"Give It Up" is a song by American

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

and

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 ...

band

KC and the Sunshine Band KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits " Get Down Tonight", " That's the Way (I Like It)", "⁠ (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", ...

, although it was simply credited as KC in many

markets Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

, including the United States. Following the backlash against many disco artists on the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

at the beginning of the 1980s, "Give It Up" was a comeback

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

for the band in the US.

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

refused to re-release it when included on the band's 1982 album ''All in a Night's Work'' and failed to chart upon initial release; however, the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Meca Records label showed its support and included it on their 1983 album ''

KC Ten ''KC Ten'' is the tenth studio album by the funk and disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. The album was produced by Harry Wayne Casey, Robert Walker, and Ron Taylor and was released in December 1983 on the Meca label. History ''KC Ten'' was cr ...

'' and "Give It Up" peaked at number 18 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in March 1984. "Give It Up" had been an even bigger hit in the United Kingdom several months earlier, where it had hit number one on the UK singles chart for three weeks in August 1983. It went on to become the 18th best-selling single of the year in the UK. It was the last of the band's hit singles in the US and UK, and the most successful of its ten UK hits. "Give It Up" also peaked at number two in Belgium, number three in Australia, and reached the Top 10 in several other markets. In 1993, Danish group

Cut 'N' Move Cut 'N' Move were a Danish dance/hip hop group from Århus. Career 1989–1992: Origins and debut album The group was founded in 1989 by keyboard player Per Holm, disc jockey Jørn K (Jørn Kristensen), and rapper MC Zipp (Jens Kjær Larsen). I ...

scored a big hit with their version of "Give It Up", which went to number one in Australia and their native Denmark.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Cut 'N' Move version

"Give It Up" was covered by Danish

Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

group Cut 'N' Move and released in February 1993 as the first single from their second album, ''Peace, Love & Harmony'' (1993). Their version reached number one in Denmark for five weeks and in Australia for four weeks. The song also peaked at number two in Norway, number five in New Zealand, and number six in Austria, Germany, and Sweden. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, it reached number 31 in August 1993. In Australia, it was certified platinum. It is sung by singers Zindy Laursen and Thera Hoeymans. The rap part is performed by MC Zipp (a.k.a. Jens Kjær Larsen). A colorful music video was produced to promote the single. Cut 'N' Move covered the song again in 1997 for ''

Dancemania Covers ''Dancemania Covers'' is a sub-series of the ''Dancemania'' compilation series, with various famous songs covered by various dance music acts. Releases ''Dancemania Covers'' ''Dancemania Covers'' was released on July 16, 1997. ''Dancemania Cov ...

''.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

The song was covered by

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...

and

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American-British musician. She is a founding member of the rock band the Pretenders and is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter; she and drummer Martin Chambers are the ...

during a live performance at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

in London on February 9, 1986. "Love You Long Time" by

The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

, from their 2010 album, ''

The Beginning The Beginning may refer to: Film * ''The Beginning'' (1970 film), a 1970 Soviet film * '' Missing in Action 2: The Beginning'', a 1985 American action film * '' Psycho IV: The Beginning'', a 1990 American horror film * ''Star Wars: Episode I � ...

'', contains a sample of "Give It Up". The song was also covered in French by the Quebecer singer

Jacynthe Jacynthe Millette-Bilodeau is a Canadian pop singer who records as Jacynthe. She records material in English, French and Italian, and has had Top 40 hits on both the anglophone and francophone pop charts in Canada. She lives in Montreal. As of 2 ...

on her 1999 album ''Entends-tu mon cœur''.

In popular culture

* The song has been turned into a sporting chant in the United Kingdom, especially at football games in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

: **After

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

defeated

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

5-0 on October 25, 2021, Liverpool's travelling fans mocked under pressure Manchester United manager

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who currently manages Süper Lig club Beşiktaş. He spent the majority of his playing career with Manchester United and made 67 appea ...

by singing "Ole's at the Wheel" to the tune of "Give It Up". ** At a

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

match on September 8, 2022, following the

death of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch. She was ...

, a crowd of

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

supporters at

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium () is an List of association football stadiums in the Republic of Ireland, association football stadium in Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of ...

were heard singing the chant as "Lizzie's in a

Box A box (plural: boxes) is a container with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides (typically rectangular prisms). Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or v ...

" to mock the death (owing to historic

anti-British sentiment Anti-British sentiment is the prejudice against, persecution of, discrimination against, fear of, dislike of, or hatred against the British Government, British people, or the culture of the United Kingdom. Argentina Historically, anti- ...

in Ireland). ** The song is commonly used in support of

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

mixed martial artist

Tom Aspinall Thomas Paul Aspinall (born 11 April 1993) is an English professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the reigning Interim UFC Heavyweight Champi ...

during his fights. ** The song is the walk-on music for darts player

Vincent van der Voort Vincent van der Voort (born 18 December 1975) is a Dutch former professional darts player who played in British Darts Organisation (BDO) then Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is nicknamed the "Dutch Destroyer", although he used ...

. The crowd is singing his name during the chorus, replacing the words "Baby, give it up". They usually do the same when supporting other darters if their names have the same amount of syllables as this sentence. * The song is heard in Richmond Valentine ( Samuel L. Jackson)'s lair when Valentine activates the V-Day program in the 2014 film '' Kingsman: The Secret Service''. *The song is played at the beginning of concerts by Scottish singer

Gerry Cinnamon Gerard Crosbie (born 1 October 1984), professionally known as Gerry Cinnamon, is a Scottish singer-songwriter and acoustic guitarist. In 2020 his second album, ''The Bonny'', reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and became the third bigges ...

. *The song is featured in the opening scene of Black Mirror episode “Loch Henry”

Charlie Brooker Charlton ‘Charlie’ Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English screenwriter, producer, presenter, author, cartoonist, and social critic. He first became known for creating and presenting satirical television shows that featured biting criticis ...

.“Loch Henry” Series 6, Episode 2 Black Mirror
Netflix, June 15, 2023

References

{{authority control 1982 singles 1983 singles 1984 singles 1993 singles KC and the Sunshine Band songs UK singles chart number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Harry Wayne Casey Eurodance songs Post-disco songs 1982 songs Epic Records singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Denmark