Dance Fit with Helen does Desert Island Discs! Here are 10 songs that define certain stages of my life, have had an impact on me and that I can’t stop listening to.
First Song I Ever Bought
Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit – Gina G
I bet you can’t guess when I was born?! That’s right I’m a 90’s girl born in 1990. Most people are embarrassed about the first song they bought. Well not me! I had great taste as a child. I still love a bit of Ooh Aah. It’s a pure pop anthem which gets you jumping up and down.
Song That Reminds Me of Being Young
I’m Not Okay (I Promise) – My Chemical Romance
Back when I was a teenager I sported a heavy fringe, big hair, plenty of eyeliner and a hoodie in every colour (just to break up my all black wardrobe) This song is pure teenage angst, frustration and anger. Re-listening to the song now it sounds so melodramatic but at the time it really resonated with me on some level. I guess everything seems so unfair at 15 and you always feel hard done to. I might not listen to this style of music anymore but I still love it when I hear it.
Song That Really Makes Me Want to Dance
Low – Flo Rida Feat T Pain
This song reminds me of being 18 when I started to go on nights out. It would come on in every bar and club and me and my best friend would get low and proudly show off our best moves. My best friend recently got married and for old times’ sake I requested this song at the wedding. The dance floor cleared for us and we put on a showstopper! Now when I hear it, it makes me think of our friendship even more than it did before.
Classic Dance Fit Song
Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson Feat Bruno Mars
I will always remember this as being the first Dance Fit routine that really stuck and people loved. We must have done the routine at class for months. Everybody loved it. It was at this same time that all my classes really took off so it will always have a place in my heart.
First Dance Song
Still Into You – Paramore
This is mine and my hubby’s song that we had our first dance to at our wedding. Many people thought I’d choreographed that dance especially and that we had been practicing for weeks. They were wrong. We just got up and did our thing. The lyrics are perfect – ‘Cause after all this time, I’m still into you.’ We’ve been together 12 years after meeting at school and becoming childhood sweethearts. Whilst the sentiment and words of the song mean so much, it’s not slow, schmaltzy or mushy. I can still dance to it and love that we did dance to it. I feel pure happiness every time I hear it.
Guilty Pleasure Song
Britney Spears – (You Drive Me) Crazy
Who doesn’t love a bit of Britney?! I think this song is so underrated it’s definitely my favourite Britney tune. It’s another song where you can just lose yourself and stomp your feet. You’ve got to love that breakdown too – it’s made for a dancer to bust out their best moves to!
Unexpected Song I Love
Two Princes – Spin Doctors
This song always seemed to be on in the car when I was young. It must have been on a lot of those best rock CDs that everyone’s dad had. As soon as I hear that drum intro at the beginning of the song I’m moving. The song is so catchy but I only found out recently that I’ve been singing some of the lyrics wrong all these years! It’s “I know what a prince and lover ought to be” not “I know what a pretty lover’s heart can be!” You can bop to it but it’s romantic – right up my street.
Song I Always Request at Parties and Weddings
Boom Boom Boom Boom!! – Vengaboys
I don’t know why but this is the first song I think of when the DJ asks for requests! I know it’s going to get everybody up dancing and singing ‘Whoa oh, whoa oh!’ The lyrics are suggestive to say the least and everyone is always slightly horrified to think of themselves singing along to it when they were a child. But all is forgotten when that beat kicks in and the Vengaboys are back in town!
Song That Haunts Me
Single Ladies – Beyonce
Back in 2010 my dance school thought it would be a nice idea for there to be a ‘teachers’ number’ in our bi-annual show. Someone came up with the idea (it wasn’t me!) of myself and 2 other teachers doing the full-blown Single Ladies routine. Of course you don’t need to twist my arm very hard to get me up on a stage dancing! So off home I went to learn the whole routine from Youtube. Stop, start, stop, start. Needless to say we were a hit busting out the infamous Beyonce moves in our leotards! I won’t pretend I didn’t love doing it. But now 8 years on, the song still gets requested for me and I still get asked to do the routine in full. Every time I am forced to do it I remember less and less of the routine and the performance gets progressively worse!
One of My Favourite Songs
Disco 2000 – Pulp
This song makes me feel nostalgic. What for or what about I’m not quite sure. “Let’s all meet up in the year 2000, won’t it be strange when we’re all fully grown.” I was 10 in 2000 so I’m really too young for the song! Remembering your youth and the relationships you had is something everyone does. It’s funny to remember what you thought would happen compared to what has happened. The song has a bittersweet sadness to it but still makes you feel like belting out the lyrics. Being a Sheffield girl it feels even more special.
