Track List - Sexy Spin, Thursday, January 22, 2015

1. Crazy In Love - Beyonce' featuring Jay-Z
2. Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
3. I Just Wanna Dance - Alison Jiear (from "Jerry Springer: The Opera")(Manny Patel Equality Mix 2013)
4. Top Of The Pops 2014 (Days And Nights) - Mashup-Germany featuring 70 of the top artists and hits from 2014
5. Justified And Ancient - KLF featuring Tammy Wynette
6. Genie (Tell Me Your Wish) - Girls' Generation (English remix by Ideology, vocals by Babiixj)
7. The Hanging Tree (remix) - James Newton Howard featuring Jennifer Lawrence
8. I Like You (remix) - Tony Moran featuring Debby Holiday
9. Geronimo - Sheppard
10. No Good In Goodbye - The Script
11. If Not Me - Craig Morgan
12. Night Changes - One Direction

Where to start with this track list? It started last week as I encouraged (begged!) all of the LA Riders in the #totalrequestride to tweet their music/video requests to @crunchgym. I also asked the Crunch coordinator in New York if an instructor could also make a request. Thankfully, LA Rider Courtney also requested what I consider one of my all time favorite high-energy, fast-paced songs to run to. And it is one of the greatest video mashups I have ever seen. It is the song, "I Just Wanna Dance" by Alison Jiears from "Jerry Springer: The Opera", which opened in 2003 in London. I kid you not. There is such a thing! It won 4 Olivier awards (the equivalent to our Tony Awards for the best of Broadway)! In the musical, the song is about a full-figured woman that dreams of being a pole dancer. She is unhappy with her life, is abused by her husband, and dreams of a better life. The song was soon adopted by the gay community and was played all over the world in dance clubs and Pride festivals. I think it touched so many with its representation of just wanting to have fun after a long period of struggle, which can so readily represent the years that the gay community suffered through the effects of AIDS and all of its political and emotional havoc wreaked upon the community.

"I'm tired of laughing and I'm tired of crying
I'm tired of failing and I'm tired of all this trying
I wanna do some living
Cause I've done enough dying
I just wanna dance
I just wanna f#*&ing dance"

It's been a while now that research has been making so much progress in treating and hopefully eventually doing away with AIDS completely, but for everyone that was touched by the disease, directly or indirectly (and we all have been touched by it indirectly!), a time to just dance was much needed and celebrated! This song encapsulates that feeling. And the video is made up of snippets of all kinds of dancing from movies and tv shows throughout many years. So this has been my very long way of saying one of my favorite songs and videos is in this weeks track list!

But this is not the only special part of this track list. It includes another mashup of the top hits of the year, this one by Mashup-Germany. We all know how I love my good mashups! Especially year-end mashups!

"Justified And Ancient" was a favorite of mine when it came out in 1991. It became an international hit and was #1 in over 18 countries. It features the vocals of country music icon, Tammy Wynette. One of my regular Riders, Del (who has been riding with me for just about all of my 16 years as an instructor!), absolutely LOVES Tammy Wynette.

And we both LOVE Debby Holiday, who provides us with her latest dance hit, "I Like You". She is one of the most beautiful people I know (inside and out!), with one of the most amazing voices as well as an unbelievable heart and soul which powers out of each song she sings. I hear a little Tina Turner in her voice. She should truly be a HUGE megastar in the world of music. I believe she will soon be!

Vince requested "Genie (Tell Me Your Wish)". It was a little out of the mainstream for my class, but after much searching and research, I found an English version of it which I am so excited to include!

I saw "American Sniper" last weekend. I was moved by how intense it was. And I was also moved by the controversy surrounding it. It is the true story of an American Navy Seal, Chris Kyle, one of the most accurate marksmen in US military history. Regardless of one's beliefs on this subject, and the very obvious horrors of war, I was, as always, so very proud of our Armed Forces, so very sad for the nightmares of war that they have to go through to defend this great nation of ours, and so very sad to learn the story of his murder by a fellow veteran suffering from PTSD. I saw that country singer Craig Morgan was angered by some comments made by some in the entertainment industry regarding "American Sniper" and Chris Kyle. Craig sings one of my favorite country songs, "That's What I Like About Sunday". He is also a veteran. Thank you, Craig, for your service, for standing up for what you believe and for fighting for the freedom to say what we do. And of course, for your talent. I included his tribute to veterans, "If Not Me", as one of the cool downs.

My 6-year-old twins, Austin and Aiden also had a hand in helping me select my track list (as they sometimes do believe it or not!). The recently attended sports camp during the winter break. They learn many songs while at camp as many high-energy songs are played throughout the day. "Uptown Funk" is one. Austin has asked me if "funk" is a bad word. Close, but no. I told him it is a word that is often used in and to describe music. Usually great music! Which I think this song is! And they both sing "Geronimo" often. Austin even performed to it in one of the closing day performances! I think it is a great way to run it out at the end of class!

And I have recently become obsessed with "No Good In Goodbye" by The Script. I love the music, and I love the lyrics. It leads off my cool down songs this week.

So after staying up until 4:00 in the morning to prepare for this week's #totalrequestride, which in addition to "I Just Wanna Dance" also includes the requested "Crazy In Love", by Beyonce' and Jay-Z, and the aforementioned "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. I was so excited to play all of this great music in class only to wake up to find that all Wednesday morning classes at Crunch Fitness - Sunset were canceled as the stereo completely broke down on Tuesday night. Arrrrgh!!!!

This week's #totalrequestride has been rescheduled and will be held tomorrow morning, Friday, January 23rd at 9:30am. So I hope you can make it to share in this experience, to workout, to hear this music and to see these videos.

I also hope you enjoyed this little "behind the scenes" of what can go into making a track list for one of my classes. I hope you enjoy them. I know I do! Until then,

In good health!

tommy