Salt-N-Pepa 'Let's Talk About Sex'

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

Another of the many runners-up to the aforementioned Bryan Adams single (which, I'm pleased to report, isn't going to show up on this blog). 'Let's Talk About Sex' is sometimes described as a controversial single, although I don't personally remember that much fuss actually being made about it. Certainly I heard it on the radio a lot at the time, even though I was at the sort of age where I couldn't really hear an adult say the word "sex" without feeling faintly embarassed.

Musically, this is actually a pretty decent track for its time, heavily based on the Staple Singers' 'I'll Take You There', but the lyrics don't entirely live up to the billing. They actually spend more of the song talking about talking about sex than actually getting around to the point, as if they're more excited about claiming the credit for raising the subject at all than having anything much to actually say about it. Admittedly, there exists a harder-hitting version of the song called 'Let's Talk About AIDS' but that was obviously a bit too far into a taboo area to be released as a single.

Also appearing on: Now 12, 13, 21, 28 (with En Vogue)
Available on: It's Like That! [Explicit]

Salt 'N' Pepa 'Push It'

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

Originally made No. 41... Appeared on Mandela Concert 11/6/88

A spot more prescience here, as by the time the album hit the shelves, 'Push It' was runner-up to 'Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You', thanks to combined sales of the original version that had charted in the spring and a release on another label with a different flipside. More fun with spellings too: they show up on the sleeve as "Salt 'N' Pepa" but "Salt-N-Pepa" seems the more common version. It's a confusing enough name for a trio anyway, and that's not counting producer and credited writer Hurby Azor, who also features prominently as a vocalist.

I do remember watching the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday concert on the telly, possibly at my aunt's house (or I might be getting that mixed up with Live Aid). I don't remember it in a lot of detail, but I do recall Salt-N-Pepa's very energetic performance. Perhaps they were taking advantage of the fact that they were only doing one song, but it's clear with hindsight that they were offering a much more upbeat, pop-focussed version of hip-hop than we'd encountered for quite a while. Of course, I didn't grasp the innuendo at the time either, but it's one of the most fun tracks on here. The borrowed verse from 'You Really Got Me' (a song only slightly older then than 'Push It' is now!) is also, I'm pretty sure, the closest the Kinks ever came to a Now album.

Also appearing on: Now 13, 20, 21, 28 (with En Vogue)
Available on: Push It!