Who took the "Swing" out of swing dancing?

[Wild Root]

Wildroot, you have vindicated exactly what I said about assuming you can put together a playlist better than the DJ.
I think if you are so passionate about the music and what the guy in the box is playing then perhaps you should be a DJ yourself.
As far as requests are concerned I think it's a bit rich to expect the DJ to have any song you ask for ready to be cued and played. I like you have a huge collection of music and it's just not possible to bring every record or to go searching through a massive collection to find one damn song while you are trying to do a show.
Sure the music might suck and you have every right to leave, but do think og the poor cat trying to do his job, he doesn't need to be pestered by the punter and their musical whims. The same goes for bands, just because the song you'd like is not on the bands playlist is not reason to take it out on them either, they aren't a jukebox, sure ask them when they take a break of they know a song, if they don't the band leader might ask you about the song and try to learn it. I guess what I'm saying is that there is a civil way of doing this.

Man, I don't think you've got me pegged at all. I don't think I'm better then the DJ's... The dance I went to has a DJ that is known to play a large mix of 80's music and Neo Swing... not my thing at all... the scene here is really different... just ask any dancer like my self from CA. Do you think I'm some kind of rude prick that bangs his fist on the counter and wants my song played? No!!! Geez man, the DJ's I knew (The good ones) loved the fact that I had music they didn’t have because they were always looking for something different... we'd talk music a lot and thought it was pretty cool that I wanted to share my songs with them… I’d ask them if they ever heard of a song I had in mind… some times they’d say they had it and some times they said they didn’t. Either or, they had no problem playing a good swing song. I even know a REAL DJ that plays 78's at dances... the guy is amazing, he's really into it and plays fantastic stuff from the 30's to the 50's... ALL 78's! I know he's a die hard so, I brought some of my most rarest 78’s... he was overjoyed to play them!

If you ask me, I think you're the one with the problem... you put your self above some one because your a DJ... you'd take offence to some one with something that's not on your list... What's up with that? If I were a DJ, and some one wanted me to play something... I'd play it whether it be from my collection or their back seat... who cares! When I ask, I do it very nicely and they will always say yes... they want every one to have a good time and they don't take offence.

Closely read my posts... dig a little more, you'll see it's not DJ's that play "Swing music" that annoy me, it's DJ's that play 80's music at swing dances that make me crazy!

=WR=

 

[koopkooper]

Fair enough, nah I don't think you are a rude prick at all,interesting debate though.

I admire your intentions, I guess you no what not to do if you turn up to my gig!!!

 

[Paisley]

If they're not playing swing music, it's not a swing dance. Different music changes the atmosphere and the behavior of the clientele. For me, and some other dancers I know, non-swing music takes away the inspiration to dance.

I don't see anything wrong with brining a song and making a request. In fact, one of the DJs here in Denver is happy to get new material because he programs 12 hours of music per week--not an easy feat to keep doing that without a lot of repetition.

I told him a few years ago when our swing dance scene was starting to dwindle that he needed to sell swing dancing. He couldn't wait around for people to show up. He got announcements in the major newspapers, offered some free and low-cost introductory dance lessons, free passes for beginners, and did a lot of other promotions, I'm sure. Maybe that's what some of the real swing places in Monrovia should do.

 

[Paisley]

Swing Dancing ? What's that. It may be a generational thing (I'm an early "Boomer"), but when I learned to dance about 1960 it was known as the "jitterbug". I've always considered "swing" to be music, not dancing. Anyone care to comment ?

I've always liked swing / big band music (1930's to 1950's) and early rock (1950's to 1960's) and both styles are good for jitterbugging. But 1980's? About that time I totally lost interest in pop music. Today I'm more interested in smooth jazz.

Go rent the movie Swing Kids. Or go to the Mercury Cafe (22nd & California, upstairs) on a Tuesday night.

 

[jitterbugdoll]

I agree with Root--when I go to a swing dance, I want to hear swing music. There is a definite trend here where the DJ will play quite a few 70s-80s songs, which then cause the floor to fill up with people, most of whom aren't dancing swing. In fact, the last time I went out, he played a good 20 minutes of 90s R&B. I was not impressed--I have no desire to lindy hop to "Let's Talk about Sex"

And it has nothing to do with not enjoying other forms of music--but when I go swing dancing, I want to hear swing music and swing dance.

Incidentally, I request songs all the time. Maybe I annoy the DJ, but I drove 40 minutes and paid a cover charge, and I want to hear/dance to what I paid for--swing music.

 

[lindylady]

Cliquish dancers

I wish there was a happy medium between jitterbug purists and those who will swing dance to any form of music that complements the 6-count or 8-count. While it's not bad to prefer one form of music over another, it's unsociable when certain groups will refuse to dance with you simply because you are unfamiliar with the original jitterbug/lindy/whatever . This is a frequent occurrence in my dance community. Has anyone else encountered similar problems?

