djstarr wrote:Since I haven't posted in a while I may as well make up for it here
This is my take on how these songs are currently being treated in Seattle [other Seattle folk feel free to jump in since it's tough to make it to ALL the dances in Seattle ALL the time].
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All That Meat And No Potatoes /
Fats Waller occasionally played
All The Cats Join In /
Benny Goodman overplayed but everyone dances
Alright, Okay, You Win /
Peggy Lee
not played. Joe Williams/Count Basie version is played sometimes
And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine /
Anita O'Day not played
Apollo Jump /
Lucky Millinder overplayed 2000, 2001? I will spin this now when there are lots of beginners
Be Careful (If You Can't Be Good) /
Buddy Johnson And His Orchestra not played
Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me /
Sidney Bechet overplayed. Falty ruined this song for me by teaching to it in Herrang 2004 when I was there. Found a nice alternate version by Arts Hodes courtesy of Bill Borgida
C Jam Blues /
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra overplayed in 2000, 2001; I play this now for beginners, prefer version on Duke's Blues in Orbit for regular play.
Easy Does It /
The Big Eighteen not played now
Flat Foot Floogee /
Slim & Slam played sometimes - I'll get request for this for doing different jazz dances
Flying Home /
Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra played when I want to start the Big Apple ;-0 fast version at 190 bpm of course
The Frim Fram Sauce /
Louis Armstrong not played. I prefer to overplay Satch plays Fats!
The Gal From Joe's /
Duke Ellington not played
I's A Muggin' /
Django Reinhardt played a little bit.
Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby /
Louis Jordan not played anymore
Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho /
Sidney Bechet this is a popular song. overplayed? nah, I still like it a lot.
Jump Session /
Slim Gaillard & Slam Stewart this is somewhat of a CJ trademark so doesn't tend to get played on it's own.
Lavender Coffin /
Lionel Hampton ha ha. I still don't have a copy of it and I keep getting requests frequently for it, so I need to go get it. Still a great song. It will continue to get overplayed.
Loose Wig /
Lionel Hampton Used to get played a lot. I just started playing it and people giggle then dance.
One O'Clock Jump /
Count Basie Can't play this song too much. I think because it's subtle and instrumental everyone is always happy to dance to it.
Shout, Sister, Shout /
Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra overplayed, I use it only on special occasions. Will invoke groans.
Tippin' In /
Erskine Hawkins don't know the song well enough to say; Erskine Hawkins is a big hole in my collection I need to fix at some point
We Cats Will Swing For You /
The Cats & The Fiddle There are enough people here who play Cats & The Fiddle that I don't own any yet, not even Gangbusters. Not sure if this is overplayed or not.
Whatcha Know, Joe? /
Tommy Dorsey overplayed by one DJ. Named Joe. lol. The rest of us don't touch it as far as I know.
Yacht Club Swing /
Fats Waller overplayed. Everyone still loves this song. I will always get a full floor if I put this on.
Yes Indeed /
Tommy Dorsey I like Sy Oliver's version. Played a lot by some people, but I don't think it's overplayed
720 In The Books /
Charlie Barnet Used to hear it a lot, not so much now. In fact I will find it so I can start spinning it - nice mid tempo in the pocket swing song
Re-reading the post by Brenda above recently, I've just realised that you listed all the songs I said were overplayed in London at the moment. Reading your comments, I've realised I was wrong - actually, in common with your take on Seattle, I think very few of these are over-played in London at the moment.
In Seattle, you say that of the 27 songs, only these 5 are currently overplayed:
All The Cats Join In
Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me
Lavender Coffin
Shout, Sister, Shout
Yacht Club Swing
On reflection, I think only these 2 are currently overplayed in London:
Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me
Shout, Sister, Shout
So why did I think that all 27 songs are over-played, where only 2 actually are? I suppose I think of them as being over-played, because I've become
bored with them, having heard them enough in London over the years to become bored. Although I liked most of them when I first discovered them, I have gradually become bored with most of them over time. And it’s
always more fun dancing when I’m excited by the music rather than bored. The same goes for DJing, although in the case of DJing, I think I'm learning to take pleasure in the enjoyment of others even if I'm bored with the song myself - people who've just discovered C Jam Blues by LCJO might well be as excited by it as I was when I first heard it.
