Get It Up

For the Aerosmith song, see Get It Up (Aerosmith song).

"Get It Up" is the debut single by American funk rock band the Time, from their 1981 self-titled debut album.

"Get It Up"
7" single cover
Single by the Time
from the album The Time
B-side	"After Hi School"
Released	June 26, 1981
Recorded	April 1981
Studio	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Genre	Minneapolis sound post-disco • funk • rock
Length	3:01 (7" edit) 9:08 (album version)
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Morris Day Prince (as "Jamie Starr")
The Time singles chronology
"Get It Up" (1981) "Cool" (1981)

History

Like most of the album, the song was recorded in Prince's home studio in April 1981, and was produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince with Morris Day later adding his lead vocals.^[1] Revolution keyboardist Doctor Fink provided synth solos on the track, uncredited.

The funk-pop number relies on synthesizers and contains numerous solos throughout the song. The song is propelled by a strong bass line and contains live drums and handclaps. A raunchy guitar solo provides a rock element to the funky track. "Get It Up" is basically an ode to sex and Day's attempts to get some. Prince's vocals are very apparent in the song, both in the background and the lead at times.

"Get It Up" was only released as a 7" single with the poppy "After Hi School" as its B-side. "After Hi School", while not an outstanding effort was composed by Dez Dickerson and is perhaps the strongest pop effort on the album. Along with the track "Cool", "Get It Up" peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot R&B singles chart, and at number 16 on the Disco Top 80 chart.^[2] The full version of "Get It Up" was later a B-side for the 12" single of "Ice Cream Castles" in 1984. "Get It Up" is one of The Time's more popular numbers, and a live version of the song recorded at the House of Blues in 1998 was included on Morris Day's 2004 album, It's About Time where it segues into "777-9311".

Personnel

Credits sourced from Prince Vault and Guitarcloud^{[3][4][nb 1]}

• Morris Day - lead and backing vocals
• Prince - backing vocals, Oberheim OB-X, ARP Omni, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, handclaps
• Dr. Fink - Oberheim OB-X (solo)
• Sue Ann Carwell - backing vocals

TLC version

"Get It Up"
Single by TLC
from the album Poetic Justice: Music from the Motion Picture
Released	June 6, 1993 (1993-06-06)
Recorded	1993
Genre	R&B dance-pop new jack swing funk
Length	4:25 (album version) 4:02 (radio edit)
Label	Arista
Songwriter(s)	Prince
Producer(s)	Tim & Bob Dallas Austin
TLC singles chronology
"Hat 2 da Back" (1992) "Get It Up" (1993) "Creep" (1994)
Music video
"Get It Up" on YouTube

"Get It Up" was covered by American girl group TLC for the Poetic Justice soundtrack becoming a major hit for the group and was later included in TLC's first greatest hits album, Now and Forever: The Hits (2003). The music video for "Get It Up" was shot in June 1993.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1993) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[5] 168 Europe (European Dance Radio)[6] 13 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] 25 US Billboard Hot 100[8] 42 US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[9] 3 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[10] 15 US Rhythmic (Billboard)[11] 14 US Cash Box Top 100[12] 33

Year-end charts Chart (1993) Position US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[13] 76

Notes

1. Due to the similar recording times, most of the equipment can be identified by looking at the most recent album Prince made, which in this case is Dirty Mind.