20 minutes Rowing Schedule

Today I rowed for 20 minutes and got the perfect schedule on my ipod, mixing pace as well as mixing old and new tracks

 David Bowie This is not America (28,5 strokes/minute)

Bowie starts you off on a nice pace with this 1985 soundtrack of the movie The Falcon and the Snowman. The song was a hit worldwide but only got to number one in the Dutch charts. 

 Dalida J’Attendrai (31,5 strokes/minute)

Once you are warmed up a bit Dalida gets you in a much higher gear with this remix from the remix album Revolution. After having a whole Eurovision workout two days ago I couldn’t resist putting in at least one camp track.

 Basia Run for Cover (29 strokes/minute)

Polish singer Basia got famous in the 80’s as the female singer of Matt Bianco but she went solo (again) after just 2 years in 1985. Run for Cover was one of the first tracks she released as a solo artist in the 80’s. I still have the vinyl single and I think the mp3 of this track comes from the original vinyl so chances are high the original is a bit slower as I tend to pitch everything up a notch 😉

 Duffy Girl (32 strokes/minute)

As Duffy released her new album just 2 days ago I thought I’d show that I can be up to date every now and then although I must admit that so far the album does not impress me. Girl is one of the few tracks that is a bit more upbeat; Duffy will make you work big time on the rower but the track lasts only for 2,5 minutes so… you can do it!!

 Sia The girl you lost to cocaine (27 strokes/minute)

After Duffy rushing you on the rower, you can catch your breath on the monsterhit of Australian singer Sia. You will have to put the original version on your playlist though as the song has been remixed quite a bit; in the Netherlands for instance the Sander van Doorn remix was huge while the original version didn’t do much in the charts.

 Darius Dante Keep ya hands up (24,5 strokes/minute)

The last track of this rowing list  is for the Dutch soul-jazz-pop-funk-hiphop band Darius Dante. The titelsong of their debut album is result of a collaboration with famous producer Deodato. Keep ya hands up would normally be a bit too slow for me on the rowing machine but it is nice as a cooling down after 20 minutes of rowing. I got to 5023 metres after these tracks and didn’t even feel that exhaustipated 🙂

Eurovision work out!

As there are quite some eurovision tracks on my ipod I guess it is time to discuss some Eurovision songs for the gym. You may not necessarily like eurovision tracks but the good thing is that they are never longer than 3 minutes so time on a fitness machine seems to fly!

 Vicky Leandros Après toi (rowing, strokes/minute)

This former Eurovision winner ( 1972) turned out to be a good rowing song. A bit dramatic and every now & then you’ll have to do some correcting as there is no steady beat but that makes the rowing only more fun..

 Kristina Pelakova Horehronie (rowing, 28 strokes/minute)

This folklore eurosong contribution from last year represented Slovakia didn not make the final (it ended 16th in the first semi-final) which is a shame as it is a perfect rowing song!

 Azucar Moreno Bandido (Stepping, 122 steps/minute)

One of my alltime favorite Eurovision song is good for a slow stepping session (so heavy weights on there!) Azucare Moreno had to start the festival when it was helt in Zagreb in 1990. They were probably the only act to start the festival twice as the sound tape didn’t start correctly so the ladies of Azucar left the stage furiously after a few seconds, to return a few minutes later to sing their ‘flamengo-house’ to the fifth spot.

 Paul Oscar Min hinnsti Dans (Stepper, 132 steps/minute)

Another controverse in 1997: Paul Oscar, represting Iceland, performed his dance song (flat modern beat) not only in full leather, but surrounded by female dancers in leather play outfits crawling next to Paul on the big sofa. The song ended number 18 but became a big cult(gay)hit and Oscar became one of Iceland’s most adored popstars (well… after Björk and only amongst a certain group of Icelanders…) and collaborated with quite some other artists. Min hinnsti Dans (my last dance) . The song was renamed as My Dear on the best-of album Rendez Vous in 2009.

 Verka Serducka Dancing lasha tumbai (Stepping, 138 steps/minute)

Verka Serducka is the drag character of pop & dance singer Andriy Danylko and this intriguing middle-aged woman represented Ukraine in the 2007 festival. The controversy of a drag queen representing Ukraine even led to angry and upset discussions in the parlament of Ukraine but Verka ended number 2 and Dancing lasha tumbai ended up being a bit of a hit throughout Europe. Rumour goes Verka wants to represent Ukraine again for the 2011 songcontest.

 Morena Vodka (Running/stepping, 148 steps/minute)

Morena represented Malta for the 2008 festival with a song about a spy in Russia.  It has a very traditional (quick) Russian rhtythm which makes it a good gym song and a nice song to run on. Vodka didn’t do well as a Eurovision song though; it ended number 14 in the semi-final and didn’t qualify for the final. Since good running songs are hard to find I still play Morena’s song every now and then though…