"Ooops Up" is a song by German Eurodance group Snap!. It was released in May 1990 as the second single from their debut studio album, World Power. The song is a re-working of "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Ooops!)"; a 1980 hit by The Gap Band, with which band member Penny Ford was a former backing singer.[1] The single was a world-wide hit and reached number-one in Greece. Lyrically the song is about Murphy's Law. The narrator talks about it and everything that went wrong during his day.
AllMusic editor Andrew Hamilton noted that the song is a "remake/takeoff" of the Gap Band's nonsensical funk riff "Oops Upside Your Head".[2] Bill Coleman from Billboard commented, "Sizzling hip-hop jam should help act maintain "the power" over club and radio jocks."[3] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report wrote that "reaching into The Gap Band songbook, this powerhouse outfit comes up with the perfect remake, giving it a glowing nineties treatment."[4] David Giles from Music Week stated that the song has "a shuffling rhythm distinctive enough to earn them another big success."[5] Gene Sandbloom from The Network Forty described it as a "powerful bass busting track combining rap and song. Already one of the most danced to songs in the country."[6] A reviewer from Newcastle Evening Chronicle picked "Ooops Up" as one of the best songs of the World Power album.[7] Tom Doyle from Smash Hits said it's "one of the best attempts" in matching the brilliance of their debut, "The Power". He called it "a sort of cover of the Gap Band's "Ooops Upside Your Head" mixed with a dodgy reinterpretation of "Little Miss Muffet"."[8]
Chart performance[]
The single was very successful on the charts on several continents, peaking at number-one in Greece. Additionally, it charted in the Top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK[9] and West Germany. In the UK, the single peaked at number 5 in its third week on the UK Singles Chart, on June 24, 1990.[10] It stayed at that position for two weeks. Outside Europe, "Ooops Up" reached number-one on the RPM Dance Chart in Canada, number 4 in Australia, number 5 in Zimbabwe, number 8 in New Zealand and number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. But on the BillboardDance/Club Play Songs, it went to number 4. The song was awarded with a gold record in Australia, Austria, Sweden and the US, and a silver record in the United Kingdom.
Music video[]
The music video for "Ooops Up" was directed by Liam Kan.[11] He would also direct the video for the group's next song, "Cult of Snap". "Ooops Up" was later published on Snap!'s official YouTube channel in May 2011. The video has amassed more than 6,4 million views as of September 2021.[12]