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Pop
Music Swing evokes memories of elegant era, but it has a dark
side
By ROBIN TAYLOR
Once, in a time not long ago, there
were dances in large, smoky halls with crystal chandeliers. Men wore dress hats
then, and elegant suits with polished shoes. Women were lovely, with gloves,
fancy handbags and dresses that rustled when they walked.
Bands played long into the night, fast songs that took away the
dancers breath, and slow ones that sent them into each others arms.
Couples fell in love on the dance floor, married, raised families and spent the
rest of their lives together. It was a time of magic, of dreams that came true,
all against the backdrop of music that bewitched and befuddled and made the
nights sing.
At least thats what I imagine when I think of the swing era
of the 1930s and 40s, a time before televisions in every home, when
families had dinner together and men opened the door, even for women they
didnt know. Swing is the music of my grandparents and parents, who
courted to the sounds of Benny Goodman, drove Fords loaded with chrome and
caught Gone with the Wind in the theater. It seems that life was
gentler then.
My grandmother, if she were alive, would be shocked to learn that
the music she loved so much is hip again. Theres a new generation of
teens and young adults swinging to the big band sound of grandmas
generation. Dance studios across the country are reporting a rise in requests
for swing lessons. Local DJs say theyre playing swing tunes for junior
high and high school dances. Area nightclubs are hosting swing nights with free
dance lessons and swing music all night long. Even churches are getting into
the swing spirit, with lessons and dances that appeal to congregation members
of all ages.
While some of todays hottest swing albums include remakes of
classic songs, much of the trend has a 90s twist to it. Todays most
popular swing bands have names that would make Grandma blush. Groups like Big
Bad Voodoo Daddy. Squirrel Nut Zippers. And on the outer, alternative fringe of
the movement, the Cherry Poppin Daddies, who note on their Web page they
once used the names Big Yank and Mr. Wiggles while
performing.
The Daddies are quick to point out that though they are a
band that swings, theyre not a retro thing. On
the bands Web page, Daddies founder Steve Perry said, Swing
has to be reinvented. We could get involved in a nostalgic type of scene but we
dont want to do that. Use the lyricism of the 1960s, use punk-rock
energy, use the stuff that cant be denied and create a new
thing.
With grunge lyrics
Cherry Poppin Daddies newest album, Zoot Suit
Riot, includes lyrics that would be right at home on a grunge album. The
song Drunk Daddy begins, Momma married a big asshole/Whiskey
bottles on the floor/He just keeps on watchin TV/Stepchild tired of being
poor and Kitchen smells like rotten garbage/I cant chew my
food, my face is sore/Momma didnt come home last evening/Neighbors say
that shes a whore.
Its a strange combination, the bright, upbeat rhythms of
swing with the Daddies dark, disturbed lyrics. Its a match that
works, though, one that has brought swing rhythms to life for a generation of
punk fans. Zoot Suit Riot has already sold more than a million copies
and has been on the Billboard album charts for more than nine months.
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, another of todays most popular swing
bands, gained national attention in the 1996 movie Swingers. At a
recent Reno, Nev., concert, the group brought out hundreds of young fans,
decked out in everything from zoot suits and wingtips to feathers and fedoras.
The eight-member groups latest album has been on the charts for months
now. On their current tour theyre playing all the crowds favorites,
songs like You and Me and the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby) and
Go Daddy-o.
Itd be hard to listen to this group and stay in your seat,
which is why so many concert venues have started to set aside large areas for
dancers. Band front-man Scotty Morris said in a recent interview that his group
is now well-known enough that theyre getting booked into classic
ballrooms, some of which had been closed for years.
The 17-man Brian Setzer Orchestra is another swing band racking up
success on the Billboard charts. Their newest album, The Dirty Boogie,
is up to No. 14, while the single Jump Jive An Wail, a remake
of the 1950s Louis Prima song, holds the same position on the singles
chart.
Setzer, from the 1980s rockabilly group the Stray Cats, admits
that the hit song is one he nearly cut from the album. It was saved, at the
last minute, by a major TV commercial for Gap that featured the same Prima song
and swinging hip dancers. Setzer told MTV that the commercial helped the song
and helped the whole thing happen for me. Setzers band is
different from other swing groups because he leads with the electric guitar,
the first time thats been done. The Dirty Boogie album
features numerous Setzer originals, including one of the Stray Cats most
popular songs, Rock this Town.
The Squirrel Nut Zippers say that theyre named after a
peanut-flavored candy manufactured in Massachusetts. The seven-member group,
which performed for President Clintons 1996 inauguration, was set to open
for Tony Bennett and the Count Basie Orchestra at Radio City Music Hall. Their
recent album, Perennial Favorites, is full of songs that are just plain
fun, especially Ghost of Stephen Foster and Suits are Picking
Up the Bill, an irreverent look at how life changes once a band makes it
big.
The primary difference between the Zippers and other swing bands
is the presence of Katharine Whalen, one of the groups founders, a lead
singer and banjo player. Close your eyes and Whalens voice takes you back
to the smoky nightclubs of the 1940s, especially on slow, mournful songs like
Low Down Man and My Drag. Whalen is one of the only
women to figure prominently in todays new swing movement, and the only
featured female member of any of the groups mentioned here.
The downside
Its hard to find a downside to the swing movement. Its
music that brings families together, as grandparents and grandchildren finally
have songs they agree on. Its also helped young adults discover the joy
of dancing together again. As Cherry Poppin Daddies front man Steve
Perry said in a recent interview with music critic Jere Chandler, At
hippy shows, people dance around by themselves. At ska shows, they do that
little robot dance. Or they mosh. Theyre all alienated forms of dance.
Its all about you. With swing, its you and your partner. ...
Theres a sense of decency and decorum, of manners and style thats
been lacking for awhile in rock and youth culture.
In spite of all this, there is a problematic undercurrent to the
music. The sweet nostalgic glow is darkened by the startling lack of diversity
in todays top bands. Maybe young women or people of color arent
encouraged throughout school to learn the trumpet, trombone or saxophone.
Maybe, with the resurgence of swing, that will start to change.
If it does, though, the movements language would need to
shift as well. Throughout the songs, men are referred to as
daddies, while women are babies. What would happen to a
group like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy if a woman joined? Would Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Baby have the same ring to it? Troubling as well is the inordinate amount of
lyric time that the bands devote to the glories of alcohol and drunkenness,
with gin and tonics and whiskey being the swing drinks of choice. And
dont forget your cigarettes. As the cool cat on the Setzer album cover
suggests, smoking is part of being hip, too.
Nobody knows how long this current swing revival will last, not
even the men who are making the music. In the end, that doesnt matter
much to them. The bottom line is that most of them were jiving and wailing long
before it was hip and will continue even when the fervor fades. And that love
is what has kept swing alive, from the early days when my grandma sang along to
her radio, until now.
Robin Taylor writes from Dayton, Nev.
National Catholic Reporter, December 4,
1998
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