Standards: Minnie the Moocher

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: Minnie the Moocher

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Minnie the Moocher is the timeless tale of a good girl gone bad, prohibition style. The song was written by Cab Calloway, who first recorded it in 1932. Calloway was a great showman. His dance moves look impossible even now, and may have inspired James Brown. Minnie the Moocher has the famous hi-de-hi-de-hi call and response between Calloway and his band. He used to get his audiences to sing the responses, and then Calloway would sing more and more complicated strings of nonsense syllables, until the audience could follow him no longer. All in good fun, of course. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was part of the swing revival movement that broke out in the mid 1990s. Unlike many of their peers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performed mostly original songs. Obviously, Minnie the Moocher was an exception, but, heard along side their originals, it served to validate just how good at writing these kinds of songs the band was.

As a bonus, I thought I would share something fun that I came across while researching this post: the Betty Boop cartoon Minnie the Moocher. The song comes in about half way through the cartoon, and the version you hear is by Cab Calloway and his band. The dance moves of the walrus-like ghost were taken from a rotoscope of Calloway’s stage moves.

Live: Dance Party Edition

I have been to classical music and jazz concerts, and even a performance by Ravi Shankar, where the audience sat and listened. Yes, these were exciting shows, displays of wonderful artistry. Folk and rock shows can be like that too. And I would gladly go. But sometimes, the performance presenter needs to make sure that there are no seats clogging up the hall, because it’s time to dance!

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: Oh Yeah

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Oh Yeah, indeed. The horns are blowing, the rhythm is tight, and no one has to be told to “get on up”. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy show exactly why they were one of the best new swing bands of the 90s.

Delbert McClinton: Standing on Shaky Ground

[purchase different live version]

Standing on Shaky Ground was written by Walker Ickard, but claimed by Delbert McClinton. McClinton started out backing touring blues musicians, before going on to have hits on the country, pop, and R & B charts. He is one of those artists who is best known to other musicians. His Standing on Shaky Ground really cooks.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band: Don‘t You Feel My Leg

[purchase studio version]

As the night progresses, there is a point in the show where the band takes the pace down a bit. Now is your chance to get closer to the one you’ve been dancing with at such a furious pace. But how close is too close?

The time is Halloween night, 1993. The scene, Tramps in New York City. As the rest of the Dirty Dozens lay down a groove, front man Gregory tells the tale of an encounter with a rabbit. Then the band goes into a slow burn for a tale of intimacy gone awry. This one comes with a rudeness warning for younger ears.

The Uptones: Rude Boy

[purchase different live version]

And then it’s time to ramp it up again, for a dance that leaves them wanting more. As with much of The Uptones’ work, this one straddles the line between reggae and ska. There is even a dub break toward the end. In reggae, dub is an effect usually created in the studio, but here The Uptones manage it from the stage. It’s a nice trick, and they manage it not only without losing the beat, but also without dropping the energy level.

Horns: Retro-swing Edition

For no apparent reason, the year 1998 seemed to see the sudden emergence of a number of bands playing what the music press would label swing revival music, or Retro-swing. In fact, these bands had toiled in obscurity for most of the 1990s, but why they all captured the popular imagination in 1998 in particular is a mystery. Soon enough, obscurity would welcome them back. Within a year or two, the style, and the bands that played it, had largely disappeared from view. But for that year or two, the music they made was great.

Brian Setzer Orchestra: You‘re The Boss

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Brian Setzer was somewhat of a pioneer of this sound. Going solo in the early 1990s, after the breakup of the Stray Cats, he began experimenting with adding horns to his music almost immediately. By 1998, he had arrived at a hybrid of rockabilly and big band music. Here he slows it down,(and incidentally gives us what I believe is the first muted trumpet we’ve heard this week.)

Squirrel Nut Zippers: Suits Are Picking Up The Bill

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Squirrel Nut Zippers are the only other band I’m featuring who had much impact with more than one album. This track comes from their album, Perennial Favorites. The follow-up, Hot, received play on MTV, and gave Hell week its title track.

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: Minnie The Moocher

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To my ear, the horn charts used by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy make their music the closest to the big band sound of any of the bands I’m featuring here. “Minnie the Moocher” is a classic tune from the big band era.

Cherry Poppin‘ Daddies: Zoot Suit Riot

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Finally, I couldn’t leave this topic without posting “Zoot Suit Riot” by Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. This song knocked me out when I first heard it, and it still does. I don’t have much else to say about it. Just listen.