Sunday, November 18, 2012

Another big-band era hit, The Dipsy Doodle


This was written by Larry Clinton in 1937 for the Dorsey orchestra,and was one of the big hits of the late 1930s. There was Jive and Jitterbug before there was Rock n' Roll, and this was a great swing-era dance number. 

Not to be outdone, here's Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra, doing 'Man, That's Groovy!' .......


And here's a little demo of dancing the Boogie Woogie, by a couple of champs...


Please Note:-
Modern-day interpretations of 'swing' or 'jitterbug' or 'boogie-woogie' aren't exactly like the originals of those dances back when they were developing in
the 1930s and 1940s. There was a lot more spontaneity than is expressed in today's examples. And I recall the gals being lifted or flipped over the guy's back more frequently than is shown now. These were very active imaginative dances, and many couples made it up as they went along, and practiced their own routines privately until they felt ready for 'prime time' in public. This was not something like the Fox Trot which you could follow on a footsteps chart.
This was a "show me yours, and I'll show you mine" kind of thing, and it was for the doers, not just the viewers. We didn't need exercise gyms back then - we had the Friday-night or Saturday-night dances, and some were a real workout.

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