Here's Glenn Miller from SUN VALLEY SERENADE. Be sure to notice Dorothy Dandridge singing with the Nicholas Brothers.
This number is from ORCHESTRA WIVES. At 0:15 you'll cacth a quick glimpse of Caesar Romero faking the piano followed by a young Jackie Gleason faking the bass.
35 comments:
I am the worst dancer in the world and I was dancing to these. Cool. Very cool.
Anon, my fondest memory of my mom was of her taking off her apron and teaching me to dance to music like this.
My parents were teenagers in Poland. They told be about how they would listen to this music and dream of coming to America, They did come here after the war.
You could never meet people as patriotic as them.
Wetz, songs and films like these spread a dream and feeling around the world. I suppose they look dated now but, to many, they are timeless.
At first I marvel at the beauty and depth of the music. Then I feel pain and sadness.
I am a young man? of 45 yet I absolutely love The Glenn Miller Orchestra! My fav is 'In The Mood'.
Thanks for the post !!!!
I love this music. Dad was a trombone player. This was the music of my youth, although I suspect that I am quite a bit younger than you are.
Nickie and all, Try this site for a listen, my neighbors brothers band 'The Millionaires',updated sound to the style music Nickie presented here:
http://millionairesplay.com/recordings.cfm
I've been hooked on Glen Miller since the jazz band at my high school performed In The Mood. I have tons of CDs of this type of music. To show just how weird I am, my two favorite bands are Queen and The Glen Miller Orchestra.
NickiE! This is my all-time favorite post of yours yet!!! You may not able to top this one for me:D Man ohld man...the songs were indeed wonderful to hear...great vocals -- BUT the dancing! WOWWW!!! The first video just had me going OUCHHHH! after every flying leap and fall into a split! Who were these two superduper tappers?
And i thought the second video would pale in comparison, but again the dancing did not disappoint. i was again going AWCH!!! after every painful looking split. i'm an avid fan of "So You Think You Can Dance?" (and i Zumba like a Mexican jumping bean) and these guys (especially the last two, literally bouncing off walls and landing in splits!) certainly have my vote as rln's favorite dancers.
Thanks for posting this high-quality, heart-warming, foot-tapping entry. Bravo...encore!!! :D
My Parents were all about Glen Miller and Big band in general. I grew up to this stuff, and have never lost my love for it.
I am quite sure I am the only one in my 1985 high school class who could swing east AND west coast style...
No wonder people thought I was a geek!
We wuz robbed! Our parents got to listen & dance to this and all we got was screaming teenage angst guitars.
Was that Milton Berle getting shot down by ?
This music was written by people who had to actually apply themselves to learn something before calling themselves composers and musicians.
There are very few songs that have been produced during the last forty years that, one hundred years from now, will generate the same wonder and joy as when they were new. That mark is reserved for talent and genius.
I love this music. Been a Count Basie fan for about 2 yrs now, as well as anything from the pre-Beatles era.
Zio, the only reason for sadness is that we will never see anything like it again.
Chris, you are a man of exceptional taste.
Arby, this music didn't go away easily. Two things killed big bands...
1. Unions! Nobody could afford to book them.
2. Lawrence Welk.
Spinster, for me it's Pink Floyd and Kay Kyser (check out YouTube).
r!... I'm happy you enjoyed it.
Toasty... that's not the reason.
I was seven years old before we had a TV (1952). That's when I learned about the Dorseys, Paul Whiteman and Glen Miller (who was gone by then).
Music is brutal now, or full of eroticism, violence or alienation; everything but the velvet, pacifying tones Nickie remembers.
Does music reflect the culture or influence it?
I wasn't robbed, Sig. I never depended on my school or library to provide me with state-supported culture.
I remember going downtown in the 70s to watch old films starring Fred Astaire, Ruby Keeler, Ronald Coleman etc. I wasn't robbed because I went looking and found it. You probably did the same.
Candle, Sinatra was at his very best when he teamed with Count Basie.
Rhod, is that what is going on musically nowadays? I know that pop music has gotten so bad I have banned it from my life. I only play radio Disney in the car whether the kids are there or not, and even that is a stretch, because Disney is 1/4 socialist. But the music is at least not too sexualized or violent for the little tykes or myself.
Nickie, you know I love classic tunes. You picked out some nice versions here.
Rhod, at our house Paul Whiteman was considered right up there with Chopin or Hiefetz.
Opie, it's only a somber mood that kept me from posting Spike Jones.
Nickie, my parents are from Brooklyn, I grew up on LI. Every year on their anniversary they would take the short trip to Manhattan and take in a few shows on Broadway. Then they would buy the LP's. I grew up on Broadway musicals. I can still sing almost the entire scores from one or two of them as my mom used to play them consistently.
My favorites are Fiorello!, Camelot, Molly Brown, Annie and Man Of LaManchia (I went too late to see Richard Kiley). Big band came third in our house after classical music.
My mother was born in Texas and moved to California in 1942, met and married my dad in 1944. I was born in 1946 and raised on Hank Williams country western hillbilly type music. I remember what a refreshing change Elvis was. Now days music from the 30s and 40s is very appealing to me.
Good post
What a fun post. Made me smile. I recognized Milton Berle in the first video.
We play this music a lot in our house (and I'm a big rock music man). Fats Domino too. My Mums favourite and my wife loves it too - real class spans the generations. Nice one Nickie.
Sig... Show tunes? Fiorello? I continue to be more and more impressed!
Hank Williams is a taste I acquired in college while others were discovering Elton John. Thanks, you old geezer.
Lady, I'm surprised a child like you would recognize anybody in those films.
"...real class spans the generations."
That includes you, HogMan.
"In a little tin box
A little tin box
That a little tin key unlocks"
♫
The graft is so much greater and the excuses even lamer.
Encore!! Bravo!
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