But beyond the lyrics, everything about the song is tough - from the staccato drums to the droning guitar that pops up in the chorus. ItвЂ™s Abdul at her most aggressive, challenging a loverвЂ™s true intentions. ThereвЂ™s only one essential Abdul single, and thatвЂ™s obviously вЂњStraight UpвЂќ, the third single from her debut album Forever Your Girl and the track that became the first of her six (six!!) number ones. This is why the quality of this hits compilation falls off as soon as she finds success and decides to be an artist as much as a videogenic dance diva.

I hate to make the comparison againвЂ¦but unlike Jackson (who has appeared to develop her relationship with producers Jam/Lewis to the point where they can be considered equal creative partners), Abdul lives and dies by her songs and production. She was blessed (cursed?) with a nasal chirp of a voice that was by far the weakest of her contemporaries youвЂ™re not picking up her record to be blown away by the vocals. Quite possibly, the biggest irony about Abdul is the fact that if she were to appear on Idol as a contestant, she wouldnвЂ™t even get through the audition phase. This is, of course, assuming you want anything by her to begin with. Greatest Hits: Straight Up!, at 18 tracks, is a bit overstuffed, but look at it this way: With this album in your possession, you will never have to own anything by Paula Abdul ever again. Although her reign at the top of the charts was quick (1989-1992), the singles were plentiful. So even though sheвЂ™s now best-known as the slightly loopy (OK, very loopy) judge on FoxвЂ™s American Idol, there was a time when Paula Abdul was the most popular female singer in America. Her first hit singles rode the coattails of JacksonвЂ™s sound as hard as records by Pebbles, Karyn White, Jody Watley and a million lesser copycats did during the same period. Consequently, without JacksonвЂ™s dance/pop breakthrough, I donвЂ™t think Abdul would have ever decided to record an album. At that time Abdul was only known as a cheerleader for the Magic-era Los Angeles Lakers. The first and most obvious one is that JacksonвЂ™s breakthrough album, 1986вЂ™s Control, featured several videos choreographed by Abdul.

ItвЂ™s just as easy to say Paula AbdulвЂ™s success wouldnвЂ™t have happened without Janet Jackson as it is to say Janet JacksonвЂ™s success wouldnвЂ™t have happened without Paula Abdul, and there are a couple of factors at play here.

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