Gym and Tonic

"Gym and Tonic" is a single released by British production duo Spacedust. The song was originally recorded by French record producer Bob Sinclar as "Gym Tonic", with co-production by Thomas Bangalter and a 12-minute section of improvised funk by James Andrew (Gym) Dakin. The track was included on Sinclar's album Paradise. Their version sampled "Arms", a workout recording by American actress Jane Fonda.[1] However, Fonda refused clearance of her vocals being used as a sample, which eventually led to a single never being released (although the track was released on Bob Sinclar's debut album, as this is how Fonda found out about it). When Spacedust recorded their version of the track, the Fonda vocal samples were re-recorded with a session vocalist.

"Gym and Tonic"
Single by Spacedust
from the album Hits n' Pieces
B-side	"Spacegroove"
Released	12 October 1998
Genre	Dance
Length	7:18 (original mix) 3:24 (radio edit)
Label	East West
Songwriter(s)	Spacedust
Producer(s)	Spacedust
Spacedust singles chronology
"Gym and Tonic" (1998) "Let's Get Down!" (1999)

Released on 12 October 1998, the song peaked at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart; however, it was the lowest-selling UK number-one song of 1998, reaching No. 109 on the year-end chart. Despite this, it received a Silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry for shipments exceeding 200,000 copies the same year. It also reached No. 10 in Iceland and New Zealand, No. 17 in Ireland and the top 40 in Belgium (both Flanders and Wallonia).

Music video

The music video for Spacedust's track depicts an exercise workout filmed on 2 August 1998 and featured an appearance by Nancy Sorrell. In an ode to exercise videos from the 1980s and 1990s, it was intentionally cheaply made with production costs for the video at over £10,000. It regularly features on VH1's "worst videos" lists.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (1998) Peak position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[2] 35 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[3] 39 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[4] 11 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[5] 10 Ireland (IRMA)[6] 17 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] 10 Scotland (OCC)[8] 2 UK Singles (OCC)[9] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1998) Position UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 109 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Silver 200,000^^ ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Who Sampled Who
2. "Ultratop.be – Spacedust – Gym and Tonic" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
3. "Ultratop.be – Spacedust – Gym and Tonic" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
4. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 15 no. 44. 31 October 1998. p. 10. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
5. "Íslenski Listinn (27.11–4.11. 1998)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 27 November 1998. p. 12. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
6. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Gym and Tonic". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
7. "Charts.nz – Spacedust – Gym and Tonic". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
8. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
9. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
10. "Najlepsze single na UK Top 40–1998 wg sprzedaży" (in Polish). Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
11. "British single certifications – Spacedust – Gym and Tonic". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 13 June 2020.