Word Is Out

This article is about the song. For the documentary, see Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives. For other uses, see Word Is Out (disambiguation).

"Word Is Out"
Single by Kylie Minogue
from the album Let's Get to It
B-side	"Say the Word - I'll Be There"
Released	26 August 1991 (1991-08-26)
Genre	New jack swing[1] R&B[2]
Length	3:34
Label	Mushroom PWL
Songwriter(s)	Mike Stock Pete Waterman
Producer(s)	Mike Stock Pete Waterman
Kylie Minogue singles chronology
"Shocked" (1991) "Word Is Out" (1991) "If You Were with Me Now" (1991)
Music video
"Word Is Out" on YouTube

"Word Is Out" is a song written by English musical duo Stock and Waterman for Australian singer Kylie Minogue's fourth studio album, Let's Get to It (1991). Produced by Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, it was released as the first single from Let's Get to It on 26 August 1991. The track aimed to replicate the swingbeat sound, with "New Jack City" by Guy serving as the main plot track.^[3] The artwork for the cover was photographed by Ellen Von Unwerth in 1991 for the British edition of Esquire.

Critical reception

Chris True from AllMusic chose the track as one of Let's Get to It's track picks.^[4] Larry Flick from Billboard commented, "Folks who think Kylie Minogue is too light for them may change their minds when they hear "Word Is Out". With a little help from remixer Tony King, she has eschewed the frothy hi-NRG tone of past hits in favor of an easy paced-house sound, replete with disco-flavored strings and percussion."^[5] On Michael Wilton's review of the second night of her Anti Tour in Sydney, Australia—where she performed an a cappella rendition of the song—for musicOMH, he stated that "Word is Out" is "wildly underrated."^[6] Writing Minogue's biography for her special on Australian music video program Rage, they stated: "While in the past, her material had always been high energy, 'Word Is Out' showcased a far more seductive side to Kylie that many had suspected was there."^[7] In another hand, Nick Griffiths from Select called it one of the "odd songs" in the album.^[8] Sophie Lawrence reviewed it for Smash Hits, writing, "Sounds like Madonna's "La Isla Bonita" a bit, doesn't it? She's just been brilliant ever since "Better The Devil You Know". You could listen to this 100 times and never get bored."^[9] In 2023, Robert Moran of Australian daily tabloid newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald ranked the song as Minogue's 168th best song (out of 183).^[10]

Commercial performance

The song was released as the first single in the summer of 1991 and was a top-20 hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number 16 and ending Minogue's run of 13 consecutive UK top-10 hits.^[3] In Australia, with the more laid back Summer Breeze Mix as the main mix, it peaked at number 10, becoming Minogue's 10th single to chart within the top 10. The Summer Breeze Mix received a UK release on a one-sided limited edition 12-inch vinyl single that has an engraved autograph on the B-side, making it highly collectable for fans.

Music video

Directed by James Lebon, it was filmed in London's famous Camden market and featured British television presenter Davina McCall as one of Minogue's dancers.^[11] An Australian version of the video later appeared on her 2002 (also the updated version in 2003) Greatest Hits DVD as one of the bonus features.^[12] The video was criticised by both Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, who felt the aesthetic allusions to street prostitution alienated Kylie's fanbase and contributed to the single's underwhelming chart performance.^[3]

Live performances

Minogue also did an a cappella "sing-along" rendition of the song as requested by fans on her Anti Tour's concert in Big Top at Luna Park, Sydney, Australia on 20 March 2012.^[1] musicOMH's Michael Wilton said the performance was "decent."^[6]

• Let's Get to It Tour
• Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour (Impromptu a capella performance during technical difficulties)
• Anti Tour (Acapella performance in Sydney)

