Great 20th Century Embarassments: The Mid-90's Swing Revival (A confessional thread)

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I remember in the heat of nu-swing's moment, some guy at the National Review wrote that if the movement stuck around, it might ACTUALLY reverse the decades of cultural and moral decline wrought by rock and hippie and such. Though how one might achieve Morning in America via a bunch of ex-punks dressing up as Tex Avery's Big Bad Wolf escapes my unmuscular imagination.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:29 (nineteen years ago) link

I took swing dancing lessons in 1998...and I danced at a Squirrel Nut Zippers show. I was alright at the dancing, and enjoyed it, even though I have the problem of being too tall for a partner to flip around. I was always more into rockabilly...

― sgs (sgs), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:32 (nineteen years ago) link

it might ACTUALLY reverse the decades of cultural and moral decline wrought by rock and hippie and such.

I vividly remember an episode of Talk of the Nation with Ray Suarez devoted to the swing/lounge revival, and the guy who wrote "Buckle Down Winsocki" back in the early 40s called in with instructions on how to make a good martini. He then said it was great how kids were getting into this music again, because for a while there, it seemed like popular music was all about shock tactics. He speculated on the process of forming a rock band: "How can we get ourselves attention, oh, I know, let's look in the dictionary and name ourselves after some sort of tropical disease..." Suarez tried to cut him off, but he wasn't having any of it.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:37 (nineteen years ago) link

I always had this completely ridiculous theory that nineties rock was always about regression backwards in a way. Grunge = already looking back to an indie existence [Black Flag/SST/etc/], then Green Day/Offspring takes everyone back to 1977, then No Doubt/etc. does the same thing while further hearkening back to the 'golden age' of ska., then lounge and swing takes it *further* back etc. etc. The end point of the process was the fetishization of bluegrass via O Brother Where Art Thou?.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 23 March 2005 19:52 (nineteen years ago) link

The swing revival was an embarrassment, but the lounge revival - come on! How could you not love this man:

http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/e/esquivel~~~_exploring_101b.jpg

― yossarian, Wednesday, 23 March 2005 21:00 (nineteen years ago) link

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