Before reading any further make sure you listen to the above track. Could you tell by listening to it exactly when it came out? The answer is WHO CARES IT’S GREAT! (…oh you’re still reading. I guess you do care. Give me a second. 1997.) Yes this is genuine 1930's or 40’s swing music created within a relatively recent time frame.
There’s a decent chance you may have heard this song before (and if not this perhaps the Weird Al parody from the “Running With Scissors” Album.) For a VERY short time in the late 90’s a few swing bands were able to have some breakthrough success alongside the third wave ska movement around the same time. Quite frankly I think the fact this song was able to get some radio play says a lot. Looking back on hits from 1997 you’ve got the tail end of ska (Sublime, Sugar Ray, No Doubt) some pop/punk (blink, offspring, Harvey danger) and A LOT of pop (Spice Girls, Jewl?, Céline Dion, that Mmmbop song) not really the best market for swing music. But I believe good music always finds a way to break out no matter how much adversity.
One more thing I have got to stress. This band is by no means a one trick pony. Although I may only have their all swing songs album (a pretty good album by the way) they have several other albums that range in style from rockabilly, glam rock, rhythm and blues, country, soul, punk, funk, and world music. They’ve released several studio albums their most recent “Skaboy JFK” was released in 2009. Enjoy the tune, and if you want more the band still tours, and their new album “White Teeth, Black Thoughts” should be hitting the shelves in the near future.
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