I'm Gonna Let the Bumble Bee Be

Initially I chose I'm Gonna Let the Bumble Bee Be because it had nice, sort of summer-themed cover art. Then I found that the song had been recorded by Harry Reser's Six Jumping Jacks (a personal favorite) in 1926 and that the lyric features a mention of the month of May so I had to get it on the site before the 31^st! So here you have a nice, comic, jazz song of the 20's with ukulele accompaniment no less. 

I'm Gonna Let the Bumble Bee Be was written by the duo of Little Jack Little and Addy Britt, a pairing of tow prolific if somewhat mysterious talents. According to Wikipedia's tiny article, Jack Little was born in London, moving to the US as a child and growing up in Waterloo, Iowa. He took pre-med at the University of Iowa and played in and organized the university band while there. A much more comprehensive article on Jack can be found at The Vintage Bandstand. Addy Britt's name appears on numerous pieces, but my admittedly brief search of the web turned up nothing in terms of biographical information. 

The cover of Bumble Bee is impressive. Apparently a fellow's got good reason to let the bumblebees be, they're freaking seven feet tall! The lyrics are pretty simple: 

Took a stroll one day in the month of May,

Through the park I chanced to stray,

Saw a bumblebee buzzin' round a tree,

So I buzzed right away.

Now, a bumblebee buzzin' round a tree,

May appear to be a friend,

But review this song and you'll find you're wrong,

'Cause he'll get you in the end.  

I'm gonna let the bumblebee be,

I'm gonna let the bumblebee be,

A bumblebee will buzz,

But that ain't all he does!

And I ain't the fool that I used to was,

I'm gonna let the bumblebee be!

The Surf Ballroom

After a hiatus of dance travel due to Gary's new job, we are off!!! Well, not until August. We are making the trek to Iowa to the famous Surf Ballroom. Sadly, some of the fame is because the Surf was the last place three rock and roll legends played before their plane crashed, killing Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.


But music and dance goes on, as I'm sure they would agree. More on this later. We’re so excited
!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


 

Raleigh Community Dance Club

This afternoon, while planning for the evening's dancing at the Raleigh Dance Club, I came across this piece from the Banner. Kelly and I were dancing the night they came to do their report and today I just happened to stumble upon the video.

I've said before how special I think this place is. The lovely couple being interviewed mention ballroom dancers with a note of awe, but I think it's more impressive to see a place like Raleigh, IN holding a Saturday night dance for 75 years. Nothing fancy, nothing extravagant, just dancing the way it's meant to be.

Tonight they're having their annual 'salad supper', a benefit to keep the community center open. Kelly and I will be there dancing and enjoying the company of genuine people doing what they love. Who could ask for anything more?

Follies of 1919

I’ve always had a fondness for the Ziegfeld Follies covers. It goes with my love of art nouveau, I guess. It helps that many of the costumes worn by Ziegfeld’s chorus girls were designed by Erte, an influential nouveau artist. The Ziegfeld girls "paraded up and down flights of stairs dressed as anything from birds to battleships. The Follies were reviews, essentially high class Vaudeville variety show featuring some of the era’s top entertainers.


This cover comes from the 1919 Follies, held at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, NY. It featured Eddie Cantor, Marilyn Miller (of Evansville, IN), and Bert Williams and included the tune Tulip Time. I’m guessing the bird theme of the cover means that the chorus girls spent some time wearing feathers during the show. Nice cover, maybe not dance related, but nice none the less.

This particular post combines a couple of my favorite things, old buildings and old music. I found a photo of the New Amsterdam Theater with the Follies posters. I took a look at the modern building, but it looks like it's been stripped of its nouveau charm. So many things are 'improved' to make them less than what they once were.

Dolores and Eddie

I’ve always had a fondness for Normal Rockwell. Art snobs will tell you he’s not a good artist, insisting that there’s some difference between what’s good and what’s popular. Frankly, that sounds like differentiating between what’s good and what you think is good. Preferences are like certain bodily orifices: we’ve all got them and most of us don’t want to hear ‘em. Anyway, this isn’t the dance curmudgeon hour so back to the topic at hand.


I ran across this image from Rockwell and immediately fell in love with it. Something about the expressions, I think. They’re wearing the flat busted and tired look of two hoofers who’ve washed out too many times in too many places. Anyway, I thought I’d share.