 

[Barry]

I wish there was a happy medium between jitterbug purists and those who will swing dance to any form of music that complements the 6-count or 8-count. While it's not bad to prefer one form of music over another, it's unsociable when certain groups will refuse to dance with you simply because you are unfamiliar with the original jitterbug/lindy/whatever . This is a frequent occurrence in my dance community. Has anyone else encountered similar problems?

I'm not much of a dancer but I really do enjoy the music.

One of these days I'll make it to Glen Echo, hopefully when The LaSalle Dance Orchestra is there.

 

[Rundquist]

This thread got me thinking so much that I still haven’t been able to arrange my thoughts coherently. I’ll try later.

 

[lindylady]

I'm not much of a dancer but I really do enjoy the music.

One of these days I'll make it to Glen Echo, hopefully when The LaSalle Dance Orchestra is there.

You should come out to Glen Echo this Sunday. La Salle Dance Orchestra will be there. It's a waltz, but they will play requests for swing, tango, et.

 

[Paisley]

I wish there was a happy medium between jitterbug purists and those who will swing dance to any form of music that complements the 6-count or 8-count. While it's not bad to prefer one form of music over another, it's unsociable when certain groups will refuse to dance with you simply because you are unfamiliar with the original jitterbug/lindy/whatever . This is a frequent occurrence in my dance community. Has anyone else encountered similar problems?

Yes. And for four years, I've gotten along very well without their company.

 

[John in Covina]

As time goes on!

For many people a scene has to change and evolve to continue to be exciting. These changes bring in new people which adds to the evolution of things. All of this tends to be a detraction to the PURISTS! Business wise a business will attempt to appeal to the widest audience. Only if a clearly viable example of success with the purist approach is shown as a wining prosition otherwise the business men won't cater to the purists.

The only thing is knowledge is power and an educated audience learns to apprieciate things more and more so it is possible to be a proponent of the Purist Movement and sway more to the cause. If you can get a group of purists up to dance at a club for the real stuff then maybe the generalists will equate the real deal with what they want to be doing.

Any of this make sense?

 

[carebear]

You mean "you catch more flies with honey than by openly snubbing and looking down on people?"

That's crazy talk.

 

[Wild Root]

You must remember this...

I'm not for change... I like this old stuff and I'm a preservationist and not for evolution of tearing down old to make ugly new... or dancing old styles to new music... it's wrong.

Sticking to my guns on this... put the swing back in the Jitterbug! Or ya ain't getting my money.lol

=WR=

 

[carebear]

I'm not for change... I like this old stuff and I'm a preservationist and not for evolution of tearing down old to make ugly new... or dancing old styles to new music... it's wrong.

Sticking to my guns on this... put the swing back in the Jitterbug! Or ya ain't getting my money.lol

=WR=

Is that an onion on your belt? lol

 

[John in Covina]

Purity of Essence

The Few, the Proud, the Jitterbugger Purists!

 

[Paisley]

To quote Artie Shaw, some people can dance to the beat of windshield wipers, but I'm not one of them. I think expecting to hear swing music at a swing dance is just common sense.

 

[Wild Root]

To quote Artie Shaw, some people can dance to the beat of windshield wipers, but I'm not one of them. I think expecting to hear swing music at a swing dance is just common sense.

:eusa_clap

THANK YOU!

=WR=

 

[carebear]

I can see that if it is indeed advertised as a "swing dance" you should expect "swing" music to be played. But to me that would include neo-swing and rockabilly. Basically anything remotely in the genre you can dance to.

If they're only going to play 50's and before music, it should probably be advertised as such. I wonder what running two different nights, one of each ("vintage" and "generic" swing) music-wise would show in terms of attendance and attendee comments.

 

[Wild Root]

There was a club that opened a few years ago that played only 20's to 50's music... they had a good turn out for the most part... but, people started to drop off because they had to drive a long way and it was also on a Monday night... if they had it on a friday night and was in a better location, they wouldn't have shut the doors.

=WR=

 

[Paisley]

I can see that if it is indeed advertised as a "swing dance" you should expect "swing" music to be played. But to me that would include neo-swing and rockabilly. Basically anything remotely in the genre you can dance to.

Yes, exactly. If it has a swing beat and spirit, I think it can be included.

Looking at it another way, you can do a fox trot, quick step or jive (all of which are ballroom dances) to a lot of swing music. That doesn't mean you should advertise a dance with swing music as a ballroom dance, though.

If they're only going to play 50's and before music, it should probably be advertised as such. I wonder what running two different nights, one of each ("vintage" and "generic" swing) music-wise would show in terms of attendance and attendee comments.

We have such a night here in Denver. I think attendance depends more on the night of the week and how well the dance is advertised and how long it's had to build up a following, as Wild Root said.