Songfacts®:

• Written by Jonathan Gilutin, Bunny Hull and Sharon Robinson, Patti LaBelle recorded this song for the soundtrack of the movie Beverly Hills Cop, starring Eddie Murphy. It was a huge career boost for LaBelle, whose trio Labelle (famous for their hit "Lady Marmalade") broke up in 1976.
  
  Recording as a solo artist, Patti had released six solo albums but had yet to place a song in the Top 40. The MTV era was passing her by, as she was having trouble gaining new fans.
  
  Getting involved with the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack was auspicious. She recorded "New Attitude" and "Stir It Up" from the set. The movie premiered on December 5, 1984 and became the top film of the year, eventually taking in over $234 million at the American box office. The soundtrack album went to #1, providing great exposure for the song, which fittingly is about a confident, new outlook on life. LaBelle was suddenly in demand: her video for this song got her on MTV for the first time, and in 1986 she had a #1 hit with "On My Own," a duet with Michael McDonald.
• This track was produced by Howie Rice, Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff. A song by Harold Faltermeyer called "Shoot Out" was issued as the B-side of the single. Faltermeyer, who was the musical director on Beverly Hills Cop, produced LaBelle's other contribution to the soundtrack, "Stir It Up," which was also released as a single, charting at #41 in America.
• Unlike other hits from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack - "Axel F" by Harold Faltermeyer, "Neutron Dance" by The Pointer Sisters, "The Heat Is On" by Glenn Frey - this song was not used in the movie. It did later appear in the 2005 film Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous.
• The backup singers on this track were Carla Benson, Evette Benton and Barbara Ingram - the same ladies who sang on another motivational song of the era: "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" by McFadden & Whitehead.
  
  Known as "The Sweethearts Of Sigma" or just "The Sweeties," this trio sang on many of the Philadelphia Soul records of the '70s, which included songs by The O'Jays, The Stylistics and The Spinners. Barbara's brother Johnny Ingram had worked with LaBelle, and when he found out she was looking for backup singers for her 1983 tour, he suggested The Sweeties. For the next five years, they toured and recorded with LaBelle.
• This earned LaBelle a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 1986 ceremony, where Aretha Franklin took the prize for "Freeway Of Love."