Can you ... Jack Your Body?

Bonjour!

I wasn't planning on writing a musical post today but ended up listening to Jack Your Body last night on my IPod whilst on the treadmill and it brought back such memories - my mind tends to wander on the treadmill whilst I'm hiking uphill!

I was actually 'jacking my body', if you can call it that, back in 1986 when this tune was first released!   It was the start of nightclubbing for me and it coincided with the onset of  the House Music era in our clubs.  I distinctly remember my friend and I trying out the new style of dance after watching a video on TOTP and then putting it into practise at Romeo and Juliets every Thursday night (dance and soul night!). Just to clarify, Romeo and Juliets consisted of two separate rooms.  Romeos was blue, fairly well lit with a square dance floor like a boxing ring and focused mainly on pop music.   Juliets was deep purple with a curvy dance floor, it was a lot darker and moodier in here and this was where the latest dance music happened!  This was 'our room' and we were always one of the first on the dance floor showing off our latest shapes ... sounds so corny but it was bloomin' fantastic! If you get chance have a listen/refresh your memory but turn it up so you get the full effect of the bass and hi-hat doing their signature 'House Music' thing!!

Steve Silk Hurley ... Jack Your Body ...!

Ok  ... the dance ...  hips tilt one way, arms tilt the other at waist height or sometimes in the air if you're really feeling it.  I recall a lot of walking around the dance floor during this move (think groovy penguin - it honestly looks a lot better than it sounds!).  Just to put everyone's mind at rest ... I still have the knack (relief!) ... I know this because I have just performed 'the moves' up and down the length of the hallway to Jack Your Body ... my husband is feigning interest as I try to explain the technique to him but is wrapped up in the Yorkshire v Lancashire cricket match on TV so you get the picture! 

Jack Your Body is one of the tracks on my Pete Tong CD which is regularly played in the car ... sometimes on school runs in the morning.  I think my daughter will be fairly interested in the whole dance music thing as she grows up ... but try explaining to your grumpy teenage son (who clearly did not get to bed early enough,despite endless reminders) that you used to 'jack your body' in 1986 and see what the reaction (if any) is!

Do you remember Jacking Your Body and more importantly can you still do it? Which was your favourite dance move back in the day? And which was your favourite night-club?


Jen x