Rush Rush

This article is about the Paula Abdul song. For the Debbie Harry song, see Rush Rush (Debbie Harry song). For the video game, see Rush Rush Rally Racing.
"Rush Rush"
Single by Paula Abdul
from the album Spellbound
B-side Remix
Released May 2, 1991
Format Cassette, 7" single, CD maxi
Recorded Fall 1990
Greene Street Recording[1]
(New York City, NY)
Studio Masters
(Los Angeles, CA)
Z Recording Studio
(Brooklyn, NY)
Genre Pop
Length 4:52
Label Virgin
Writer(s) Peter Lord
Producer(s) Peter Lord & Vernon Jeffrey Smith
Certification Platinum (US)
Paula Abdul singles chronology
"Opposites Attract"
(1989)		 "Rush Rush"
(1991)		 "The Promise of a New Day"
(1991)

"Rush Rush" is a song by American recording artist Paula Abdul, taken from her second studio album Spellbound (1991). It was released on May 2, 1991, by Virgin Records as the lead single of the album. Written by Peter Lord, and produced by Peter Lord and V. Jeffrey Smith (both members of The Family Stand), the song achieved major success in the U.S. where it topped the Billboard Hot 100.

Background

"Rush Rush" was a departure for Abdul stylistically, as it was her first ballad released as a single, following as it did the six uptempo singles from her debut LP, and was viewed by all observers as a rather risky strategy in kicking off her second album of new material Spellbound. But the decision was vindicated, as it was very well received at retail.

First presented to Abdul as a demo by the Family Stand in 1990, she became intent on it becoming the first single. In fall of 1990 at Studio Masters, Abdul laid down a scratch vocal for the track, which was never intended to make it to the song's final mix. But the producers felt that its unpolished sound was what was needed to give the song its ingenuous tone, to match its subject matter and accompanying promotional video clip; it ended up on the final cut in March 1991.

Music video

The video reimagines the 1955 James Dean/Natalie Wood film Rebel Without A Cause, including iconic location shots at Griffith Observatory, a black 1949 Mercury, and a climactic street race. With Keanu Reeves filling James Dean's role of Jim, opposite Abdul as Judy, several scenes from the movie are duplicated shot-for-shot. The video was directed by Stefan Würnitzer in April 1991,[2] and produced by Karen Rohrbacher for Lucasfilm Commercial Productions.[3]

Chart performances

"Rush Rush" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #36 on May 11, 1991, and hit #1 five weeks later, June 15, 1991, where it remained for five consecutive weeks. At the time of its five-week stint, it was the longest running #1 since Madonna's "Like a Virgin" spent six weeks at #1 during the winter of 1984-1985. The song also spent five weeks atop the U.S. adult contemporary chart. It peaked at #6 on the UK Singles Chart.

Track listings and formats

U.S. Cassette Single

  1. "Rush Rush" (7" edit) - 4:22
  2. "Rush Rush" (dub mix) - 5:54

U.S. Promo 5" CD

  1. "Rush Rush" (LP version) - 4:56
  2. "Rush Rush" (7" edit) - 4:22
  3. "Rush Rush" (dub mix) - 5:54

UK 5" CD

  1. "Rush Rush" (LP version) - 4:56
  2. "Rush Rush" (7" edit) - 4:22
  3. "Rush Rush" (dub mix) - 5:54

Official remixes

Cover versions

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1991) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[5] 2
Austrian Singles Chart[5] 23
Canada RPM Top Singles 1
Dutch Top 40[6] 9
French SNEP Singles Chart[5] 24
German Singles Chart[7] 12
Irish Singles Chart[8] 11
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[5] 7
Norwegian Singles Chart[5] 9
Swedish Singles Chart[5] 7
UK Singles Chart[9] 6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10] 1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary[10] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Singles[10] 20

End of year charts

End of year chart (1991) Position
Australian Singles Chart[11] 19
Dutch Top 40[6] 50
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[12] 4

End of decade charts

Chart (1990-1999) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[13] 91

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Sweden[14] Gold November 21, 1991 10,000
U.S.[15] Gold June 24, 1991 500,000

Chart successions

Preceded by
"More Than Words" by Extreme		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
June 15, 1991 – July 13, 1991 		Succeeded by
"Unbelievable" by EMF
Preceded by
"Love Is a Wonderful Thing" by Michael Bolton		 Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one single
June 29 - July 27, 1991 		Succeeded by
"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" by Bryan Adams

References

  1. ↑ http://crydee.sai.msu.ru/public/lyrics/asv-collection/Lyrics/Abdul_Paula/abdul.91
  2. ↑ Anglicized spelling: Stephan Wuernitzer.
  3. ↑ IMDb, mvdbase, Paula Abdul Captivated - The Video Collection '92, Sobo
  4. ↑ UOL. "Como Um Beijo Em Noite De Luar (Rush Rush), de Eliana". Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 "Rush Rush", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Single top 100 over 1991" (pdf) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  7. ↑ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
  8. ↑ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
  9. ↑ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved September 9, 2008)
  11. ↑ 1996 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved September 8, 2008)
  12. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1991". Retrieved 2009-09-15.
  13. ↑ Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  14. ↑ Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved September 11, 2008)
  15. ↑ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved September 9, 2008)

External links