The Swing Shift Shuffle is a radio program of swing, big band, jazz, boogie woogie and other popular music from the 1930's and 40's that airs every Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. (US Central Time) on WEVL 89.9 FM in Memphis, Tennessee, with a live webcast at wevl.org. In addition to the radio show, this blog is dedicated to all aspects of the Swing Era, including art, automobiles, cartoons, comics, history, movies, music, news, science, technology, and anything else that happened during that time. It also includes announcements about events in the Memphis/Mid-South area related to the Swing Era, such as classic movies, concerts, dances, lectures, etc. If you see something that fits the description, send it to me at tim@wevl.org. If you would like more information about the radio show, just go to the Radio Show FAQ page.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Popeye: Little Swee' Pea

Olive is too busy to accompany Popeye to the zoo, so she suggests he take Sweet Pea, which he obligingly does.  From the Internet Archive, the 1936 animated short:  Little Sweet Pea.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Yesterday's Future Of Flight

Wouldn't it be nice if we could live in the present that earlier generations saw as the future?  Take this post from Dull Tool Dim Bulb, which features American Airlines promotional material from 1935 showing the spacious air traveling accommodations we in the future enjoy!  Oh well.  Visionaries can't always be right.

Sunrise Serenade: G.I. Jive

This morning's Sunrise Serenade had a reveille vibe - "G.I. Jive" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Fantastic Novels

Golden Age Comic Book Stories posted another series of great pulp fiction paperback covers, including science fiction, fantasy, etc.  They are all great, but I could not resist the cover for The Conquest of the Moon Pool.  The pretty girl and the ray gun are iconic, but also commonplace, props.  The background of spear-wielding frog warriors, however, puts this cover over the top.

Sunrise Serenade: Someone Stole Gabriel's Horn

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Someone Stole Gabriel's Horn" by Bunny Berigan.  Click on the song title for a sample clip from emusic

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Playlist For July 28, 2010

The playlist for the July 28, 2010 broadcast of the Swing Shift Shuffle has just been added to the playlist filing cabinet.

Last July Lindy

The Red Hot Lindy Hop continues this Friday with the weekly lesson and session.  Lesson by Kirk and Kimmie.  Free admission before 7:00 p.m., and $5 at the door afterwards. 


303 South Main
Memphis, TN 38103

U of M Swing every Monday in Fieldhouse Room 118 from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m.  Free taster lesson from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Topics vary from week to week and include East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues and Balboa. All are welcome and no partner is required. Open practice from 8-9:45pm. Improve your moves during this dance time. Ask questions, come practice your swing dancing and have fun with other Memphis swing dancers!

Sunrise Serenade: I Got A Gal In Kalmazoo

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "I Got A Gal In Kalamazoo" by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!

On July 27, 1940, Warner Bros. released A Wild Hare, considered by many to be the first appearence of the Wascally Wabbit in his final form.  This was not Elmer Fudd's first appearance, but he was closer to what would become his final form than in earlier shorts, and this picture established the basis that would eventually be refined into the final version of Elmer.  Both characters' opening lines would become catchphrases.  Happy 70th Birthday Bugs!

Sunrise Serenade: Basin Street Blues

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Basin Street Blues" by Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby.  Click on the song title for the album page on emusic.  Sample clip at Track #5. 

Monday, July 26, 2010

Taking The Bus Home

As a post on Modern Mechanix indicates, ingenuity is timeless.  In 1946, this young lady solved her personal housing shortage by buying a surplus bus and converting it into a home, and a pretty stylish-looking one at that. 

Sunrise Serenade: Jeepers Creepers

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Jeepers Creepers" by Louis Armstrong.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Superman: The Arctic Giant

In this 1942 animated short, scientists discover a frozen dinosaur in the arctic, bring it to Metropolis, where it thaws out, comes to life, and causes mayhem.  This looks like a job for "You Know Who!"  From the Internet Archive, here is Superman in The Arctic Giant

Friday, July 23, 2010

Sunrise Serenade: Marie

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Marie" by Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

We've Come A Long Way, Baby

Things were different in 1938, but this ad featuring actress Delores Del Rio still made me do a double-take.  Posted on Modern Mechanix, it reveals that her studio had an insurance policy on her throat for $50,000 as a precaution against her holding up a picture by loss of her voice.  As a result, she "took no chances" on an irritated throat, and smoked Lucky Strikes!

