Jam On It

Day 108 (Written Thursday March 29) ~ I can’t dance. Or so I’m told. I am convinced that I am a very good dancer (at least that is what I see in my mind and feel in my body when I dance), but virtually no one else agrees. Don’t worry, I only dance in my house in front of my wife and children, so you will likely never have to experience my moves. I don’t know if I’m right or they are right, but there is one thing I do know: back in the day, I could breakdance with the best of them.
I was probably 8 when the 104.3 WZYP Big Boombox came to do a live remote broadcast from the grand opening of the new ice cream shop in the parking lot of Quick Mart (any of you remember that?), which my mother managed. (Note: for those of you younger than Generation X, consult Wikipedia for a definition of breakdancing and boomboxes). That day they gave away free cassette tapes (see note above to understand what a cassette tape is) of the soundtrack for the movie “Beat Street.” It was one of three movies about breakdancing that came out during the early 80’s (who can forget Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo?). That tape changed my life. A little redneck, hillbilly boy from middle Tennessee was introduced for the first time to the exciting and magical world of New York, inner city, b-boy, hip-hop. That Christmas I got a turntable, parachute pants and the Electric Breakin’ album with the greatest rap song ever written, “Jam On It.”
I spent all of my free time in on a piece of cardboard in the front yard practicing my moves. I could frog jump, crab walk, do the worm, the wave, the robot, backspin, moonwalk, windmill and yes, I even mastered the elusive, dangerous and difficult headspin (my uncle Ryan took the picture to prove it). I just remembered, I still have that record and that record player. I think I’ll call Jade and the boys in here and put on “Jam On It” and prove to them that I can dance. Perhaps I’ll just succeed in proving to them why it is called “break” dancing.