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1930’s

Picture Definitions of Swing Terms Pt. 1

From Look Magazine, September 27, 1938
Alligators (swing fans) like these girls can’t sit still when the swing (latest type of hot jazz music) band gets whacky (swings its wildest).
She savvies jive (understands the language of swing) and pleases the jitterbug (same as alligators). It’s Ina Ray Hutton – as if you didn’t know.
You never see dancing like this when paper men (musicians who play by note only) are reading the spots (notes) and schmaltzing it (playing sweet, sentimental music). These are shag dancers.
Paul Whiteman, the old man (leader), bends an ear as Jack Teagarden gets hot on the slush pump (trombone). Even ickies (persons who don’t understand swing) can appreciate such a push-pipe player.

Do You Know These Swing Terms?

How many do you know? Picture definitions in the following posts.
From Look Magazine, September 27, 1938
ALLIGATORS
BARREL-HOUSE
BELLY FIDDLE
BOGIE MAN
CANARY
CATS
CHIEF RIDEMAN
CORN-ON-THE-COB
DOG HOUSE
EIGHTY-EIGHT (88)
GOBBLE PIPE
GROAN BOX
GRUNT HORN
GUT-BUCKET
HEPCAT
HOT MAN
ICKIES
IN THE GROOVE
IRON HORN
JAM SESSION
JITTERBUGS
JIVE
LICK
LONGHAIR
MONKEY HURDLER
MOTH BOX
OLD MAN
PAPER MEN
PLATTER
PLUMBING
RUG CUTTER
SCHMALTZ IT
SEND
SKIN BEATER
SLIVER SUCKER
SLUSH PUMP
SPOTS
SQUEAKER
SPOOK
SWING
TIN EARS
VOODOO BOILERS
WHACKY
WOODPILE

Give Swing a Chance Says Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman, $125,000-a-year “King of Swing”, now 28, chose to play a clarinet when he was 9, because it was so pretty. Conductor Leopold Stokowski calls him one of the world’s best clarinetists.
Give Swing a Chance Says Benny Goodman
by Benny Goodman

There is one thing swing critics cannot combat. That is, that the public approves of swing. So why not give it a chance to prove it is not a flash in the pan, but the only really truly American music we have? Every other form of musical expression portrayed as a dance form originated abroad. Swing, as it is now being written and created, originates solely in the minds of musicians who think in the American way.

Some persons object to modernizing old songs into swing tempo. The answer is that swing is still young and needs nourishment.

To educate the people to enjoy original swing creations, we must feed them something they know of, can understand and enjoy because the melody is familiar.

The present day swing artist is a pioneer, creating something that in the future will become the popular expression of the day. So the next time you hear swing, just figure to yourself that you are in on the birth of something your grandchildren will some day take for granted in the same manner as you take opera today, and you will feel as I always do – awed.

Look Magazine, September 27, 1938

Caprice XXIV – Adapted from Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 in A minor

Look Magazine: Swing Issue, September 27, 1938

I’ve gone on a bit of a magazine collecting spree lately, and here is one of the spoils – the Swing Issue of Look Magazine from 1938. I’ll be posting some of the goodies in the days to come – you can learn some new jive-talk and dance moves!
The cuties on the cover are Rita Rio and Bill Furrow. Rita Rio was the bandleader for an all-girl swing band, and went on to have an acting career under the name Dona Drake (Rita Rio is also a stage name, her real name is Eunice Westmoreland!).
Here are a couple of clips of Rita performing – Enjoy!

Rita Rio & Her Orchestra – Feed the Kitty
Rita Rio – My Margarita

Long Beach Yearbooks

Last night I was renewing some library books online, and I noticed that the digital archives include local high school yearbooks. I love looking at yearbooks – they’re a great snapshot of a time and place. And yet, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
 If nothing else, they provide lots of hairstyle references! 
I think anyone can look at these without an account with the Long Beach library. They’re in pdf format, so you will need Adobe to look at the files. Some of the scans aren’t the best, oh well.
I haven’t looked through all of them yet (there are 77!) but so far my favorites are Wilson High School from 1938-1940. There are some truly stunning photographs, a common theme is “Beautiful Girls”, and for the ad section they sent students out to the businesses for photos and write ups. Very cute!
Thespian Club, Wilson High School, 1940
W Club Service Group, Wilson High School, 1940
Knott’s Berry Place, 1940 – before it became Knott’s Berry Farm, an amusement park with major roller coasters!
Christmas Swing dance, Wilson High School, 1938 – I think the boy in the bottom center is the bandleader?
White Graduation Gowns, Wilson High School, 1938
Go to Zukor’s for your dress, then head to the Tee-Pee after the dance! Wilson High School, 1938
Backstage in the Auditorium, Wilson High School, 1939
Hip Hip Hooray! Wilson High School, 1939
Herb and his Ambassadors, Wilson High School, 1939
Wilson High School, 1939
Wilson High School, 1939

A corsage lasts longer if you take her to the ice rink for your date! Wilson High School, 1939

You’re The Top – Vintage Lifestyle Playlist

Here’s a gem – a rare recording of the Great Cole Porter singing his own song, accompanied by himself. There’s a true sense of zeitgeist in this tune – not only are the lyrics practically plucked from the newspaper headlines of the 30’s, but his voice and tempo and staccato delivery simply can’t be from any other era. 
I was thinking about doing a whole encyclopedic entry to explain the lyrics, but then I found this clip on YouTube that does the job far more elegantly than I would have.
“You’re The Top” written and performed by Cole Porter (1934)
Wikipedia lists some of the alternate lyrics from over the years.