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

Keep Me Warm and Turn Me On!

Bonjour!

It's no secret that I'm not a lover of Winter ... it's not even the dark mornings/evenings ... it's the cold. I am so sick of the freezing weather ... my body is not compatible with it and can't seem to keep warm when the temperature drops ... even if the heating has been ticking over (on low) all day.  Poor circulation, a spot of Raynaud's here and there and at worst my chest muscles seem to seize up in places ... ok it's not the end of the world but bloody annoying! Where are those hot flushes when you need them! Thermals and multiple layers are a must and regular exercise is essential to boost my circulation.  This is why I love prancing around, be it on the machines or in a class at the gym - feels so good to be hot and sweaty (nice) and have the blood pumping round at an acceptable level! 

The other night when it had snowed heavily and I couldn't get down for my usual 'gym fix', I had to slap some 'hot' music on to keep myself sane  ... so our Kevin here stepped in and obliged ... !

Kevin Lyttle ... Turn Me On ....!

This tune ... this is such a favourite girls night out track ... and every time it comes on there is always some proper 'Zumba style' shape throwing going on I can tell you ... !

Seriously ... does it not make you feel like getting on down and dirty (dance-wise) at that Caribbean beach party with not a thermal or sock in sight!  This is so one of my cold weather pick up tunes, it takes me to a 'hot weather high' and turns my circulation on just listening to it!  

How do you cope with the cold?  What's your favourite 'hot weather high' tune?

Jen xx

PS:  I've just had to have a dance round the kitchen ... the family think I've gone mad! :)

Driving To Work With Pete Tong ...!

Bonjour!

Driving into work on these dark, grey mornings is so depressing and at times I need something to get my ass and mind in gear! The Pete Tong Collection seems to be a near permanent fixture in my car and our Pete's kept me going this week with his selection of 'banging tunes' ...

Eric Prydz - Pjanoo ... 

This has got to be one of my favourites on the album (the video is a tad weird but I'm concentrating on the track!) ... it has that trance/euphoric/uplifting vibe to it which make me want to turn it right up and play on repeat - played three times in a row the other morning - how sad is that - obviously I need to download a lengthy club mix!

Don't you just want to stand on stage in a club and 'give it some' to those crescendos?!  Rather difficult to achieve whilst driving into work! Still ... I arrived at my destination on a 'dance music high'  ... doesn't last long once in the office and presented with your work for the day but anyway!

What do you like to listen to on your way to work? Do you like to arrive on a 'dance music high'?


Jen x

Clearing My Head ...!

Bonjour!

I'm working quite a bit of overtime at the moment.  The extra dosh will obviously be appreciated (wait until you see my current wish list!) but also as my job role has changed over the last few months it's better from a training point of view as I'm performing new case types, system routines, calculations and learning about new procedures.  I've done this type of work before I had my children but not since returning from maternity leave (many moons ago!) so the knowledge of certain things takes a back seat and you do forget that you were ever any good at it - you lose your confidence to some degree and it was all rather daunting at first.  Anyway - I'm back in the thick of it now, albeit with a much older brain!  I have to say I leave the office feeling slightly spaced out - from all the stuff that's been rammed into my head and also probably due to the re-cycled air that we're all breathing in!

The only way I can clear my mush is by going down to the gym in the evening (after the kids have been fed and various chores completed!) and blasting something like this out on my IPod ...

Chase and Status - Count On Me ...

Only released last year but it 'had me' from the start ...

This tune is so like the 90s dance music that will always have a place in my heart - probably why it appeals to me so much!  Get on the cross trainer with this one and build up the pace with the crescendo ... it takes me to a different place ... away from those rubbish work type things! In my head I'm now on the dance floor throwing some serious shapes - job done!

It's funny ... my hubby does the morning exercise thing before work and then has a couple of drinks in the evening to wind down but my way is evening gym with loud  'in yer face' music.  Of course I return home ravenous and with a tired body but my head is so much clearer!

Do you like to exercise am or pm? What's your way of winding down after a hectic day?

Jen x

Groovin' with Daft Punk ...!!

Bonjour!

