No mistake: 'Oops' pops up often in songs

By Ken Barnes
USA Today

Oops ... it's happening again. "Oops (Oh My)", the chart-topping R&B hit by newcomer Tweet, marks a number of milestones — none more momentous than becoming the third No. 1 hit in the 21st century with the word "oops" in its title.

Preceding Tweet (real name: Charlene Keys, no relation to Alicia) in this select song set:

Last year's Blu Cantrell hit, "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops)," a social commentary number urging jilted women to max out their boyfriends' credit cards.

Britney Spears' 2000 signature song, "Oops! ... I Did It Again," the song that brought the "oops" craze to the forefront and kept it there.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this titling trend is the lack of oops-related hits in the previous century. The only substantial entry — unless you count the 1960 novelty hit "Alley Oop" — came from the Gap Band, who hit the R&B top five in 1980 with "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops, Upside Your Head)." The dance duo Snap had a minor hit with a 1990 reworking of the song, retitled "Ooops Up," complete with the gratuitous "o."