Songs for the Shim Sham

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djstarr
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#46 Post by djstarr » Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:34 pm

djstarr wrote:....We stopped doing it regularly a couple of years ago....
<bump>

So the Shim-Sham has come back in Seattle; partly due to Frankie's bday fest coming up, partly do to a bunch of new dancers who need to learn how to shim sham - lindy hop 101.

For the cities that used to Shim-Sham a lot and then it died out, have you noticed a similar trend? And btw the songs haven't changed; if I spin the very familiar 'Tuxedo Junction' it will always launch a shim-sham.

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Mr Awesomer
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#47 Post by Mr Awesomer » Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:01 pm

I still don't know a single step of the Shim Sham... and still don't care to learn.
Reuben Brown
Southern California

Toon Town Dave
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#48 Post by Toon Town Dave » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:05 am

I've just started using it as a warm-up in my beginner Jitterbug classes. Mostly because it's relatively easy and gets them started learning jazz movement and get them having fun before we get into all the less fun blather about connection, frame and rock-steps.

I've just use Erskine Hawkins recording of Tuxedo Junction because it's already in the collection of music I use for class.

Haydn
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#49 Post by Haydn » Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:56 am

penguin wrote:I've often thought that the Cab Calloway version of Boog It! might work. I've never actually sat down (or danced it, as the case may be) and tried to see if it does.

What do you folks think?
I don't think 'Boog It' would feel right

Haydn
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#50 Post by Haydn » Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:15 am

djstarr wrote:For the cities that used to Shim-Sham a lot and then it died out, have you noticed a similar trend? And btw the songs haven't changed; if I spin the very familiar 'Tuxedo Junction' it will always launch a shim-sham.
It hasn't really died out during the last 5 years that I've been involved in the dance scene in London. I guess it's less popular with experienced dancers, but still as popular as ever with newer ones. It's usually done to Jimmie Lunceford's "T'ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It)", and sometimes to Benny Goodman's 1936 "Stompin' At The Savoy" or Bill Elliott's "The Shim Sham Song". The Dean Collins Shim Sham has become popular with some of the more adventurous dancers - often done to Opus One by The Mills Brothers from 1954. Tuxedo Junction by Erskine Hawkins has worked well for the Shim Sham the few times I've heard it, but it's never taken off in London.

Haydn
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#51 Post by Haydn » Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:25 am

Toon Town Dave wrote:I've just started using it as a warm-up in my beginner Jitterbug classes. Mostly because it's relatively easy and gets them started learning jazz movement and get them having fun before we get into all the less fun blather about connection, frame and rock-steps.

I've just use Erskine Hawkins recording of Tuxedo Junction because it's already in the collection of music I use for class.
8) Tuxedo Junction is such a great song, and always seems to go down well with beginners.

Have you noticed how in a Shim Sham, even with complete beginners, you can spot the people who are more comfortable with the syncopated phrases and the music, and those who are struggling? Although I'm not a teacher, I've noticed these things stand out more in a jazz routine than in partner work.

Haydn
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#52 Post by Haydn » Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:29 am

djstarr wrote:partly do to a bunch of new dancers who need to learn how to shim sham - lindy hop 101.
Oops - almost missed this - what is 'shim sham - lindy hop 101' :?:

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Cyrano de Maniac
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#53 Post by Cyrano de Maniac » Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:32 am

What I'd like to figure out is how to get people to not Shim Sham to Tuxedo Junction.

Brent

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alainw
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#54 Post by alainw » Thu Jan 29, 2009 10:14 am

Brent, you can try playing it twice in a row :)

At Cat's Corner we teach the Tranky Doo to Ken "Snakehips" Johnson's version of Tuxedo Junction. The intro is sweet, and the faster tempo makes it more of a challenge too.

I've found it helpful for students to teach both the Shim Sham and the Tranky Doo to the slower Erskine Hawkins version first, and then move people onto the faster song (be it Lunceford's T'aint what you do or the Ken Johnson's version) to give it more energy.

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djstarr
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#55 Post by djstarr » Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:22 pm

Haydn wrote:
djstarr wrote:partly do to a bunch of new dancers who need to learn how to shim sham - lindy hop 101.
Oops - almost missed this - what is 'shim sham - lindy hop 101' :?:
I was attempting to say that the Shim Sham, especially done with Frankie, or to the song Frankie prefers, is a required element of a Lindy Hop 101 course. It connects lindy hop with the tap dancing community and I think it's an essential part of dance history to understand.

Of course, for those as talented among us as Reuben, they got to skip Lindy Hop 101 to "BadAss dancer/dj 303". :P

and thanks to everybody for the updates.

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ymendel
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#56 Post by ymendel » Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:56 pm

Cyrano de Maniac wrote:What I'd like to figure out is how to get people to not Shim Sham to Tuxedo Junction.
I think this strategy has been mentioned before:

1. Play something else that's an acknowledged "Shim Sham song".
2. Watch the dancers do their thing.
3. Play Tuxedo Junction.

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dogpossum
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i <3 shim sham

#57 Post by dogpossum » Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:44 pm

I love the shim sham (though, to me, it will always be the 'shim sham shimmy' - and I do). I love all the steps. I love dancing it. I'm obsessed. I especially love heckling dancers when they do it all 'straight' and exactly the same way.
I love, love, love solo jazz routines from 'the olden days' (and I only need about 20 years on a routine to count it as 'olden days') - I have a crap memory, so I need to re-learn them all regularly. It's like meeting a new friend each time. I like experimenting with new songs for familiar routines as well - all up and down the tempo range (I especially like it that the 'tranky doo' works at about 90bpm).

I choose any version of 'Stompin at the Savoy' (from Chick Webb at 200-odd bpm to Benny Goodman with a leisurely 150bpm).
Melbourne dancers were all about that crappy 'shim sham song' (blurgh). A local band recorded a version which was ok but not awesome. Dunno what people do in Sydney - I'm guessing it's The Shim Sham Song of Doom as well.

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