The LOK: My Swing Site

"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing."-Duke Ellington
Swing Time

My Background on swing	Dating in the 40's very funny!	Entertainment incl. movies, music, etc.	Fashion 1931-1945
General Info. incl. Pres., VP, Life Expectancy...	Links	National News Headlines	News and Events of the era
The Present swing today	Prices incl. new house, gas, ave. income, etc.	Ratings of current swing bands and places	Slang of the era
Songs my favorite swing songs	Sports football, baseball, hockey, golf	More Sports marathon, boxing, race cars, horses	Television the beginning
Theme Songs of many big bands	World News Headlines	The Swing Years: 1930-1945 incl. prices, movies, music, sports, headlines, etc.

My Background:

I have loved swing for a VERY long time. I've always liked the music but really got into it in 1992. I saw the preview for "Swing Kids" when my friend Liz and I went to see "Sister Act". I saw the actual movie when my friend Jen let me borrow it. Also, my friend Charity let me hear some of the music from the soundtrack which is so very good!

From then on, I was DEFINITELY hooked! And I mean hooked! Everyone who knows me knows I love swing music and swing dancing. I try to get everyone I know to swing dance! The first time I went dancing was in the summer of 1995 (I'm pretty sure. No later. Maybe earlier. I just know for sure I was dancing by 1995 but I may have been before.). We went to a dance at First Lutheran Church on Western Ave. It was Kim, Marie, and me. We were the ONLY people there under age 30 or so (we were 16). We went to a few more dances that summer (it's always the first Fri. of the month). Then we didn't go in the school year, but we went the next summer, in college, etc. We kept getting more and more of our friends into it. The last few times we went dancing, there were a ton of younger people! I do east coast swing dancing, also known as jitterbug. I can do Charleston kick moves with it and ariels. I have learned lindy, but not a lot of it. I learned west coast swing at one point. I am not a fan.

I even did a swing project for Economics in high school (we had to create a business-I created a swing business with dance lessons, dances, books, records, info, etc.: I made a poster, script for a commercial, etc.), during my senior year (1996). I also did a speech on it in ENG 103 my freshman year (1996). I got interviewed for some Saratoga school paper and also for someone's project on swing at St. Rose. I even have a HUGE notebook (binder) full of just swing things (including 1930s and 40s info, pictures, etc.). I have tons of books on swing, swing music (records-yes, records!, tapes, CDs), magazines, etc. Anything to do with swing and that era (1930s and 1940s).

Just to let you know, remember how swing was such a trend? And it's not so much anymore, but still is kinda popular? (at least, it's well-known now). I've liked it for a long time (just look at the years above) and I did not follow a trend! (I don't follow trends.) Me and my friends (nice grammar, huh?) are trendsetters (heehee). Kim, Liz, Marie, Michelle, Charity, Samara and myself. So I thought I'd make sure the record was straight. Seriously, like I said, Kim, Marie, and I were the youngest people at the swing dance before and now there are a ton of young people! In the mid-90s, I tried to look up stuff on the web about swing and there was practically NOTHING there! Now there is so much I don't even know where to start, which is really cool. Kinda. I mean, I'm glad people got into it, but I didn't really like it being a trend and all. I want people to like it because they like it, not because it's the "cool thing" to like it. It helps that it's not so big anymore.

I do need a swing partner. They are very hard to find! I used to dance with my friend Ken H. but he graduated and is in the Navy and moved so I was without a partner for a while. Then I got Erik K. into it. He likes swing and he's good and strong enough to do acrobatics with me. YEAH! However, he's out of the picture now. I hardly ever see him anymore, plus he graduated and moved somewhere. My other friend, Kevin W. can flip me (and has, several times). A back flip. But he's now married and I never see him anyway. And this other boy, Jamie, can do cool stuff too. We did the side to side thing and one move where we stand back to back and link arms and he flips me over his back. (Maybe that sounds easy, but let me tell you, if you've never done it before and are teaching yourself how to do it, it's not that easy! We kept locking arms and getting tangled up. Needless to say, our arms were both very sore for a while afterwards! Yes, we did have spotters. I'm trying to dance, not kill myself!) But I never see him anymore either! And I've danced with this other boy, Josh J. who is very good. We've done the side to side thing and the flip over the back and also, the around-the-back thing where he throws me around his back. (hence the name, around-the-back.) It's a lot of fun! But I hardly ever see him either. And Chris J. is great dancer-we did all sorts of acrobatic things together. Some really crazy moves, where I can't believe I had the nerve to try them! But he graduated and moved and I never see him (do we see a pattern here? Understand why it's not easy for me to keep a swing partner?) John F. has gotten really good, so I danced with him a lot. But now he is just about married and has subsequently dropped off the face of the planet like they all do when that happens. And Chris R. is also pretty good and I used to dance with him a lot but never see him anymore. Nick and Jesse are into it now. I just taught them, so they're still learning, but they love it and they'll swing anywhere, anytime, which is very cool.

