Watch: Hawaiian War Chant

Swing City RadioSaturday, August 31, 2024Artists and Recordings, Soundies

I can never get enough of old film footage that captures our favorite Big Bands in action. This is a clip of Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra jammin' out to Hawaiian War Chant. This clip is from the 1942 motion picture entitled "Ship Ahoy".

Take a look at a young Buddy Rich pounding away at the drums. It's so great to be able to watch him in action. The Youtuber that put this video together did a very good job restoring the footage and the overall sound. Check it out!

One last thing, I'm pretty sure that the "special effect" in the opening part of the film which makes it appear like Buddy Rich and his drum set are floating onto the set caused many of the 1940's audience to experience vertigo. But that's just my theory. 😁 Enjoy!

Watch - "Hawaiian War Chant" by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra

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Soundie: My Reverie by Larry Clinton

Swing City RadioTuesday, August 20, 2024Soundies

Today's Soundie features Larry Clinton and His Orchestra along with Peggy Mann on vocals performing "My Reverie". This was originally filmed in 1941 and by the time of it's release to Panoram movie-jukeboxes in October of 1943, Clinton's Orchestra had disbanded.

The production itself is pretty straight forward and basic, but it seems to work well with this Soundie. I really enjoy the job that Peggy Mann does with the vocals. The original version of this Clinton classic from 1938 featured Bea Wain as the female lead, but Mann does a fantastic job. She's also featured in two other Larry Clinton Soundies: "Deep Purple" and "The Night We Met in Honomu".

Enjoy!

Watch: "My Reverie" by Larry Clinton and His Orchestra with Peggy Mann on vocals.

Added To The Playlist - Aug 2024

Swing City RadioSunday, August 11, 2024Playlist

This weekend I added a few dozen more songs to the Swing City Radio rotation. I try to do this every month so the daily playlist remains fresh and more enjoying to listen to. Here's a quick breakdown of the "new" content added:

Artie Shaw and His Orchestra

I was very surprised I hadn't added these yet. I actually checked and rechecked to make sure they weren't already in the rotation. There's over a dozen songs from appearances Shaw made on Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands. These shows took place in September and October of 1945 and the sound quality is very good. The band sounds very sharp and Imogene Lynn was the female lead at the time.

Jan Garber and His Orchestra

Contains a handful of songs from a gig at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles sometime during the 1940's. I don't have an exact date on these.

Freddy Martin and His Orchestra

A half dozen songs from two different sources. Recordings he made for the Standard Library and a Dec 1943 performance on Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands. Good Stuff!

Also keep an ear out for songs by The Andrews Sisters, Boyd Raeburn, Sam Donahue, and some fusion of Hawaiian and Big Band by Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians.

Enjoy.

Listen to: "Can't Read Between The Lines" by Artie Shaw from 1945.

Look for More 78's Posted on the YouTube Channel - Aug 2024

Swing City RadioTuesday, August 06, 202478's

Over the past weekend I digitized about two dozen of the 78's that were newly added to my collection. Most of them came out sounding great. A couple of them were a little rough, but we're all used to some scratches and pops, right?

Look for songs by Glenn Miller, Les Brown, Benny Goodman, Vaughn Monroe and Tex Beneke. These will be released over the course of the next week on the YouTube Channel. Oh, and please don't forget to subscribe to the channel as well. I'm trying to reach 1000 subscribers by the end of the year. Just a silly personal goal I set for myself. :) Here's a direct link to the channel: Swing City Radio YouTube Channel

In this post I included a song called "Oklahoma City" by Tex Beneke. It was released on the RCA Victor label back in 1947. Tex sings about Oklahoma City, but it sounds more like he misses "making a bid for that freckled-face kid from Kalamazoo".

Enjoy!

Listen to: "Oklahoma City" by Tex Beneke from 1947

Record Finds - Aug 2024

Swing City RadioSaturday, August 03, 202478's

Yesterday I made some time to go out record hunting and got about fifty 78's. Spent most of last night cleaning a bunch of them up and I have to say, many of them cleaned up quite well. But, we'll see how they sound. It's weird how some of the cleaner ones in my collection can sound awful, while ones filled with scratches and faded label can sound beautiful. You just never know. I think that's what makes it so much fun.

I'll be posting the audio of these 78's to the YouTube Channel over the next few weeks so keep and eye out for that. I was able to rescue some Glenn Miller discs, a lot of Benny Goodman, Tex Beneke, Vaughn Monroe and many more.

In fact, I might digitize some of these tonight. Who knows, I'm sometimes easily distracted so we'll see if I get to it. 😜