“Smooth Up in Ya” by Bulletboys

"Smooth Up in Ya" was the BulletBoys' first single, pulled from their self-titled 1988 debut, and the title alone tells you this was not a band built for subtlety. It also went out under the shorter name "Smooth Up". All four members share the writing credit: Marq Torien sings lead, Mick Sweda plays guitar, Lonnie Vencent plays bass and Jimmy D'Anda drums, with Sweda and Vencent on backing vocals. Ted Templeman produced it with Jeff Hendrickson, who also engineered.

It's glam metal with a leer and a strut, and it did moderate business, climbing to 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 23 on Album Rock Tracks in 1989. The video kept things simple, the band playing on a darkened stage while cartoon caricatures flash past, one of which became the single's cover art. Classic Rock's Howard Johnson later ranked it No. 10 among the best hair metal videos.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.