Meet the Versatile Writer Behind Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up”

Elliot Wolff was well-versed in the music world by the time he penned Paula Abdul’s breakthrough hit, “Straight Up.” For decades, Wolff built quite a career as a songwriter, producer, engineer and arranger for artists ranging from Aretha Franklin to Debbie Gibson. He saw his career peak in the 1980s where his name was behind many hits, one of which being the song that made Abdul a star.

According to his bio, Wolff was born in 1956 in Oklahoma and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. He got his start in music early on playing in local bands, but originally planned to enter the field of physics before turning his attention back toward his passion for music. His base in Maryland proved to be pivotal in his career, as he got his first big break with Washington, D.C.-based duo Peaches & Herb, serving as the musical director on their world tour from 1979 until 1982. From there, he joined Chaka Khan’s band as a keyboard player before turning his attention to songwriting full-time.

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As a songwriter, his first major cut came in 1983 with Johnny Gill’s debut single, “Super Love,” which peaked inside the Top 30 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Another defining moment in Wolff’s career came in 1988 when Abdul heard his demo of “Straight Up.” Abdul’s mom found the demo through a mutual friend and presented it to the singer. Despite her mother’s aversion to the demo after hearing it, Abdul felt a connection to the song and convinced her label to let her record it. Released as the third single off her debut album Forever Your Girl, “Straight Up” (penned and produced solely by Wolff) became a worldwide hit and shot to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. He scored another hit on Forever Your Girl with “Cold Hearted” which also reached No. 1 on the Hot 100.

Wolff was also a producer, writer and musician on Franklin’s 1991 album, What You See Is What You Sweat; a producer on Gibson’s 1993 album, Body, Mind, Soul; and a co-writer and producer on actor Joey Lawrence’s 1993 self-titled debut album. “I don’t wait for inspiration,” Wolff explained of his songwriting process in a 1990 interview with Keyboard Magazine. “I’m in my studio every day, writing. I write until those creative moments come, I don’t care how long it takes. A lot of the writing is really just experimenting with different ways of thinking about the attitude that I am trying to go for. Sometimes I go to a lot of different places before I finally settle into where I want to be.”

Wolff’s life was cut short in June 2016 after his body was found while he was on a camping trip in New Mexico at Santa Fe National Forest. Wolff was living in Sante Fe at the time and was reported missing when he failed to return home from the trip. He was 60-years-old.

(Photo by Allen Berezovsky/WireImage)