Hellzapoppin' to "Jumpin' at the Woodside"

A reader of the blog, Hans, tipped me about that a Russian guy had made a version of the famous lindy hop sequence from the film Hellzapoppin' where the music has been substituted to Jumpin' at the Woodside, which was the original song that Frankie Manning choreographed the routine to.
Have a look at the Hellzapoppin' lindy routine done to Jumpin' at the Woodside



Then you can compare it to the original film version of the Hellzapoppin routine:



I think the Jumpin' at the Woodside version is slightly better. You can discuss the video clip over at SwingDjs.com.

Which version do you think is best? Tell me.

Watch the Birdie - Hellzapoppin

Usually you will hear the song Watch the Birdie sung by Anita O'day but it first appeared in the movie Hellzapoppin'. Here is a video clip from Hellzapoppin' with Watch the Birdie, the song is sung by Martha Raye.



Before I knew about this clip I always felt like there where something more to the story than what was told in the lyrics, now having seen the clip from Hellzapoppin' (1941), the lyrics make perfect sense.

In this clip there is lindy hop dance sequence where Betty (Martha Raye) dances with Dean Collins. When experienced lindy hoppers think of Hellzapoppin they mostly think of another famous dance sequence from this movie with Frankie Manning, Norma Miller and Al Minns and the rest of the dance troupe Harlem Cangeroos. Therefor I thought it would be nice to show some other swing dancing from that movie.

The Anita O'day version of Watch the Birdie is a great one (Gene Krupas Orchestra is playing), but be careful when you are djing it if you got a lot of beginning dancers on the dance floor because it has some tricky breaks in it.

And while we are talking about birds and photography (well, kind of...), I must show you a cartoon that is played at every Christmas Eve on Swedish television at 3 o'clock. It, together with some other cartoons, has been shown for 30 years, it's a modern tradition.



What do you think of Watch the Birdie (both the Hellzapoppin' and Anita O'day version)? Tell me.