Sunrise Serenade: Rockin' In Rhythm

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Rockin' In Rhythm" by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Playlist for July 21, 2010

The playlist for the July 21, 2010 broadcast of the Swing Shift Shuffle has just been added to the playlist filing cabinet.

The Graham Sharknose

Boing Boing happened across one of my favorite car designs when it referred to a post about this ad for a 1938 Graham.  This partcilar model became known, for obvious reasons, as the "Sharknose."  This car is what you might imagine a fictional Art Deco car to look like, but it was real.  Despite the innovative design, it was not a great seller.

Sunrise Serenade: Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was the old World War I marching song, "Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag," recorded as a V Disc during World War II by Lt. Bob (Bing's little brother) Crosby and Martha Tilton.  Click below to listen, or on the song title for the link to mp3hunting.com.  By the way, the line "a lucifer to light your fag" is an old UK expression referring to having a match to light a cigarette.

Pack Up Your Troubles – Lt Bob Crosby USMC

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Red Hot Lindy Hop Friday Night

The weekly Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues this Friday night.  Lesson by Kirk and Michelle, and music by DJ Alexis.  Free admission before 7:00 p.m., and $5 at the door afterwards. 


303 South Main
Memphis, TN 38103

U of M Swing every Monday in Fieldhouse Room 118 from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m.  Free taster lesson from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Topics vary from week to week and include East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues and Balboa. All are welcome and no partner is required. Open practice from 8-9:45pm. Improve your moves during this dance time. Ask questions, come practice your swing dancing and have fun with other Memphis swing dancers!

Sunrise Serenade: Take The A Train

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was the classic "Take The A Train" by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Monday, July 19, 2010

America In WWII

The Film Noir Photos blog posted about the print/web magazine America In WWII.  I have seen the print version at newsstands, but never visited the website before.  In addition to a large amount and variety of information about the purely military aspects of World War II, the site includes features about life on the home front, including a gallery of pulp fiction covers of crime, westerns and science fiction; and the story of how Veronica Lake changed her trademark "peek-a-boo" hairstyle to help the war effort.

Sunrise Serenade: And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" by Ella Fitzgerald.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Doggone Tired

Like the hunter, I am a firm believer in a good night's sleep.  From the Internet Archive, here is the 1949 MGM animated short, directed by Tex Avery:  Doggone Tired.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Katherine Hepburn = Box Office Poison

Believe it or not, that is how one Hollywood publication referred to Katherine Hepburn in 1938.  Classic Movies Digest did a nice article about that low point in her career, including commercially disastrous film Sylvia Scarlett, in which she played a woman disguised as a young man.

Sunrise Serenade: Downhearted Blues

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Downhearted Blues" by Red Norvo with Mildred Bailey on vocal.  Click on the song title for the album page on emusic.  Sample clip at Disc 1, Track #35.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Audio-Visual Anesthetic For Dentist

There are occasions when you wonder if technology actually went backwards.  Modern Mechanix posted this article about a dentist in 1936 who projected movies on his ceilings to calm his patients.  This was way before television, much less flat-screens and DVD players.  Why do we not have this now?  My dentist has a poster of some kittens on the ceiling over the chair.

Sunrise Serenade: Ace In The Hole

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Ace In The Hole" by Anita O'Day.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Playlist For July 14, 2010

The playlist for the July 7, 2010 broadcast of the Swing Shift Shuffle has just been added to the playlist filing cabinet.

Dinah Shore For The Troops

From Film Noir Photos and August 1944, a shot of singer/actress Dinah Shore performing for U.S. troops in France. 

Sunrise Serenade: Victory Polka

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Victory Polka" by the Old Time Polka Band off a V Disc.  Click on the song title for the album page on emusic.  Sample clip at Disc 2, Track #14.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Red Hot Summer With The Lindy Hop

The weekly Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues this Friday night.  Lesson by Erin and Jaredan, and music by DJ Jaredan.  Free admission before 7:00 p.m., and $5 at the door afterwards. 


303 South Main
Memphis, TN 38103

U of M Swing every Monday in Fieldhouse Room 118 from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m.  Free taster lesson from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Topics vary from week to week and include East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues and Balboa. All are welcome and no partner is required. Open practice from 8-9:45pm. Improve your moves during this dance time. Ask questions, come practice your swing dancing and have fun with other Memphis swing dancers!

