There were better early house records, but Jack Your Body's unexpected success – and Hurley's anonymity then and now – have given it a special place in British pop history. A full 18 months before acid house fever, Hurley's mercury-thin, metallic beat, with a hairspray hi-hat as prominent in the mix as the vocal, confused the hell out of people; this, after all, was an age of maximalism (it was followed at No 1 by George Michael and Aretha Franklin's pumped and vacuous I Knew You Were Waiting For Me). Crucially, Jack Your Body had no verse or chorus, and only the most basic melody, with Hurley's treated, disembodied voice repeating the title over and over. Everything rides on its rhythm and repetition. The modern pop era starts here.
The best No 1 records: Steve "Silk" Hurley – Jack Your Body
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