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"Jack Your Body" is a
house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...
song by
Steve "Silk" Hurley Steve W. "Silk" Hurley (born November 9, 1962), also known as J. M. Silk (for "Jack Master Silk"), is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 1988, he had four top-10 singles on the US Dance chart, including the ...
, originally released as a single in 1986. It was featured on the album ''Hold on to Your Dream'', released in 1987, under the alias J.M. Silk.


History

One of the landmark records in the history of house music, "Jack Your Body" was composed and produced by Hurley. The title refers to
jacking Jacking, Jackin’, or the jack is a freestyle dance move in which the dancer ripples their torso back and forth in an undulating motion. It emerged within the context of Chicago house music in the 1980s. Origins and interpretations The style i ...
, an ecstatic dance style that emerged within the
Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the first ever house music productions, which were by Chicago-based artists in the 1980s. History and origins Disco ...
scene since the early to mid 1980s. The song climbed to number twenty-five on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, reaching number thirty-seven for the U.S. Maxi-Singles Sales category. Despite its only moderate success in the U.S. chart, the song became a major hit on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, reaching number one for two weeks in January and February 1987. It was the UK's first house music number one, and paved the way for the
acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...
sound popular during the late 1980s. "Jack Your Body" was also the first UK number one single to achieve the majority of its sales on the 12" format. Under the chart rules in place at the time, the 12" sales should not have counted toward the song's chart position, as its running time exceeded the then-current 25-minute limit. However, the 25-minute rule was not enforced, since the running time was not brought to the chart compilers' attention until the record was already at number one. Had the rule been enforced, the 7" of "Jack Your Body" would have peaked at Number 7 on the UK singles chart, while the 12" would have reached Number 1 on the album chart. Hurley never promoted the track, as he was "under pressure" to complete the ''Hold on to Your Dream'' album. He didn't even know that the track had reached number one on the UK Singles Chart – when his manager mentioned, in passing, that the track had hit number one in the UK, he assumed this meant on the
UK Dance Chart The UK Dance Singles Chart and the UK Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synthpop) in record ...
. In spite of the song's success, Hurley has had no further solo singles whatsoever (under his own name) on the UK Singles Chart. "Jack Your Body" was re-released, each time with new remixes, in 1987, 1992, 2000 and 2009.


Impact and legacy

In 1996, Oliver Bondzio of German electronic music duo
Hardfloor Hardfloor is a German electronic music duo, consisting of Oliver Bondzio and Ramon Zenker. Their most famous track is "Acperience 1" (often titled more simply as "Acperience" on many compilation albums) and chosen by Feargal Sharkey as one of h ...
chose "Jack Your Body" as one of the tunes that changed his life, saying, "This was one of the first tracks I heard being played in Checkers, a club in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
I went to for three years. It had the best sound system and DJs. It was the first to play
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
and
acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...
tunes. I like the way they sampled the 'jack' in the old skool way. You can't forget this one." In 2014, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' featured it in their "20 Best Chicago House Records" list, adding, "Arriving a few years into house's existence, Hurley's "Jack Your Body" came out swinging with unapologetic experimentation — its Roland-centered electronic spine helping to touch off the acid house revolution in the U.K. Here was something far removed from
disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
's orchestral feel and entirely new. It was ultimately the first house song to hit Number One in the U.K." In 2020, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' ranked the song number 50 in their list of "The 100 greatest UK No 1s". They wrote, "It’s hard to imagine now how strange and alien Jack Your Body sounded in
1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
. Other early house hits had at least come with a song or a hook attached, but this had neither: it may be the most minimal No 1 of all time. It isn’t by any stretch of the imagination the best
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
had to offer in 1987: as a signal of a vast shift in the way
pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
sounded, it’s unbeatable."


Track listings


1986 7" single

# "Jack Your Body (Edit)" – 3:13 # "Dub Your Body (Edit)" – 3:35


1986 12" single

# "Jack Your Body (Club Your Body)" – 6:50 # "Jack Your Body (Dub Your Body)" – 6:25 # "Jack Your Body (Home Made)" – 6:34 # "Steve 'Silk' Hurley" – 7:03


1987 12" single

# "Jack Your Body (Monty 'House' Remix)" – 6:29 (Remixed by
Simon Harris Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael since 2024. A TD for the Wicklow constituency since 2011, he has served as a minister in the government of Ireland since 2016 and f ...
) # "Jack Your Body (Club Your Body)" – 6:50 # "Jack Your Body (Dub Your Body)" – 6:25


"Back To Jack Your Body '92" (12" and CD single)

# "Back To Jack Your Body (Remix)" – 4:52 (Remixed by Burger Industries) # "Jack Your Body (Def-Mix)" – 6:47 (Remixed by Burger Industries) # "Jack Your Body (Ambient-Remix)" – 9:38 (Remixed by The Bionaut)


"Jack Your Body 2000" (12" single number one)

# "Jack Your Body (Original 1986 Mix) (Digitally Re-Produced & Edited)" – 9:17 # "Jack Your Body (Silk's Y2K Mix)" – 6:56 # "Jack Your Body (Silk's Y2K Dub)" – 5:31


"Jack Your Body 2000" (12" single number two)

# "Jack Your Body (Jazz Yo Body Dub)" # "Jack Your Body (Peppi & Kokki Remix)" # "Jack Your Body (Kidd's Classic Remix)" # "Jack Your Body (Swing Yo Body)"


"Jack Your Body" (2009 digital release)

# "Jack Your Body (
Hardfloor Hardfloor is a German electronic music duo, consisting of Oliver Bondzio and Ramon Zenker. Their most famous track is "Acperience 1" (often titled more simply as "Acperience" on many compilation albums) and chosen by Feargal Sharkey as one of h ...
Radio Edit)" – 3:15 # "Jack Your Body (Hardfloor Remix)" – 6:52 # "Jack Your Body (Ambient Remix By Burger Industries)"This version is an edit of the 1992 "Ambient Remix" originally credited to The Bionaut. Burger Industries and The Bionaut are both pseudonyms of Jörg Burger. – 5:03 # "Jack Your Body (Original Club Mix)" – 6:53


Charts


See also

*
Lists of UK Singles Chart number ones The UK Singles Chart is a weekly record chart which for most of its history was based on single sales from Sunday to Saturday in the United Kingdom. Since July 2014 it has also incorporated streaming data, and from 10 July 2015 has been based o ...


References


External links

*
Steve "Silk" Hurley Steve W. "Silk" Hurley (born November 9, 1962), also known as J. M. Silk (for "Jack Master Silk"), is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter. From 1985 to 1988, he had four top-10 singles on the US Dance chart, including the ...
on
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
* J.M. Silkon AllMusic {{authority control 1986 singles 1987 singles Steve "Silk" Hurley songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Steve "Silk" Hurley 1986 songs