Sunrise Serenade: Danny Boy

This morning's weather in Memphis might be termed a "soft day" in Ireland.  Appropriately enough, today's Sunrise Serenade was "Danny Boy" by Glenn Miller.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line

Monday, July 12, 2010

Dashboard Photography In The 1940's

Here is an interesting post from Dull Tool Dim Bulb.  It appears the dashboard-mounted camera, a mainstay of current police reality television, was invented by a Los Angeles newspaper photographer named Mell Kilpatrick in the 1940's. 
Mell was attracted to photography young and certainly had the right eye. In the only photo I’ve found of him, he is posing as if squinting into a lens finder. Like a Weegee in sunshine, he traveled light…camera, flash, tripod and a trench coat when the road was slick. But he also had a camera mounted on his dashboard pointing through the windshield and I am sure these photos were shot with it. Like a hard-boiled P.O., whenever California blood was spilled, he was there. Crime, Crash, Insurance Fraud…he squinted through them all in black and white.

Sunrise Serenade: Your Feet's Too Big

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was one of my favorite novelty tunes, "Your Feet's Too Big" by Fats Waller.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Herman & Henry: Sudden Fried Chicken

Here is a new one for me:  a Paramount Noveltoon featuring Herman the mouse and Henry the chicken and a little marital boxing.  From the Internet Archive, the 1946 animated short, Sudden Fried Chicken

Friday, July 9, 2010

Hudson-Terraplane's Ruggedness Runs

Back in the first decades of the automotive industry, carmakers used their vehicles for all sorts of publicity stunts to get customers into the showrooms.  In addition to racing, endurance runs demonstrating the reliability of the cars were popular.  The Hemmings blog posted an interesting item about the Hudson-Terraplane Ruggedness Runs from the 1930's, explaining the concept and noting their apparent effectiveness. 
As we see in a few contemporary newspaper articles, Hudson planned about 20 such Ruggedness Runs across the country, each using a 1934 Terraplane already in the hands of a customer, sent out for two weeks straight on pre-selected circuits (or “Ruggedness Routes”) of 1,500 to 1,800 miles. . . .
The Ruggedness Runs certainly worked in attracting newspaper coverage as well as in selling newspaper ads right underneath the coverage and in attracting customers to Hudson-Terraplane showrooms. They very well could have also been instrumental in causing Terraplane sales to jump from 56,804 in 1934 to 70,323 in 1935.

Sunrise Serenade: Battle Of Swing

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Battle Of Swing" by Duke Ellington.  Click on the song title for the album page on emusic.  Sample clip at Track #15.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

We Are Not Alone (Or Are We?)

As noted by The People History, on July 8, 1947, reports began to surface that U.S. Army Air Force personnel "captured" a flying saucer near Roswell, New Mexico.  Of course, government officials subsequently explained that absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happened (or did it?). 

Sunrise Serenade: Sugar Blues

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Sugar Blues" by Ella Fitzgerald.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Playlist For July 7, 2010

The playlist for the July 7, 2010 broadcast of the Swing Shift Shuffle has just been added to the playlist filing cabinet.

Serial Cliffhanger Podcasts

Thanks to Todd's Serial Blog for posting that Comicweb.com started a new serial webcast this weekend featuring The Lost Planet.  You can watch the episodes at Comic Web's Serial Cliffhanger Theater, by videopodcast, or on blip.tv.   

Sunrise Serenade: Brass Buttons And Epaulettes

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Brass Buttons and Epaulettes" by Raymond Scott.  Click on the song title for the album page on emusic.  Sample clip at Disc 1, Track #17.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Red, Hot and Blue Lindy Hop

Keep the Independence Day spirit swinging with the weekly Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session this Friday night.  Lesson by Matt and Becky, and music by Becky.  Free admission before 7:00 p.m., and $5 at the door afterwards. 


303 South Main
Memphis, TN 38103

U of M Swing every Monday in Fieldhouse Room 118 from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m.  Free taster lesson from 7:00-8:00 p.m. Topics vary from week to week and include East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues and Balboa. All are welcome and no partner is required. Open practice from 8-9:45pm. Improve your moves during this dance time. Ask questions, come practice your swing dancing and have fun with other Memphis swing dancers!

