The Great Gatsby - Charleston dancing

Here is a fun video clip from the film The Great Gatsby where people are dancing Charleston at a wild party and jumping into the fountain.

I would have liked to been at that party in the roaring 20's!

The film The Great Gatsby is from 1974 and has Robert Redford and Mia Farrow in the leading roles.

I think this might be where the director for the music video of Come To Me by Koop got some of his ideas.

What do you think of the video clip with charleston dancing from The Great Gatsby? Please comment.

Wingy Manone - Ochi Chornya

Here is Wingy Manone and his Orchestra performing "Ochi Chornya" in a recording from 1938.

The YouTube poster, edmundusrex has uploaded a lot of songs with artists from the 1920s and the 1930s. A goldmine to dig into and discover more about early jazz and blues artists.

I don't have time to browse through them all, why don't you take a look at his videos and recommend your favorite clips in the comments below?

You also might want to check out 100 Great Records Of The 1920s.


What do you think of Wingy Manone performing Ochi Chornya? What is your favorite clip?Please comment.

Charleston dancing in Europe in the 1920's

Charleston became a dance craze in the 1920's and traveled over to Europe as well. Above is a video clip from 1929 with a British band and some dancers dancing Charleston.

If you are interested in old footage from the 1920's and 1930's, you should check out the YouTube profile for jozefsterkens, who posted the clip above. He has posted over 700 other video clips.

You can find out more about dance history at http://dancehistory.org/

What do you think of the video clip with Charleston dancing? Please comment.

Enoch Light & The Light Brigade: Charleston

Here is a version of the song Charleston performed by Enoch Light & The Light Brigade from the album Big Hits of the 20s from 1971.

Enoch Light was one of the first musicians to really take advantage of stereo recording. He recorded all kinds of music but to me the most interesting music is his recordings of songs written in the 1920s-1940s.

Some of his other recordings are *cough* a bit obscure. Just listen to "I want to be happy cha cha", its very far from how the young Ella Fitzgerald sung it.

Take a look at this site to learn more about Enoch Light.

What do you think about the version of Charleston by Enoch Light? Please comment.

100 Great Records Of The 1920s

If upu are interested in jazz music history, you should check out 100 Great Records Of The 1920s which is a series of blog posts by writer Jonathan Bogart.

This seems to be a terrific starting point to learn about the early jazz musicians (and other pop culture musicians) of the 1920's. You can even hear samples of some songs.

I haven't had the time to read it properly, so let me know if you find an artist that I should take a closer look at.

What is your favorite record or artist from this list? Please comment.

"Satan in the Dance Hall" is coming this fall

In the beginning of last year I did a long interview with Ralph Giordano, author of the book Social Dancing in America. Then he also told me a some about his next book project: Satan in the Dance Hall: Social Dancing and Morality in 1920s New York.

The book is now finished and is named Satan in the Dance Hall: Rev. John Roach Straton, Social Dancing, and Morality in 1920s New York City. It will be released in late November by Scarecrow Press.

I think it will be an interesting book, I think many people in the swing dance scene would like to know more about what it was like dancing in the 1920s.

While you wait for this book, you can sign up at Amazon.com to be notified when the "Satan in the Dance Hall" becomes avaiable.

Looking for authors to "The American Dance Floor.”

Mr Giordano's next project is as the series editor for a ten-volume series
on social dancing from Greenwood Press and he is looking for authors.

If you are a writer or know a suitable writer, contact him at RalphGGiordano@aol.com or 718-816-1240.

He has more info about the book series, he writes:

Ten volume companion set: “The American Dance Floor.”
A series of 10 small books that focus on types of dances.
Here are the proposed topics:
Ballroom Dances (author: Martin)
Swing dances
Hip Hop dances/Break dancing/urban dances
Rock 'n' roll dances: 1950s-60s (Author: Sagolla)
Ditto (1970s-present?)
Latin dances
Folk and Square Dancing
Country Dancing and Line dancing (Author: Giordano)
Fads and Party Dances
Underground (like slam dancing)

The projected retail cost is $39.95 HC, intended as a reference / general reader. Each book will be packaged and sold separately, but under a general style and format so that each follows a similar set-up. 75 to 80,000 words. Two-year contract beginning on or about May 1, 2008.

We are in negotiations to have the author’s receive 10% royalty and a small advance. Photo permissions would be set up as a budget and paid by Greenwood.

We will be selecting authors (myself and my senior editor at Greenwood Debby Adams) based on C.V., prior authorship, and submission of an outline/proposal; of the subject matter. We can certainly talk and iron out all the details, if you are interested. In addition, if you know any others that might be interested, let me know.

All the best,
Ralph Giordano

What do you think of the forthcoming "Satan in the Dance Hall" Would you be interested in reading it? Please comment.

1920's Partnered Charleston: Dan Guest & Jessica Lennartsson

Charleston is a dance that can be danced both with and without a partner. Here is a wonderful video clip with Dan Guest & Jessica Lennartsson who dances charleston in this fun dance routine. A lot of humor and moves that match the music.



The music is Black Bottom by Spike Jones. Crazy tune. Crazy like only Spike Jones can be.

I found out about this clip thanks to Hans who also told me about the Hellzapoppin routine done to Jumpin At The Woodside before.

