THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
935-Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley-Jack Your Body.
1987-Number 1 single.
Best Bit-At 6.25. The House that Jack built.
Steven W. Hurley was born on November 9th, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, he was an early pioneer of the genre of music that was to become known as ‘House Music,’ and because of where he recorded, this song also came to be known as ‘Chicago House’ music. Working under the stage name ‘Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley’ his only chart hit in the UK remains ‘Jack Your Body,’ which reached Number 1 in January 1987, so by never making that charts top 40 again, he is a true ‘one hit wonder’ in that country, (under the Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley name) for a list of the other ‘one hit wonders’ on this countdown see also best songs 990-698-496-467-116 and 101. In truth though Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley isn’t actually a ‘one hit wonder’ as he has found success working under different names, including ‘J.M. Silk,’ and ‘The Voices of Life.’ In the UK, as ‘The Voices of Life’ featuring Sharon Pass, he made Number 26 in 1997 with the song ‘The Word Is Love (Say the Word.’) Although he has never charted on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in America, seven of his tracks have made the ‘Billboard Dance Club Songs’ top 40 chart, with ‘I Can’t Turn Around’ (see also best songs 981) from 1986, reaching Number 1.
The discography of Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley includes two studio Albums released in 1987 and 1989, and 21 singles issued between 1985-2014. The other names that Hurley has released singles under are ‘J.M. Silk.’ and ‘SilkMix. com.’ he was also one of writers and producers on the 1991 Keith Nunnally debut single ‘Seasons of Love.’ Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley has also produced chart hits for other artists including Ce Ce Peniston, with ‘We Got a Love Thang’ (UK Number 6 and Billboard Number 20-1992) and Kym Sims with ‘Too Blind to See It’ (UK Number 5 and Billboard Number 38-1991.)
‘Jack Your Body’ which was later added to Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley’s debut studio Album ‘Hold on to Your Dream’ in 1987, is a landmark track in that it brought ‘House Music’ in to the mainstream. The song which went all the way to Number 1 in the UK in January 1987 was a complete surprise as it had been ignored by the national BBC Radio 1 music station, and was only receiving major play in night clubs. At the time if a 12 inch record had more than 25 minutes of music on it, then it would only be eligible for the Album chart, but the chart compilers failed to notice. Had only the sales of the 7 inch version been taken in to account the song would have stalled at Number 7, but would have made Number 1 on the Album chart.
At the back end of the 1970’s ‘Disco’ music had all but run it’s course, and with ‘Electronic’ instruments developing all the time, even ‘Joe Bloggs’ could now experiment with making music in their bedroom, using synthesizers and drum machines, such as the ‘Roland TR-808.’ The idea for ‘Jack Your Body’ was developed by Hurley using the bass line (by speeding it up and looping it) from the 1983 Disco song ‘Let No Man Put Asunder’ by the all female group ‘First Choice’ The vocals were added by Hurley, who said his inspiration for the grunts, and some of the other sounds he produced were inspired by the actor ‘Mr T.’ and the comedian Richard Pryor.
‘Jack Your Body’ is a homage to a dance craze that was popular in the early 1980’s in Chicago, where the dancer ripples their torso back and fourth in an undulating motion, known as Jacking,’ or ‘Jackin,” or ‘The Jack.’ Although the song actually sounds quite tame by today’s standards, like many others, on first hearing the song, I knew I was listening to something completely different, a game changer. The track was indeed a game changer, leading the way for many others to produce their own ‘House Music’ tracks, and branching the genre off in many new directions, including the onset of ‘Acid House,’ but that’s another story.
‘Jack, jack, ja jack jack your body. Jack ya, jack, jack ya, jack your body. Jack, jack, ja jack jack your body.’