Sunrise Serenade: Fightin' Doug MacArthur

Keeping the Independence Day spirit alive, this morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Fightin' Doug MacArthur" by Anita O'Day.  Click on the song title for the album page on Amazon.com.  Sample clip at Track #6. 

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Old Glory Porky Pig

For Independence Day weekend, Porky Pig, Uncle Sam and the folks at Warner Bros. give us an American history lesson in Old Glory Porky Pig.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Off To See The Wizard, And Others

I have been unable to keep track of the coming attractions on Turner Classic Movies recently, but I finally was able to review the July schedule, and this month is starting off well.  TCM will air The Wizard Of Oz both tonight and tomorrow, as well as several other classics from the 1930s-40s.  The Wizard Of Oz is a fun film, but for me, Judy Garland singing "Over The Rainbow" right at the start is what makes the movie.  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Yankee Doodle Dandy will make great Independence Day watching. 

Friday, July 2, 2010 (All Times Central)

7:00pm The Wizard Of Oz (1939) - A Kansas farm girl dreams herself into a magical land where she must fight a wicked witch to escape.  Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr Dir: Victor Fleming C-102 mins, TV-G

9:30pm Fury (1936) - An innocent man escapes a lynch mob then returns for revenge.  Cast: Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy, Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot Dir: Fritz Lang BW-93 mins, TV-G

11:15pm George Washington Slept Here (1942) - A pair of New Yorkers face culture shock when they buy a dilapidated country house.  Cast: Jack Benny, Ann Sheridan, Charles Coburn, Percy Kilbride Dir: William Keighley BW-91 mins, TV-G

Saturday, July 3, 2010

7:30am Ringside Maisie (1941) - A Brooklyn showgirl sets pulses racing at a boxers' training camp.  Cast: Ann Sothern, George Murphy, Robert Sterling, Virginia O'Brien Dir: Edwin L. Marin BW-95 mins, TV-G

1:00pm On the Town (1949) - Three sailors wreak havoc as they search for love during a whirlwind 24-hour leave in New York City.  Cast: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, Ann Miller Dir: Stanley Donen C-98 mins, TV-G

5:00pm The Wizard Of Oz (1939) - A Kansas farm girl dreams herself into a magical land where she must fight a wicked witch to escape.  Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr Dir: Victor Fleming C-102 mins, TV-G

7:00pm Meet Me In St. Louis (1944) - Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family.  Cast: Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer Dir: Vincente Minnelli C-113 mins, TV-G

9:00pm Ma And Pa Kettle (1949) - On the verge of eviction, the hillbilly family wins a slogan contest and moves into an automated home.  Cast: Marjorie Main, Percy Kilbride, Richard Long, Meg Randall Dir: Charles Lamont BW-76 mins, TV-G

Sunday, July 4, 2010

5:30am Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - An idealistic Senate replacement takes on political corruption.  Cast: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold Dir: Frank Capra BW-130 mins, TV-G

9:30am The Howards of Virginia (1940) - A young Virginian joins the American Revolution despite his love for a beautiful Royalist.  Cast: Cary Grant, Martha Scott, Cedric Hardwicke. Dir: Frank Lloyd. BW-116 mins, TV-G

4:30pm Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) - Spirited musical biography of the song-and-dance man who kept America humming through two world wars.  Cast: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, Richard Whorf Dir: Michael Curtiz BW-126 mins, TV-G

Sunrise Serenade: Rhythm Saved The World

Today's Sunrise Serenade was another holdover from Wednesday's Swing Shift Shuffle broadcast:  "Rhythm Saved The World" by the Mills Brothers.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Space Rovers: Flash Gordon Ripoff

Appropriating a popular entertainment idea is hardly new.  As noted in Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine, the similarity of the brief 1940 series Space Rovers to the Flash Gordon comic strip may have been one of the reasons it did not last longer.  Copyright owners are funny that way.

Sunrise Serenade: The General Jumped At Dawn

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was a leftover from last night's Swing Shift Shuffle broadcast:  "The General Jumped At Dawn".  This particular version comes from a collection of war years recordings by Bing Crosby, but you will not hear Bing singing.  Instead, it sounds like the background vocalists that accompanied him on other cuts on this album.  I cannot find any information on the vocalists, but they sound good.  Click on the song title for the album page on emusic.