Jumpin' Jack Flash

"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by Rolling Stone magazine, the song was perceived by some as the band's return to their blues roots after the psychedelia of their preceding albums, Aftermath (1966), Between the Buttons (1967), Flowers (1967) and Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967). One of the group's most popular and recognisable songs, it has featured in films and been covered by numerous performers, notably Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner and Johnny Winter.

Inspiration and recording

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, recording on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" began during the Beggars Banquet sessions of 1968. Regarding the song's distinctive sound, guitarist Richards has said:

Richards has stated that he and Jagger wrote the lyrics while staying at Richards' country house, where they were awoken one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded: "Oh, that's Jack – that's jumpin' Jack." The rest of the lyrics evolved from there. Humanities scholar Camille Paglia speculated that the song's lyrics might have been partly inspired by William Blake's poem "The Mental Traveller": "She binds iron thorns around his head / And pierces both his hands and feet / And cuts his heart out of his side / To make it feel both cold & heat."

Jack Flash

Jack Flash was a British comic strip published in the British comic book magazine The Beano. The strip starred a flying boy from the planet Mercury. The character sported four tiny wings on his ankles and this is thought to be the source of his flying ability. The strips first series began in 1949 in issue 355. This first series was originally drawn by Dudley Watkins but in issue 367 Fred Sturrock took over drawing the strip. This first series was set in the fictional Cornish town of Colbay. This first series ended in 1949 in issue 388. However this was not the end of the character as he reappeared for a second series in 1950 once again drawn by Fred Sturrock. This second series lasted for 20 issues (from issue 410 to issue 429) and involved Jack Flash babysitting four children whilst their parents are away tending a sick relative.

The third series of Jack Flash began in 1951 in the issue after Dennis the Menace's first appearance. This series was drawn by Paddy Brennan, who drew a number of different adventure strips for The Beano, and for the first time featured Jack Flash's family. This third series was entitled Jack Flash and the Terrible Twins and not only featured Jack Flash's parents, Ma and Pa Flash, but the Terrible Twins, Jet and Jack, also. Some of these strips ended in a way made almost formulaic by later Beano comic strips that is corporal punishment with one strip ending with the Terrible Twins being given a mid air spanking.

Jumping jack

A jumping jack (Canada & US) or star jump (UK and other Commonwealth nations), also called side-straddle hop in the US military, is a physical jumping exercise performed by jumping to a position with the legs spread wide and the hands touching overhead, sometimes in a clap, and then returning to a position with the feet together and the arms at the sides. The jumping jack name comes from the traditional toy of the same name, while "star jump" refers to the person's appearance with legs and arms spread.

The jumping jack is the official state exercise of Missouri, USA as of July 2014.

Variations

More intensive versions of this jump include bending down (over) and touching the floor in between each jump.

Power Jacks
Power Jacks are similar to jumping jacks, except a person squats lower and jumps as high as possible during each repetition.

A similar jump exercise is called half-jacks, which were created to prevent rotator cuff injuries, which have been linked to the repetitive movements of the exercise. They are like regular jumping jacks but the arms go halfway above the head instead of all the way above it. The arms also hit the sides to help tighten the jump.

Jumping jack (toy)

The jumping-jack is a toy whose origins date back thousands of years. The jointed jumping-jack figure is a cross between a puppet and a paper doll. The figures are generally made from wood and their limbs are jointed and tied to a pull string. When the string is pulled and released, the arms and legs move up and down.

History

Although the jumping-jack is popularly thought of as a European toy, ivory dancer figures made to spin by pulling their strings, which were found at the archaeological site El Lisht and date back to ancient Egyptian times, are considered to be among the earliest forms of this family of mechanical toys.

In the mid-1700s, jumping-jack figures known as “pantins” were popular among the French nobility.

In 1832 the Hampelmann was created by Carl Malss as a figure for the burlesque at Frankfurt. Later the jumping-jack toy became known as Hampelmann in German-speaking countries and were manufactured in the Erzgebirge mountain range in Germany.

Quocker-wodger

Jumping jack (disambiguation)

Jumping jack may refer to:

See also