Sunrise Serenade: Skies Are Blue

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Skies Are Blue" by Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Memorial Day Weekend Hop

The Red Hot Lindy Hop lesson and session continues at the Rumba Room this Friday night.  Free beginner lesson at 7:00 p.m.  Free admission before 7:00 and $5 thereafter.  Dress like you are going out!

Rumba Room

303 South Main

Memphis, TN 38103

The University of Memphis RHLH chapter hosts a free beginner swing dance lesson every Monday (except school holidays) in Room 254 of the Roane Field House.  Beginner lesson from 7:00-8:00 p.m., and social dancing and practice until 9:30.  More information here. 

The Tiger Rag lessons and guided practice sessions are back at the Madison Dance Studio in Minglewood Plaza, 1555 Madison Ave Memphis, TN 38104.  Learn more and register here. 

Sunrise Serenade: Java Jive

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "Java Jive" by the Ink Spots.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line. 

Sunrise Serenade: Are You Ready?

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "Are You Ready?" by Lucky Millinder and His Orchestra.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line.

Stage Door Cartoon

Bugs Bunny returns in this encore from 2012 that plays on the title of a popular movie from the Swing Era, Stage Door Canteen.  From the Internet Archive, here is the 1944 animated short, Stage Door Cartoon.

Sunrise Serenade: St. James Infirmary

This morning's Sunrise Serenade was "St. James Infirmary" by Cab Calloway.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line. 

Garbo, And Not Greta

The Best of World War II blog posted this item about The Spy with 29 Names, a book by Jason Webster.  The spy is question is none other than the legendary double-agent "Garbo."  Garbo was in reality, Juan Pujol, a Spaniard who was caught up in the Spanish Civil War.  After being rejected initially by British intelligence, he started feeding the Germans false information on his own.  When the British discovered how effective he was at misleading the Nazis, they quickly changed their minds.  The Germans were so trusting of Garbo's information, that their reliance on it effectively cemented the success of D-Day.  The Germans even awarded him the Iron Cross, making him probably the only person in history to receive that honor and the Victoria Cross from Great Britain.

Sunrise Serenade: I Found My Yellow Basket

Today's Sunrise Serenade was "I Found My Yellow Basket" by Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb and His Orchestra.  Click on the song title to listen courtesy of Jazz On Line. 

Playlist For May 13, 2015

The playlist for the May 13, 2015 broadcast of the Swing Shift Shuffle has now been added to the playlist filing cabinet.  

Sheet Music Advertisements

I took to collecting Swing Era sheet music a few years back, so I found this post on Vintage Ads particularly interesting.  It features several advertisements for sheet music, as well as the ad above, which appears to be promoting recordings of "Small Fry" by seven different artists, including Bing Crosby (the original), Kay Kyser, Hal Kemp and Mildred Bailey.