Music suggestions 20's 30's big band & jazz?

[V.C. Brunswick]

Debroy Somers Band -- The Blue Train (1927)

[video=youtube;wU4xvR9yq7I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU4xvR9yq7I[/video]

 

[HadleyH]

Go to 4 minutes 45 sec this is cute!

"Office Blues" Ginger Rogers (1930)


[video=youtube;pVtULLtX6aU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVtULLtX6aU[/video]

 

[Espee]

Bill Stern's 1940s radio sports show was full of fanciful stories, which tied the topic of sports together with entertainment personalities and other famous people. He claimed that "Lili Marleen" had started with a different name, but Hitler forced it to be changed because the original reminded him of a niece... who was an excellent swimmer, and had hoped to attend an expensive academy. She had asked Uncle Adolf for financial assistance, at a time when he couldn't afford it. Which pained him greatly, because he had a bit of a crush on his pretty niece.
Stern referred to his stories with the disclaimer, "some legend... some hearsay" and I suppose that creates no warranty that ANY of them were true!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Ruby Keeler -- 42nd Street (1933)

[video=youtube;kL5MhCax5m8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL5MhCax5m8[/video]

 

[HadleyH]

once more for those old times long long gone..

sad there is no time machine to return where some of us, where I certainly belong...


[video=youtube;i9mHKQ62PXY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9mHKQ62PXY[/video]

 

[Shangas]

Even though the Nazis were no fans of jazz and swing, I think it was generally tolerated (at least the homegrown variety) on some level because it did fit into their "Kraft durch Freude" (Strength through Joy) approach to pacifying the German masses. Even they realized that trying to interfere in the small pleasures in life was not a battle they wanted to fight. On a side note this was such an important policy cornerstone that well into the war, in the interest of morale, Hitler ordered the continued production of consumer goods despite the fact that the industrial capability was desperately needed for war production.

The Nazis did have quite a battle of popular opinion (especially among the German soldiers) when they banned the iconic Lili Marleen that they were eventually forced to lift the ban. Though "degenerate" American and English jazz and swing was an entirely different story.

At the same time a great many bandleaders and musicians such as Marek Weber (highlighted in Hadley's post) and Paul Godwin (born Pinchas Goldfein) were Jewish and were forced to flee Germany when the Nazis came to power. Marek Weber came to the US and enjoyed a career on the radio before eventually retiring to a dairy farm in Illinois (he died in 1964). Paul Godwin went to Holland and had gone into hiding during the German occupation and had fortunately survived the war. The members of another famous jazz band, Weintraub's Syncopaters -- they were the band heard in the movie The Blue Angel -- were mostly Jewish. They had settled in Australia and sadly, at the outbreak of the war in 1939, were interned as enemy aliens right alongside genuine Nazis! Others such as Fred Bird (Felix Lehmann) weren't so lucky and died in Auschwitz in 1942.

...okay, back to the music:

Gloria Tanz-Orchester (Paul Godwin) -- Ich Steh Im Schnee Und Wart Auf Dich (1931)
(I Wait For You In The Snow)

[video=youtube;BgDOo6HykFA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgDOo6HykFA[/video]

Thanks for the explanation, Brunswick!

A lot of Jews fled Germany and Austria and Czechoslovakia in the years before the War. They went to England, America, Australia and Shanghai, in China.

Jews were indeed put in POW camps in Australia during the War. But in about 1941, it was realised that a significant number of POWs were actually Jewish refugees. They were then duly segregated from Pro-Nazi Germans.

Initially, Jewish refugees were put in their own prison-camp. But when it was determined that they posed no threat to the Australian war-effort, they were reclassified as "friendly aliens". They were still kept in prison-camps (there was no-where else to house them), but they were allowed to work, study, carry out religious services and so-forth. Some were granted permanent residency in Australia. Some even joined the Australian Army. The leftovers mostly took the next ship back to England.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

1. Billy Artz and his Henry & George Orchestra -- Never
2. Freddy Martin and his Orchestra -- Love Dropped In For Tea
3. Hudson DeLange Orchestra -- Tormented
4. Mad Hatters -- Let's Make Up

[video=youtube;HPD5P6W5Xf0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPD5P6W5Xf0[/video]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

R.A. Dworski's Melody Boys -- Ein Bißchen Liebe Für Dich (1932)
(A Little Love For You)
vocal by Else Lord-Meissner

[video=youtube;gIJTxzWiVRY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIJTxzWiVRY[/video]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The Columbia Photo Players (Ben Selvin) -- What Is Life Without Love? (1929)

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Marek Weber and his Orchestra -- Every Woman Thinks She Wants To Wander (1932)

[video=youtube;cRxHM1kJinY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRxHM1kJinY[/video]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Takarazuka Revue Chorus -- Biggu Appuru (1938)
(Big Apple -- Japanese version)

[video=youtube;clxH36nuYVs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clxH36nuYVs[/video]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Harry Bidgood and his Orchestra -- You're The One I Care For (1931)

[video=youtube;0rAx9NLQ0HI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rAx9NLQ0HI[/video]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Parlophon Orkestern (Otto Dobrindt) -- Låt Mig Berätta Ett Äventyr (1928)
(Let Me Tell You An Adventure) (instrumental)

[video=youtube;uTGihlywwaE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTGihlywwaE[/video]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Savoy Hotel Orpheans -- A Faded Summer Love (1931)

[video=youtube;AsSLYLa0zds]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsSLYLa0zds[/video]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Henry Hall and his Gleneagles Hotel Band, 1931-32
1. Song Of Songs
2. My Song
3. Just One Of My Dreams
4. It Looks Like Love

[video=youtube;QPgAbW5hguA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPgAbW5hguA[/video]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra -- Someone Is Losin' Susan (1926)

[video=youtube;gFKpCVaUZUI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFKpCVaUZUI[/video]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Arden & Ohman Orchestra -- Who Cares? (1932)

[video=youtube;WaqgRVJiqpg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaqgRVJiqpg[/video]

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Ray Ventura et ses Collegiens -- Quand On S'en Va (circa 1930)
(When It Goes)

[video=youtube;uLs4OPdpFlU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLs4OPdpFlU[/video]

 

[HadleyH]

Sophie Tucker, accompanied here by Ted Shapiro and His Orchestra - 1936

"When A Lady Meets A Gentleman Down South"

[video=youtube;wAHeEEemTLQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAHeEEemTLQ&feature=related[/video]

 

[Shangas]

[video=youtube;RZOJoV6H2UM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZOJoV6H2UM[/video]