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.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Follow The Bouncing Ball

Matinee At The Bijou posted an excellent article about the "screen songs" that encouraged audience participation at the theaters by using the bouncing ball over the lyrics.  Think of it as early mass karaoke.
Audience sing-alongs to words projected on a screen go back before 1900 -- when magic lanterns were used in vaudeville shows. The famous "Bouncing Ball" debuted in 1924 in the Max Fleischer Ko-Ko Song Car-Tune Oh Mabel.

Fleischer made many sing-alongs in the silent era with a seamless transition into sound that produced 108 cartoons from 1929 through 1938, plus the offbeat Let’s Sing with Popeye (1934) that added words to a segment of the first Popeye cartoon
Matinee posted this example from 1945 called, When G.I. Johnny Comes Home.  The sing along starts out as the standard version of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," but it gets a bit hip and swinging toward the end. 

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