Well what a week of absolute madness (hence my lack of mid-week postage - haven't even had time to go to the gym!). The hubby wasn't around much due to the usual work commitments (what's new!) leaving yours truly to 'do' the half term thing with all the ferrying of kids backwards and forwards, left, right and centre! You know it's been a bit manic when you get to work and actually 'enjoy' the relative tranquillity of sitting at your desk with a cup of tea and several calculations (sad I know!).  Anyway, we're out tonight to my manager's leaving party - she's off to enjoy life outside of the office environment! No idea what to wear - haven't had much time to look for anything new so no doubt it will be the usual skinny jeans and black top with hopefully plenty of drinking and dancing ...!

Talking of dancing ... a couple of weeks ago when my daughter and myself were in New Look, a certain tune started playing over the shop stereo.  I was stopped in my tracks as I recognised it from years ago but couldn't pinpoint the artist etc and I said so to the young assistant - she gave me a somewhat quizzical look (as you can imagine) whilst advising me that she had no idea who it was - obviously! I was in agony - like a dog with a bone - and it was eating away at me.  I told my daughter I just wanted to get on down and boogie there and then on the shop floor - needless to say that didn't go down too well! I had to find out who had created this masterpiece I used to know but it had somehow passed me by - the shame! I knew it was something to do with with Parliament (the Funkadelic kind) but that was it.  Finally during that evening's #30sbloggers chat on Twitter it was established that this was indeed the tune ... the Daft Punk Remix - after all that I hope you enjoy the experience!


Scott Grooves Feat. Parliament/Funkadelic - Mothership Reconnection (Daft Punk Remix)...

What a mouthful - however, it's totally worth it ...takes me right back to 1998 ... who remembers this video?

How sweet to have found it again after all this time. It's going on my IPod now so I can enjoy on the treadmill in all it's grooviness!

Do you remember all the tunes you used to dance to - do you remember this Daft Punk Remix?

Jen x

The Stone Roses - Fools Gold ...

Bonjour!

Last weekend saw me and the hubby watching Made in Stone - documentary about The Stone Roses and their 2012 reformation, by the end we just wanted to go out and have a dance (even though it was midnight)!

The hubby was sat on the floor (with the dog) in his absolute element - bless him, legs going, air guitar playing, the lot! He says that Fools Gold is one of the (if not the) funkiest tunes from that era of the Manchester (or should I say Madchester) indie scene largely due to John Squire's mean guitar moves - I tend to agree!

The Stone Roses - Fools Gold

Here's the TOTP video from 1989 (check out the dude in the groovy dungarees at the start!) ...

I was into the Dance scene and the hubby into Indie so this is where the genre's cross over for us! Many a night was spent in local nightclubs casually bopping away (the shape throwing has to be laid back  you realise - most important!) to the 'longer' version of this and I Am the Resurrection ...

So guess what's been playing in the hubby's car all week ...?

Are you a Roses fan? Which was your thing? Dance or Indie?

Jen x

N-Trance - Set You Free!

Happy Friday!

If you happened to read last Friday's music offering (from our lass Nina!) you'd have seen that I just wanted a quiet night of chilling (also known as chillin'?).  I decided to exercise the old vocal chords to some laid back tunes whilst I chopped onions for dinner (as you do).  Started off with a couple of ballads from Plan B, the Sugababes and Gladys Knight and the Pips. The tempo gradually seemed to pick as I was browning my mince and frying the onions and garlic. A little later on, whilst the bolognaise was simmering, (the hubby had had a couple of beers due to a hectic work week and needed to let his hair down - obviously not literally) - we somehow ended up on a wave of 90s dance music including Josh Wink - Higher State of Consciousness, Felix - Don't You Want Me and this one...

N-Trance - Set You Free!

Obviously a bit of impromptu shape throwing occurred in the kitchen (as you do!).  My children were completely mortified to see Mum and Dad bobbing about in no uncertain fashion and begged us to resume 'normal parental activity' of serving dinner, no dancing/singing/arm waving allowed.  Clearly these actions should only be restricted to 'young/younger people'! (I did get the impression that they were slightly more embarrassed of Dad than Mum!).

Funny how your kids only see you in a certain light and the notion that you were once young and carefree/less doesn't seem to register! No point telling them that - yes I did actually wear a silver A-line skirt and black lace up boots just like the girl in  the video (with pigtails too just for the record!) - ahh the 90s!!

Right - no dancing planned for tonight - I have a headache plus don't think the kids could take two weeks in a row - bless em!  I'm off to have a cuppa and choc chip muffin together with a couple of paracetamol - go me!  Much more fitting for a mum/older person?!

Will you be throwing any shapes in your kitchen tonight?

Jen x

* I should point out that I'm not actually that old! *