I can teach almost anyone to swing dance. It's really incredibly easy if it's explained to you. The best way to learn is to learn the basic step, and then dance with people who are better than you. That's how we did it! So I am constantly teaching people, which I don't mind doing at all. Although it's nice when I can occassionally dance with someone who knows how to dance well, instead of always dancing with someone I'm teaching. It's getting to the point where even though I'm in the follower's position, I end up leading, because otherwise I get bored doing the basic stuff over and over. I can follow, if the guy (leader) knows what he's doing! And that, by the way, is very hard to find-a good lead. Somehow, with the trend, I think people got sloppy as leads. So there are very few strong leads out there. There used to be so many (when I first started). Not really anymore. Most of the great leads are a bit older than I am (not that that is bad).

I mostly now just dance with friends. We'll get together at someone's house/apartment and put on some CD's and do our own thing. It's actually really fun, as long as we have an equal number of guys and girls. But that's rare. We're usually lacking in guys. But most "real" swing places (as opposed to get-togethers in apartments) now are terrible. Either the music is bad or the crowd is. Or it's way too expensive. I don't even like bothering to go anymore. I'd rather just get together with friends and dance. Of course, if there ever was a great place around, I'd go! Now, whenever I go out to dance, I'll make sure it's a band I know about and like. (see my band ratings) I will check out bands I haven't heard, but only if it's free. I don't want to waste money if they end up being bad. I do like going to the Diamond Dance in Saratoga once a month. (usually) The other problem with swing now is that it's gotten cliquey. It's like in high school! People dance only with certain people. When I first started, everyone danced with everyone. That was the best.

I also want to learn Lindy. It's awesome! I know the basic step, but that's it. Most people don't know it well enough to teach, or they think they know it, but don't and I want to learn the real way, not some trendy new Lindy where everyone slinks around the floor like they're vamping someone. That looks ridiculous!

It's all so much fun. See the movie "Swing Kids" and you'll see how I like to dance. I can't do it all yet, but I can do an awful lot of it. I pick up moves when I watch it, plus since I watch a lot of old movies, I incorporate a lot of their moves into swing. Since many musicals were during the time period of the big bands, it works very well.

My Absolute Favorite Swing Songs:

Glenn Miller: "In the Mood", "Tuxedo Junction", "Song of the Volga Boatmen", "I Got a Gal in Kalamazoo", "Pennsylvania 6-5000", "Little Brown Jug", "Bugle Call Rag", "Anvil Chorus", "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree", "Sunrise Serenade", "String of Pearls", "Chatanooga Choo-Choo", "American Patrol", "Moonlight Serenade", "Moonlight Cocktail"

Benny Goodman: "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)", "Gotta Be This Or That", "Goodnight, My Love", "Bei Mir Bis Du Schon", "Taking a Chance On Love", "Loch Lomond", "Blue Moon", "Bach Goes to Town", "Flat Foot Floogee", "Blue Skies", Alexander's Ragtime Band", "And the Angels Sing", "Stompin' At the Savoy", "It's Only a Paper Moon", "Jumpin' At the Woodside" (yes I know it's by Count Basie, but I like Benny's version)

Benny Goodman and Harry James/Count Basie: "Life Goes to a Party/Jumpin' At the Woodside"

Artie Shaw: "Donkey Serenade"

Count Basie: "Bolero at the Savoy", "Shout and Feel It", "One O'Clock Jump"

Duke Ellington: "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"

Louis Prima: "Jump, Jive, and Wail!" (and he wrote "Sing, Sing, Sing" too)

Woody Herman: "Golden Wedding"

Bunny Berigan: "A Study in Brown", "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm"

Tommy Dorsey: "Boogie Woogie"

Jimmy Mundy: "Swingtime in the Rockies"