"Get It Up" is the debut single by American

funk rock Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and Rock music, rock. James Brown and others declared that Little Richard and his mid-1950s road band, The Upsetters (American band), the Upsetters, were the first to put the funk in the ...

band the Time, from their 1981 self-titled debut album.

History

Like most of the album, the song was recorded in

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

's home studio in April 1981, and was produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince with Morris Day later adding his lead vocals.

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

keyboardist Doctor Fink provided synth solos on the track, uncredited. The

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

- pop number relies on synthesizers and contains numerous solos throughout the song. The song is propelled by a strong bass line and contains live drums and handclaps. A raunchy guitar solo provides a rock element to the funky track. "Get It Up" is basically an ode to sex and Day's attempts to get some. Prince's vocals are very apparent in the song, both in the background and the lead at times. "Get It Up" was only released as a 7" single with the poppy "After Hi School" as its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. "After Hi School", while not an outstanding effort was composed by

Dez Dickerson Desmond D'andrea Dickerson (born August 7, 1955) is an American guitarist and singer who was a member of Prince's band, the Revolution. Life and career Dickerson was born in 1955 as Desmond D'andrea Dickerson, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A v ...

and is perhaps the strongest pop effort on the album. Along with the track "Cool", "Get It Up" peaked at number six on the US ''Billboard'' Hot R&B singles chart, and at number 16 on the Disco Top 80 chart. The full version of "Get It Up" was later a B-side for the 12" single of "Ice Cream Castles" in 1984. "Get It Up" is one of The Time's more popular numbers, and a live version of the song recorded at the

House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers (film), The Blues Brothers''. The ...

in 1998 was included on Morris Day's 2004 album, '' It's About Time'' where it segues into " 777-9311".

Personnel

Credits sourced from Prince Vault and Guitarcloud * Morris Day - lead and backing vocals *

- backing vocals,

Oberheim OB-X The Oberheim OB-X was the first of Oberheim Electronics, Oberheim's OB-series polyphony (instrument), polyphonic Analog synthesizer, analog Subtractive synthesis, subtractive synthesizers. First commercially available in June 1979, the OB-X was ...

, ARP Omni, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, handclaps * Dr. Fink - Oberheim OB-X (solo) * Sue Ann Carwell - backing vocals

TLC version

"Get It Up" was covered by American girl group

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

for the sountrack to the 1993 film ''

Poetic Justice Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, h ...

'', becoming a major hit for the group and was later included in TLC's first greatest hits album, '' Now and Forever: The Hits'' (2003). The music video for "Get It Up" was shot in June 1993.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notes

References

{{authority control 1981 debut singles 1993 singles The Time (band) songs Songs written by Prince (musician) TLC (group) songs Song recordings produced by Tim & Bob Song recordings produced by Dallas Austin Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) 1981 songs Warner Records singles