Track listings

Australian CD and cassette single[13][14] "Word Is Out" – 3:41 "Say the Word - I'll Be There" – 4:00 "Word Is Out" (Summer Breeze 12-inch mix) – 7:41 Australian 12-inch single[15] A1. "Word Is Out" (Summer Breeze 12-inch mix) – 7:41 A2. "Word Is Out" (instrumental) – 3:31 B1. "Word Is Out" (UK 12-inch mix) – 5:53 B2. "Say the Word - I'll Be There" – 4:00 UK 7-inch and cassette single[16][17] "Word Is Out" – 3:34 "Say the Word - I'll Be There" – 4:00

UK 12-inch single[18] A1. "Word Is Out" – 5:53 B1. "Say the Word - I'll Be There" – 4:00 B2. "Word Is Out" (instrumental) – 3:31 UK and Japanese CD single[19][20] "Word Is Out" (7-inch version) – 3:34 "Word Is Out" (12-inch version) – 5:53 "Say the Word - I'll Be There" – 4:00

Charts

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[21]	10
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[22]	37
Ireland (IRMA)[23]	8
UK Singles (OCC)[24]	16

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United Kingdom	26 August 1991	7-inch vinyl 12-inch vinyl CD cassette	PWL	[25]
Japan	21 October 1991	CD		[26]
Australia	18 November 1991	12-inch vinyl CD cassette	Mushroom	[27]

References

1. Levine, Nick (22 May 2010). "Music The Sound - Kylie: Revisited #4: Let's Get To It". Digital Spy. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
2. Copsey, Robert (8 February 2013). "Kylie Minogue signs to Roc Nation: What does it mean?". Digital Spy. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
3. "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 71: Happy Together to Word Is Out on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
4. Chris True. "Let's Get to It —Kylie Minogue". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
5. Flick, Larry (28 September 1991). "Dance Trax: American Record Pool Joins 'L.A. Dance' Benefit" (PDF). Billboard. p. 37. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
6. Michael Wilton (20 March 2012). "Live Reviews: Kylie Minogue @ Luna Park, Sydney". musicOMH. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
7. Staff writer(s) (3 August 2002). "Kylie Minogue Special". Rage. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
8. Griffiths, Nick (December 1991). "Reviews: New Albums —- Let's Get to It - Kylie Minogue". Select. Emap Metro. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
9. Lawrence, Sophie (21 August 1991). "Review: Singles". Smash Hits. p. 41. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
10. Moran, Robert; Ross, Annabel (25 September 2023). "Every Kylie Minogue song ranked". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. ISSN 0312-6315. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
11. Hope, Hannah (21 March 2014). "Davina McCall: I want Kylie to give me a McCall, we were really good friends". Daily Mirror.
12. "Kylie Minogue: Greatest Hits". 18 November 2002 – via Amazon.
13. Word Is Out (Australian CD single liner notes). Kylie Minogue. Mushroom Records. 1991. D11046.
14. Word Is Out (Australian cassette single sleeve). Kylie Minogue. Mushroom Records. 1991. C11046.
15. Word Is Out (Australian 12-inch single sleeve). Kylie Minogue. Mushroom Records. 1991. X14215.
16. Word Is Out (UK 7-inch single vinyl disc). Kylie Minogue. PWL Records. 1991. PWL 204.
17. Word Is Out (UK cassette single sleeve). Kylie Minogue. PWL Records. 1991. PWMC 204.
18. Word Is Out (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Kylie Minogue. PWL Records. 1991. PWLT 204.
19. Word Is Out (UK CD single disc notes). Kylie Minogue. PWL Records. 1991. PWCD 204.
20. Word Is Out (Japanese CD single liner notes). Kylie Minogue. PWL Records. 1991. ALCB-371.
21. "Kylie Minogue – Word Is Out". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
22. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 38. 21 September 1991. p. 25.
23. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Word Is Out". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
24. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
25. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 24 August 1991. p. 19.
26. "ワード・イズ・アウト | カイリー・ミノーグ" [Word Is Out | Kylie Minogue] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
27. "New Release Summary – Product Available from: 18/11/91 (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 95)". ARIA. Retrieved 14 August 2016 – via Imgur.