Chart entered : 26 March 1988
Chart peak : 41 ( 2 on reissue by a different label a few months later )
Number of hits : 15
Hip hop's first female stars now make their entrance.
The rapping duo met at Queensborough Community College, New York where they were studying nursing in 1984. Sandra Denton was born in Jamaica but came to New York at an early age where she had a rough childhood. Cheryl James was a native of the city. The two formed a duo called Super Nature , encouraged by Cheryl's producer boyfriend , Hurby Azor. Their live act included a DJ, Latoya Hanson, who went by the name of "Spinderella". Cherl called herself "Salt" and Sandra "Pepa".
Hurb then came up with the idea of making an answer record to Doug E Fresh's The Show and wrote and produced their first single "The Showstopper" in late 1985. The single's miniscule melodic content comes from the film Revenge of the Nerds but otherwise it follows the usual early hi hop template of rapping or drawling over a percussion track with the occasional scratching break. Fresh and his associate Slick Rick were said to dislike the record but at least firearms weren't involved in the dispute.
The group's name was then changed to Salt-n-Pepa and Hanson was replaced by Deirdra Roper as the new Spinderella. Roper's association with the group was to be longstanding but it was always left vague as to whether or not she was to be regarded as a full member. Besides being regularly name-checked on the records she appeared in the videos and publicity shots, her relatively svelte figure a notable contrast to the duo who were both rather broad of beam shall we say ?
The group signed to Next Plateau Records and released their debut album "Hot Cool & Vicious" in December 1986, the first hip hop album by a female act with the caveat that, bar the necessary credit to the Pointer Sisters for the sample used in "Chick On The Side", it was 100% written by men, mainly Azor. The first single as Salt-n-Pepa" My Mic Sounds Nice" is the usual DJ boasting with few concessions to femininity set to a minimalist groove borrowed from Grover Washington Junior's "Mister Magic". Released in the spring of 1987 it earned them an appearance on one of the last episodes of The Tube. The second single from the album "Tramp" borrows more heavily from the Otis Redding and Carla Thomas song of the same name. The increased melodic content makes Azor's tale of putting down a sleazeball opportunist more accessible. However their real breakthrough song was tucked away on the B-side.
"Push It " started getting attention after being remixed by San Franciscan DJ Cameron Paul and attracting radio play. It's a not very subtle sex song and there isn't actually that much rapping on the track , just two short verses and a brief quote from You Really Got Me ( Ray Davies being mollified by a writer's credit ) giving plenty of room for Hurby's Harold Faltermeyer synth riff to worm its way into the brain.
The remix was issued as a single with a new track "I Am Down" on the flip. "I Am Down" is a boastful clarion as abrasive and uncompromising as its flip is slick and enticing. Nevertheless it was listed as a double A-side from its second week in the UK charts. It broke them in the U.S. reaching number 19 while stalling just outside the Top 40 here.
After the girls performed it at the Nelson Mandela Tribute Concert in June 1988, demand for the single rose again. By that point they had a new distribution deal so it was released by Champion who decided to put "Tramp" on the flip side instead. Gallup decided to amalgamate sales of the two singles crediting both labels..
After its success "Push It " was added to future pressings of "Hot, Cool and Vicious", as a result of which it became a platinum success.
Although "Push It" was not the first UK hit to include the word "pissed " ( or variants thereof ), after this its use would no longer raise an eyebrow.
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