What do you think of the 1920's charleston routine by Dan Guest & Jessica Lennartsson? Tell me.

Ain't she sweet? Lilian Roth sings karaoke

You might think that karaoke singing is modern social phenomena but films with sing-along subtitles has been around much longer, just cast an eye at the charming Lilian Roth singing the song "Ain't she sweet?".



Oh my, ain't that perfection! I repeat, don't you think she's kind of neat?

Note how she gives you instructions to sing along with the bouncing ball much like the karaoke machines nowadays. This video clip is just a part of a longer short film or soundie that even includes an animated cartoon part but I can't find it online anymore (do you know where the whole film is? Tell me.)

Is there someone who has any information about sing-along singing back in the 1930's and 1940's? Did people go to the theatre to sing together? Did they gather around the Panoram machine? If you know something, please tell me.

"Ain't She Sweet" was composed by Milton Ager & Jack Yellen in 1927. They also composed songs as "Hard Hearted Hanna", "Happy Days Are Here Again" and "Happy Feet".

What do you think of Lilian Roth singing "Ain't she sweet?"? Tell me.

Sweet Georgia Brown with Ben Bernie (1925)

Sweet Georgia Brown is a great song and one of the most played jazz standards. The following video clip shows Bernie Ben performing Sweet Georgia Brown in 1925. Ben Bernie was one of the composers of the song (along with Ken Casey and Maceo Pinkard), so this is as close to the original you can get.



It's said that this video clip shows the first recorded saxophone solo. I think it's one of the best hot jazz versions I've heard.

What do you think of Ben Bernies version of Sweet Georgia Brown? Tell me.

Satan in the Dance Hall: Social Dancing and Morality in 1920s New York

This is the fifth part of an interview with Ralph G. Giordano who recently published his book Social Dancing in America: A History and Reference Volume 2 Lindy Hop to Hip Hop, 1901-2000.

[Part 1: How come you wrote a book about social dancing in America?]
[Part 2: Which dances do you write about in the book? ]
[Part 3: Can you share some interesting facts about Lindy hop?]
[Part 4: Do you include Balboa in the book?]

Part 5: Tell me about the next book you're writing


My next book “Satan in the Dance Hall: Social Dancing and Morality in 1920s New York” is as an interdisciplinary study of how the social, political, economic, and cultural events were intertwined with social dancing in New York City throughout the 1920s.

Arguably, no other period throughout American History is so closely identified with the freewheeling spirit of music and dancing, as did Prohibition, Jazz, dancing the Charleston, as did the 1920s. The perpetual image of the Charleston dance, Jazz music, flapper fashion, and flaunting prohibition is an indelible part of not only popular American history textbooks but also of folklore, legend, and especially Hollywood movies. However, what is lost to popular history is the fact that the 1920s were most likely the most morally disruptive period in American history, especially upon social dancing.

Americans were vehemently divided over Prohibition as many simply scoffed at the law and continued to drink and others proclaimed morality must be enforced by prosecution. Prior to Prohibition, many individuals drank at a neighborhood salon. During Prohibition, the saloons were closed and an “illegal” replacement called “speakeasies” emerged not only for drinking but also music, entertainment, and social dancing. Within cities such as New York, the speakeasy became a fashionable nightspot and newspapers heralded in the antics. To many supporters of Prohibitions, however, the speakeasies were viewed not only as contemptible lawbreakers but also as contributing to moral decadence.

Moral decadence was not only contained to the subject of alcohol. Throughout the country, Americans were continually besieged by a raging nationwide furor and debate between Fundamentalists and Modernists. Some of the most publicized issues included the nationwide push for Americanization, immigration quotas, eugenics, tabloid sensationalism, radio, mass produced automobiles, postal censorship, Hollywood movies, promiscuity, birth control, and the heavily publicized debate between evolution and creation culminating in the Scopes Monkey Trial. In the midst of all of the public and media attention, an almost innocent unwitting victim of the debate was social dancing.

The social dancing debate in New York City also paralleled the tenure of the Reverend John Roach Straton. In 1918, Straton assumed the pulpit at Calvary Baptist Church on West Fifty Seventh Street in New York. His condemnation certainly included all of the aforementioned nationwide issues, but some were specifically applied to New York City, which he viewed as “a modern Babylon.” Straton’s objections included card playing, jazz music, the Broadway theater, divorce, low-cut dresses, romance novels, the Museum of Natural History, boxing, nude art, anti-Catholicism, and even poodle dogs.

But his most ravage attacks were against social dancing and New York’s commercial dance halls. In an interview in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on March 26, 1922, Straton’s response to the commercial dance halls echoed with fire and brimstone. He bellowed:

“the very fires of Hell are raging at them in the slums, the [dance] palaces and amusement centers of the city and when multitudes of young men and young women are being swept away to eternal destruction.”

At the time, Straton’s exploits were well chronicled in all of New York City’s eleven major daily newspapers. Stanley Walker, for example, city editor of The New York Herald Tribune noted:

“Straton came out in favor of legislation which would prohibit all public dancing except the more seemly sort of mazurkas, such as were danced by David and other pious hoofers in the olden times. Indeed, he was opposed to virtually everything in the way of amusement that was going on in New York”.

What do you think of this upcoming book? Tell me.