The Prom

I didn’t go to my high school prom. My recollections of those days are rather fuzzy…I tend to delete memories that don’t make me happy…but I do remember an awkward young woman who didn’t think she was pretty or talented. No wonder no one asked me…I wouldn’t have asked me.

Fast forward many years. I believe in myself. On most days. I’m married to the best guy in the world. We’ve found a fabulous sport that keeps us active and together. So what did I need a prom for?

I didn’t need it, but I did very much enjoy the Indy Singles prom night last Saturday evening. It wasn’t fancy, but the music was good, the people friendly, and the food delicious. When they passed out corsages I found myself feeling a little misty. When Gary escorted me to our table I felt it even more. We danced the night away in the midst of decorated trees filled with twinkling lights.

You can’t go back. It doesn’t do any good to wish you were something you weren’t, or mourn for how things could have been. It would be nice though, to give my 16 year old self a big hug and tell her things are going to work out just fine.

More than fine…wonderful.

Cheek to Cheek

"Dance with me

I want my arm about you
The charm about you
Will carry me through to


Heaven, I'm in Heaven
And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak
And I seem to find the happiness I seek
When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek"

Irving Berlin wrote Cheek to Cheek for the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie Top Hat (1935). The song was nominated for the Best Song Academy Award for 1936, which it lost to Lullaby of Broadway. Astaire's recording of the song spent five weeks at #1 on Your Hit Parade and was named the song of 1935 and it’s been recorded numerous times by a variety of artists since its debut.

I love the cover of this piece of sheet music for its dance theme but I have to admit it’s not exactly imaginative. Doubtlessly the publisher was relying on Astaire and Rogers’ images to sell the sheet music and the prominent placing of the movie title tied the piece back to the movie. I guess it does look a little like Fred is more concerned about what the audience is thinking than Ginger, but I've seen a lot worse!

Prom Time

June is coming and with it the time when flowers and young love bloom. June is prom time, the goodbye to the old high school and looking forward to a college career or job. In a way, I guess prom is a dress rehearsal for a wedding. The young couple all gussied up, swaying to the music. For me, prom brings back memories of a rented tux and bad music. I don’t remember where the event took place but I do remember the prom’s song was something by Phil Collins that I’d be embarrassed to listen to now. This is why all proms should be held once you reach the age of about thirty. It would keep you from wearing a pink cummerbund or slow grooving to Sussudio.
I did a little research on the origins of the prom. According to Time Magazine, the prom’s origins can be traced back to the co-ed banquets that 19th century American universities held for each year's graduating class. Youth culture moved the prom into the teenage world and by the 1940s the prom as we know today had taken hold with its themes and corsages.

Tomorrow we’ll be participating in another, more recent phenomena: a second chance prom. We’re heading to the Indy Singles prom to enjoy a simple banquet and a little dancing. There’s something nice about the adult version of the prom. There’s no peer pressure, no king and queen, and no being an awkward wall flower. But the biggest plus is that I get to dance with the girl I really love.

Same as it Ever Was

You know me and my (near) constant rants about dance etiquette. Well, if you don't, let me acquaint you. There's a shortage of manners on the dance floor. I'd be showing my age if I added "today" to the end of that last sentence, and now I know it'd be inaccurate too. I ran into a lovely blog called Etiquette Hell today and, behold, the top story was about dance etiquette!

I'll give you one picture from that blog but I recommend you pay it a visit for a full read.

I know these people...

Yes, at least as far back as the fifties there were dance clods. I think they probably existed back in the Paleolithic era, stomping on bare feet and treading in the camp fire. Yes, that's Og, you don't want to be near him when the mastodon dance starts.

White Lightning

Friday, May 4th we took a little trip to Nashville, IN and Mike’s Dance Barn for a rendezvous with Mr. Terry Lee and his Rockaboogie Band. There’s something about the spring, all that raw energy in the atmosphere. Doubly so on Friday. There was the usual tornado at the ivories in the form of Terry and the gale-force wind of his band mates, including a new guitarist who’s holding his own very nicely. Then there was the weather, a downpour that might have left Noah a little concerned.

As always Terry Lee’s band rocked. The floor at Mike’s was a little (okay, a lot) slick but Kelly and I both agreed that we would have a great time seeing Terry even if we couldn’t dance. It's amazing how the condition of the dance floor changes the muscles you use while dancing. When the floor's right, you feel the effects of dancing in your legs while, when it's slick, you feel it in your back and feet.