"Uptight" is a song by English singer-songwriter

Shara Nelson Shara Nelson (born 1965) is an English singer and songwriter. She worked with Massive Attack in the early 1990s, and as a solo artist had five UK top 40 hit singles. Her 1993 debut album, '' What Silence Knows'', was shortlisted for the Mercury ...

, released in January 1994, by

Cooltempo Records Cooltempo, the dance music imprint of Chrysalis Records, was revived in May 2018. The label released albums by artists such as Kenny Thomas, Milli Vanilli, Adeva, Shara Nelson, Mica Paris and Innocence. History Cooltempo emerged at the end o ...

, as the fourth single from her first solo album, '' What Silence Knows'' (1993). Co-written by Nelson with

Attrell Cordes Attrell Stephen Cordes Jr. (May 15, 1970 – June 17, 2016), also known by the stage name Prince Be, was an American rapper, musician, singer and record producer. Cordes was the lead vocalist of the hip-hop group P.M. Dawn, which he formed in 198 ...

, the song was produced by Michael Peden and became a top-20 hit in the UK, peaking at numbers 19 and 12 on the UK Singles Chart and the ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' Dance Singles chart. The accompanying music video was directed by American director Kevin Bray.

Critical reception

Alan Jones from ''

'' gave the song a score of four out of five and named it Pick of the Week, saying, "It's a perky uptempo song, with a funky, shuffling

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

-esque beat, and great pop potential." He added that Nelson "is certain of another Top 40 hit". Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "It's hard to keep your cool with this funky groover, with Miss Nelson wrapping her vocals around the staccato sung chorus." Terry Staunton from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' wrote, "This isn't quite up to that mark Down That Road' and 'One Goodbye in Ten">Down That Road (Shara Nelson song)">Down That Road' and 'One Goodbye in Ten'], but it's still a glorious record, reminiscent of Motown in the good old days." Andy Beevers from the ''Record Mirror'' Dance Update noted Nelson's "atmospheric vocal", while James Hamilton (DJ and journalist), James Hamilton named it a "plaintive jiggly roller" in his weekly dance column. Jonathan Bernstein from '' Spin (magazine), Spin'' noted the song's "insecurity".

Music video

The music video for "Uptight" was directed by American director Kevin Bray and produced by Lisa Bonahan for DNA. It was released on 7 February 1994 and features Nelson tramping the chilly streets of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

accompanied by a cast of locals.

Track listings

* UK CD single (7243 8 81184 2 2) # "Uptight" (Uno Perfecto Edit) - 4:30 # "Uptight" (Uno Perfecto Mix) - 7:05 # "Uptight" (Dirty Lowdown Vocal Mix) - 5:30 # "What Silence Knows" (Unreleased Version) - 7:52 * European CD single (7243 8 81186 2 0) # "Uptight" (Uno Perfecto Edit) - 4:32 # "Uptight" (Dirty Lowdown Dub) - 5:29 # "Uptight" (Uno Perfecto Mix) - 7:06

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* 1993 songs 1994 singles Cooltempo Records singles Music videos directed by Kevin Bray (director) Music videos shot in the United States Shara Nelson songs Songs written by Attrell Cordes Songs written by Shara Nelson {{1990s-UK-single-stub