Inspired by Brenda's post on Seattle, here's my take on how much these songs are played in London at the moment.
(These are just my views - anyone else from London, please comment!).
All That Meat And No Potatoes /
Fats Waller Don't hear it now
All The Cats Join In /
Benny Goodman Played quite a lot
Alright, Okay, You Win /
Peggy Lee Don't hear it now
And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine /
Anita O'Day Played a bit
Apollo Jump /
Lucky Millinder Played a bit
Be Careful (If You Can't Be Good) /
Buddy Johnson And His Orchestra Played a bit
Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me /
Sidney Bechet Over-played everywhere, lots of people still love it
C Jam Blues /
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra Haven't heard it for a while, one guy yelled out 'No!' when someone tried to play it the other day
Easy Does It /
The Big Eighteen Don't hear it now
Flat Foot Floogee /
Slim & Slam Played a bit
Flying Home /
Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra Played quite a lot
The Frim Fram Sauce /
Louis Armstrong I don't hear it now
The Gal From Joe's /
Duke Ellington Played a bit
I's A Muggin' /
Django Reinhardt Played a bit
Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby /
Louis Jordan Played a bit
Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho /
Sidney Bechet Played quite a bit
Jump Session /
Slim Gaillard & Slam Stewart Played a bit
Lavender Coffin /
Lionel Hampton Played a bit
Loose Wig /
Lionel Hampton I rarely hear hear it now
One O'Clock Jump /
Count Basie Don't hear it much
Shout, Sister, Shout /
Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra (Over)-played quite a bit
Tippin' In /
Erskine Hawkins Don't hear it much
We Cats Will Swing For You /
The Cats & The Fiddle Don't hear it much
Whatcha Know, Joe? /
Tommy Dorsey Played a bit, still seems to work
Yacht Club Swing /
Fats Waller Not played much now
Yes Indeed /
Tommy Dorsey Don't hear it much
720 In The Books /
Charlie Barnet Don't hear it much
The next bit is very self-indulgent, but possibly interesting to a few - and I've typed it now so I'm going to post it anyway
. It's a history of my feelings for each song. I've tried to remember how I felt when I first discovered these songs, and how my feelings for them have changed over the years, if at all. Why bother with this? Because I remember being excited by songs like C Jam Blues and I's A Muggin' when I first discovered them, but I'm bored with them now. I wanted to try to remember the history of my feelings about the different songs ...
All That Meat And No Potatoes / Fats Waller
I remember when I first got into this. Some teachers played it in a lesson a few years ago, and it was obviously one of their favourites at the time. I thought it was fun and easy to dance to. Now I think it’s a bit corny and lacks depth, and although I still dig the gentle swinging style of the music, I'm pretty bored by it.
All The Cats Join In / Benny Goodman
I think I got into this when I saw a couple doing a demo to the long version of this in the open air, including aerials. I really liked the song, and was surprised to discover it was Benny Goodman. I still like it, but just don’t find it exciting in the way that I used to.
Alright, Okay, You Win / Peggy Lee
Never really liked this anyway, I think I got bored with it very quickly. There’s nothing exciting there for me.
And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine / Anita O'Day
I never particularly liked this and still don’t. It’s got a good beat, steady tempo and hand-clapping, but it comes across as much too corny for my liking.
Apollo Jump / Lucky Millinder
Only got into this fairly recently. Don’t really like the opening much (feels a bit labored), but when it gets going, it’s great.
Be Careful (If You Can't Be Good) / Buddy Johnson And His Orchestra
I’ve always liked this, and still do. I have heard it a lot over the years though, so I guess I prefer not to hear it too often now.
Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me / Sidney Bechet
I think I took a while to like this, but eventually couldn’t resist its’ sleazy late-night feel. It does seem to get played a lot everywhere, and I’m not as keen on it as I was, but it creates such strong imagery and is so different to most other music, that it still works for me.
C Jam Blues / Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
Got into the steady hand-clapping groove of this very quickly, but gradually became bored with it. I just can’t get excited by it at the moment.
Easy Does It / The Big Eighteen
This is a well-crafted arrangement, because it’s over 5 minutes long, but has lots of light and shade and variety in the instrumentation. I think I appreciated discovering a slow song that had the same ‘swinging’ feel of some older ones. I was surprised to discover that it was recorded in 1958, as I thought it sounded older. Now I’m pretty bored with this song.
Flat Foot Floogee / Slim & Slam
Fell in love with the rhythms of this one, and the way the rhythm fitted with the words. I still enjoy it.
Flying Home / Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra
Gradually discovered that there are three major versions of this. For me, the best is the 2m 58s 1940 version. Still love this one, and quite like the other two – they all have great energy, which gradually builds.
The Frim Fram Sauce / Louis Armstrong
The high cheese content made me quickly tire of this
The Gal From Joe's / Duke Ellington
Fell in love with the raising bass line and sax riffs of this, and they still haven’t lost their appeal
I's A Muggin' / Django Reinhardt
A sort of cross between the Flat Foot Floogie and Blues My Naughty Sweetie, this song has got a special feel of its’ own. But the magic has worn off after many hearings.
Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby / Louis Jordan
Remember I liked this when I first heard it. Good lyrics, nice feel and groove. Again, the magic has worn off.
Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho / Sidney Bechet
This version has never really done it for me.
Jump Session / Slim Gaillard & Slam Stewart
The rhythm of this had me jumping when I first heard it. Still quite like it. In common with a lot of other songs I know well, I find myself looking forward to the second half of the song, because there is more for me to enjoy there, perhaps because I know the first half too well.
Lavender Coffin / Lionel Hampton
A friend of mine has been getting into this recently (he described it as“that song with something about Saratoga”). I remember I used to love it, but the magic has worn off. The first time, it was like being invited to a great party. Now, it feels like being invited to the same party with them same people again and again.
Loose Wig / Lionel Hampton
Loved the driving energy of this when I first discovered it. Still enjoy it. Perhaps it has a higher boredom threshold than Lavender Coffin because it’s basically an instrumental (with just a few shouted lyrics).
One O'Clock Jump / Count Basie
I’ve always liked this, but more and more, I find myself looking forward to the bit after the piano-based intro, where the rhythm really kicks in.
Shout, Sister, Shout / Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra
One of the first slower high-energy songs I discovered. Loved the life and lyrics in this one. Just doesn’t have the same magic after so many hearings.
Tippin' In / Erskine Hawkins
This is a song that gradually grew on me, now I really like it. I think it I enjoy it more that songs like Shout Sister Shout or Apollo Jump. It doesn’t seem to shout at you (!) in the way that those songs do. It has a more laid-back energy, but is still great to dance to.
We Cats Will Swing For You / The Cats & The Fiddle
Still sounds like a novelty song. Never really got into it. It seems to try too hard to be liked.
Whatcha Know, Joe? / Tommy Dorsey
Easily the most energetic version of this song, I remember growing to like it quite quickly, and I still enjoy it. Always seems to get the dance floor going.
Yacht Club Swing / Fats Waller
Loved the drive of this. Old Fatsy Watsy’s piano playing really shines. I still enjoy both the recorded and live versions.
Yes Indeed / Tommy Dorsey
Used to quite like this, but I much prefer some of the other versions now. I only recently discovered it’s a gospel song – I just don’t associate Tommy Dorsey with Gospel.
720 In The Books / Charlie Barnet
Love the lyrics and gentle chugging beat. The magic’s only just starting to wear off.