3:50 version is just an early fade of the LP version, and can be recreated with a 24-beat fade from 3:33.0-3:48.0. (Times from CD Forever Your Girl.)

both my commercial 45 and commercial cassingle are issued with the same catalog number virgin 99256 and both run the same length 4:10......the commercial 45 states a run time of 4:11 while the cassingle has no notation......my cassingle has the "power mix" as track 2...the commercial 45 was NOT originally issued with a picture sleeve...












Edited by edtop40

Paula looks quite innocent in that pic...way before the "Idol" bizarre behavior. :)