salt-n-pepa "push it"

Here's what I can recall (I was programmer at WAPE Jacksonville at the time). "Push It" was released on 45 to radio. Much shorter than the 4:26 version.. I think it was 3:30 or something. I don't have a copy of it. It did not have those pitch changes in the instrumental sections, I believe those sections were added to the song. "Push It" was getting airplay on the original release, but then the label released the remix to radio and most stations changed over. I don't remember ever seeing it in it's original state again.

I would think there is a DJ and a stock copy with the shorter length out there somewhere..unless they never issued the original mix on stock. Might have been a 12" before a 45.

Hi People, Merry Christmas!

Just going by my memory (which may not be accurate), the single of "Tramp" was the second single off of the LP 'Hot Cool & Vicious' (the first single was "My Mic Sounds Nice"). (Please keep in mind by 'single' I mean 12" single promoted to clubs & R&B radio).

The B-side of the original "Tramp" 12-inch was what they used to call a 'throwaway' track (also known as a non-LP b-side) entitled "Push It" (the original mix).

All while "Tramp" was getting some R&B play and certainly ethnic-leaning club play, a growing cult of more mainstream-leaning club jocks & rhythmic-leaning top-40 programmers were playing/spiking "Push It"(even during the release of third single "Chick On The Side").

Sensing a home-grown organic HIT, this led Next Plateau to remix/promote "Push It (remix)" to clubs/R&B/Top-40 & a platinum smash was made.

The "Push It (remix)" was replaced on the "Tramp"/"Push It" 12-inch, and I believe that "Push It (remix)" was inserted on later LP pressings while the track was hot.

Please remember this is memory, not necessarily fact!

Still a little confused.

The common version is the one running 4:26, which appears
on the US 45 and most of the US CD appearances. No
sweat. I can understand that it's a "remix", and I think
"remix" even appeared on the 45.

It appears that the UK 45 may be an edit of the remix. I
have a version running 3:26 on Now That's What I Call
Music 12, Now 1988 and Smash Hits Party
88, and it sounds like the same mix as the common
4:26 version, only with a whole lot of edits that cut out
a minute of the song.

There's an even shorter edit, running 3:12, on the German
2-CD set Mega Dance Party '92. Again, it sounds
like the same mix as the 4:26 "remix".

So I still have never heard the "original mix" - is it a
really obvious mix difference?

I can confirm that the YouTube clip does feature the original 12" b-side version.

Bill Cahill wrote: Here's what I can recall (I was programmer at WAPE Jacksonville at the time). "Push It" was released on 45 to radio. Much shorter than the 4:26 version.. I think it was 3:30 or something. I don't have a copy of it. It did not have those pitch changes in the instrumental sections, I believe those sections were added to the song. "Push It" was getting airplay on the original release, but then the label released the remix to radio and most stations changed over. I don't remember ever seeing it in it's original state again. I would think there is a DJ and a stock copy with the shorter length out there somewhere..unless they never issued the original mix on stock. Might have been a 12" before a 45.

I was an avid listener of WAPE at the time, and I do remember them playing what was essentially an edit of the non-remixed version... thanks for confirming that it was from an actual promo. The version aired replaced the word "pissed" with a bit of laughter from the "Idle Chatter" track on the 12", would be interested to know if that was on the promo 45 or an in-house censor.

Once the Cameron Paul remix began getting widespread airplay, WAPE switched to what I can only assume was an in-house mix that combined elements of the original and remix versions. (Unfortunately I no longer have any of the stuff I taped off the radio during that era, that's one mix that I preferred over the official versions.)

I saw the bat signal... I'm on my way...

Non-hit original version from B-side of "Tramp" 12 inch single (4:15)

If Next Plateau's numbering order is truly sequential, then Salt-N-Pepa's first four singles were "I'll Take Your Man" (12" Next Plateau NP50043, released 1986), "Beauty And The Beat" (12" Next Plateau NP50053, released 1986), "My Mike Sounds Nice" (12" Next Plateau NP50055, released 1987), (and "Tramp" (12" Next Plateau NP50063, released 1987).

"Push It" first appeared as a non-LP B-side on the "Tramp" 12-inch single, where it had a printed time of 4:09, and an actual run time of 4:15. This version starts with an a cappella "Get up on this" and ends with an a cappella "Ah, push it." It's just vocals and drum machine until 0:53, when the synth line starts.

Th database shows several CDs having a 4:15 "alternate mix". I don't own any of those discs, and I'm not sure if this alternate mix is the non-hit original B-side of "Tramp".

US 45 version (4:28)

San Francisco DJ Cameron Paul remixed the track for his promo-only Mixx-It series. It appears on Mixx-It CP 1-7, Side A, where it has a printed time of 4:26. The track took off from there, getting actual radio airplay.

Next Plateau Records took notice, bought the rights to the remix, and turned it into a real hit.

First, they stuck the remix on the B-side of the "Tramp" 7-inch single (Next Plateau KF315, released 1987). On this 45, the title reads "Push It (Remix)", with a printed time of 4:26, and a credit of "Mixx-it remix by Cameron Paul".

Then, Next Plateau issued the 4:26 remix on a promo 12-inch single (Next Plateau NP50063 DJ, released 1987; same title, printed time and credits as the "Tramp" 45), and its own commercial 7" single (also Next Plateau KF315, but with "Push It (Remix)" on both sides; same title, printed time and credits as the "Tramp" 45).

Next Plateau even tacked it onto later pressings of the Hot Cool And Vicious vinyl LP and all copies of the Hot Cool And Vicious CD.

I don't own the Hot Cool And Vicious CD myself. I do have a Canadian compilation on PolyTel called Hot Sounds (1988), which may possibly use the same analog transfer as Hot Cool And Vicious; can't confirm, though.

The oldest common US CD I have with the song is JCI's Hot Moves (1989), where it sounds just fine. Excellent dynamic range, decent EQ, and no evidence of noise reduction. The same analog transfer is used on:

• Thump's Old School Vol. 2 (1994)
• Rebound's Funk Classics The '80s (1996)
• JCI's Only Soul 1985-1989 (1996)
• Flashback's Whoomp Here It Is Hip Hop Hits (2000)

I also have it on Priority's Rapmasters 14 (1990), which doesn't sounds as good as the JCI mastering.

UK 45 version (3:27)

It's an edit of the US 45 (hit) version, with too many edits to detail here.

I have it on:

• EMI Virgin PolyGram UK's 2-CD Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 12 (1988)
• Dover UK's 2-CD Smash Hits Party 88 (1988)
• EMI Virgin PolyGram UK's 2-CD Now That's What I Call Music 1988 (1993)

I like the Now discs for this version. Your best bet is to get the 1993 set.

I should point out that I couldn't find any evidence of a US promo 45. If there was such a promo 45, I don't know what was on it. So if the 3:27 version got any US airplay in 1987, it was from the UK 45, from a US promo that included the 3:27 version (and I don't know if such a thing exists), or from a homemade edit.

One outlier

The version on Sony Germany's 2-CD Mega Dance Party '92 (1992) runs even shorter at 3:11, by deleting 2:42 to 2:56 (approximately) from the UK 45 version. I don't know where this version initially appeared, or if it was even a sanctioned release in 1987.

Edited by crapfromthepast