"Rockin' for Myself" is a song by British

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Motiv8, aka

Steve Rodway Steve Rodway (born in Cambridgeshire), also known under the alias Motiv 8 or Motiv8, is a British electronic dance music producer, songwriter, remixer and sound engineer. While known for many remixes, including those produced for Erasure, Spice G ...

. Based around a vocal loop originally performed by Anne-Marie Smith on Italian dance act 49ers' 1992 single, "Move Your Feet", it was released in late 1993 by Nuff Respect Records and features vocals by British singer

Angie Brown Angie Brown (born 13 June 1963) is a British singer and songwriter from Brixton, South London. Brown is a co-artist on the hit single " I'm Gonna Get You" (1992) by Bizarre Inc. She performed on a number of recordings with Bizarre Inc as lead ...

. This version reached number 67 on the UK Singles Chart. In the spring of 1994, it was re-mixed and re-released by

WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of th ...

, peaking at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the

UK Dance Singles Chart The Dance Singles Chart and the 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, synth-pop) in record stores ...

. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, the single reached number 63. Outside Europe, it was successful in Australia, peaking at number nine and being certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. A music video (using the "Ultimate Vocal Mix") was produced to promote the single, featuring dancer and singer Rhonda Marchen lip-syncing the song on a red sofa, wearing yellow sweater and beret.

Background and release

Before going under the name Motiv8,

released mostly underground tracks under different names in the early 90's. One of these was an early version of "Rockin' for Myself", released by Nuff Respect Records. He thought it sounded much more commercial than the other and when the demand for underground

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

began to fall off, he recorded a new version of the track, which would become a massive hit in clubs.

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

signed him and a new remix was released, reaching the Top 20 in the UK. From then, Rodway stuck with the name Motiv8. He told in an interview, that because of the song's success,

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...

approached him, asking for a remix of "

Common People A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neithe ...

". The following success of that remix played a big part in establishing the name Motiv8, according to Rodway. Australian singer-songwriter

Gina G Gina G (born Gina Gardiner, 3 August 1970) is an Australian former singer. She is most notable for her song " Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit", with which she represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1996. The song reached ...

's song "Rhythm of My Life" from her 1997 album '' Fresh!'' uses the backing track for "Rockin' for Myself (Extended Main Mix)", one of Rodway's 1994 variations. Initial pressings of the CD single included this remix along with a shorter radio edit, but they were omitted from later pressings.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine wrote, "If

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

/ NRG is your dance flavor of choice, 'Rockin' for Myself' by Motiv8 is a must menu addition.

, last heard fronting singles by

Bizarre Inc Bizarre Inc were an English techno/house group. Formed in 1989 as a duo between English DJs Dean Meredith and Mark "Aaron" Archer (not to be confused with the film producer of the same name), they later re-formed as a trio consisting of Me ...

., puts forth a respectable performance, while

crafts an instrumental picture that strobes with vibrant keyboard colors and racing beats. Paul Gotel steps in and gives the track a beefier bottom, while Stonebridge comes to the table with a recognizable

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

-fried interpretation." Maria Jimenez from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' stated, "Motiv8's happy, positivity track a la

Urban Cookie Collective Urban Cookie Collective are a British Eurodance group, best known for their 1993 hit single " The Key the Secret". The band was founded by keyboardist/songwriter Rohan Heath. History The band was founded by Rohan Heath (born 19 July 1964, t ...

, 'Rockin' for Myself', is appealing in its warm Stonebridge Mix, the wide open Well Hung Parliament Adventure and the hi-pumpin' Ultimate Vocal Mix". Andy Beevers from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave it four out of five, naming it a "irrepressible

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 c ...

tune". He noted that the re-issue "has been getting a positive club reaction. Worth watching."

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

from the ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' Dance Update described it as a "Angie Brown chanted simple pop raver" in his weekly dance column.

Track listing

* 12", UK (1993) #"Rockin' for Myself" (Slammin' Granite Mix) #"Rockin' for Myself" (Instrumental Mix) #"Rockin' for Myself" (Dubrock Mix) #"Rockin' for Myself" (Granite Dub Mix) * 12", Germany (1994) #"Rockin' for Myself" (Ultimate Vocal Mix) – 5:38 #"Rockin' for Myself" ( Stonebridge Mix) – 7:18 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Original Dubrock Mix) – 5:34 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Paul Gotel Funked Out Mix) – 8:50 * CD single, UK (1993) #"Rockin' for Myself" (Radio Version) – 3:50 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Slammin' Granite Mix) – 5:45 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Dubrock Mix) – 5:35 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Granite Instrumental) – 5:44 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Granite Dub) – 5:44 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Dubrock Instrumental) – 5:29 * 1st CD single, UK & Europe (1994) #"Rockin' for Myself" (Radio Edit) – 3:42 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Original Radio Edit) – 3:50 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Ultimate Vocal Mix) – 5:38 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Original Dubrock Mix) - 5:35 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Extended Main Mix) - 7:41 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Paul Gotel Funked Out Mix) – 8:50 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Happy Herbi Mix) – 5:35 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Stonebridge Mix) – 7:16 * 2nd CD single, UK & Europe (1994) #"Rockin' for Myself" (Video Edit) – 3:51 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Original Radio Edit) – 3:50 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Ultimate Vocal Mix) – 5:38 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Paul Gotel Funked Out Mix) – 8:50 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Happy Herbi Mix) – 5:35 #"Rockin' for Myself" (Stonebridge Mix) – 7:16

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certification

References

{{div col end 1993 songs 1993 singles 1994 singles Eurodance songs Music Week number-one dance singles