"Rip It Up" | ||||
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Single by Orange Juice | ||||
from the album Rip It Up | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 7 February 1983 | |||
Recorded | Berwick Street Studios, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Label | Polydor | |||
Songwriter(s) | Edwyn Collins | |||
Producer(s) | Martin Hayles | |||
Orange Juice singles chronology | ||||
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"Rip It Up" is a song by Scottish indie pop band Orange Juice, released in 1983 as the second single from their 1982 album of the same name. The song became the band's only UK top 40 success, reaching No. 8 on the chart. "Rip It Up" signalled a departure from the sound of the band's earlier singles, with Chic-influenced guitars and using a synthesiser to create a more disco-oriented sound.
The song was sampled in 2009 by British soul singer Beverley Knight on her song "In Your Shoes" from the album 100% .
In 2014, NME ranked it at number 216 in its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". [3] It was also included by Pitchfork at number 157 in their list of "The Best 200 Songs of the 1980s". [4]
The song was recorded as part of the sessions for Orange Juice's second studio album and would go on to become the title track of said album. It marked a departure from their previous guitar-pop based material, instead utilising Chic style guitar-funk and a bubbling Roland TB-303 synthesiser bassline, becoming the first chart single to feature the instrument. [5] The song also quotes two lines of lyrics ("You know me, I'm acting dumb-dumb / You know this scene is very humdrum") [6] [7] [8] and a snatch of the guitar riff from "Boredom", a song by Buzzcocks that featured on their debut Spiral Scratch EP. [5] The riff chimes briefly in, just as Collins namechecks the song in the lyrics claiming that "...and my favourite song is entitled 'Boredom'." [5] Backing vocals on the song were provided by Paul Quinn, the lead singer of fellow Scottish band Bourgie Bourgie, with whom Collins would later record a single in 1984, a cover of the Velvet Underground song "Pale Blue Eyes."[ citation needed ]
The video opens with the band in a futuristic, but cheaply constructed, control room as they sing, dance and operate various controls. The band then watch themselves on a monitor screen as they walk down a rainy British high street dressed in incongruous, brightly coloured summer clothes. The video then cuts back to the control room, this time with the band playing their instruments superimposed over it, before returning to more scenes of a British city in torrential rain as the band walk around in scuba diving gear. The video finally cuts back to the band playing in a silver foil covered room, before superimposing them over a pile of random photographs.
"Rip It Up" was released as a single in the UK in February 1983. The seven inch vinyl version of the single was available in three versions, a double pack including a second seven-inch and a fold out poster, [9] along with two versions of the standard release, initially with a silver injection moulded labels, [10] and then subsequently with paper printed labels. [11] The song was also released on twelve inch vinyl, with extended versions of the title track and B-side. [9] All versions were housed in a paper sleeve depicting a US P-40 Warhawk fighter plane (decorated with eyes and teeth) partially submerged, tail first, in the sea, [9] drawn by Edwyn Collins.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Rip It Up" | Edwyn Collins | 3:51 |
2. | "Snake Charmer" | Malcolm Ross | 4:43 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Rip It Up" | Edwyn Collins | |
2. | "Snake Charmer" | Malcolm Ross | |
3. | "Love Sick" (Live) | Edwyn Collins | |
4. | "A Sad Lament" | Edwyn Collins |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Rip It Up" (Long Version) | Edwyn Collins | |
2. | "A Sad Lament" (Long Version) | Edwyn Collins |
Chart (1983) | Peak position |
---|---|
Ireland (IRMA) [14] | 23 |
UK Singles Chart [15] | 8 |
New Zealand Singles Chart [12] | 42 |
The Roland TB-303 Bass Line is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were adopted by electronic musicians, and its "squelching" or "chirping" sound became a foundation of electronic dance music genres such as acid house, Chicago house and techno. It has inspired numerous clones.
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Manchester in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They achieved commercial success with singles that fuse pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy; these singles were later collected on Singles Going Steady, an acclaimed compilation album music journalist and critic Ned Raggett described as a "punk masterpiece".
Orange Juice were a Scottish jangle pop band founded in the Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. They became Orange Juice in 1979, and took inspiration by contemporary punk bands including Subway Sect, Television, and Buzzcocks but also 1960s acts, most notably the Byrds and the Velvet Underground. Musically, the band brought together styles and genres that often appeared incongruous, for example, country, disco and punk.
Pete Shelley was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He formed early punk band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and became the lead singer and guitarist in 1977 when Devoto left. The group released their biggest hit "Ever Fallen in Love " in 1978. The band broke up in 1981 and reformed at the end of the decade. Shelley also had a solo career; his song "Homosapien" charted in Australasia and Canada in 1981 and 1982.
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Edwyn Stephen Collins is a Scottish musician, producer and record label owner. Collins was the lead singer for the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice, which he co-founded. After the group split in 1985, Collins started a solo career. His 1994 single "A Girl Like You" was a worldwide hit.
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Paul Walter Quinn is a Scottish musician who was the lead singer of cult 1980s band Bourgie Bourgie, and also released records with Jazzateers, Vince Clarke and Edwyn Collins and sang on an early track by the French Impressionists.
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