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Tag: Lindy Hop


May
2024

Frankie Manning’s Favourite Big Band Swing Music

categories: Lindy Hop

On May 26th, Lindy Hoppers from all over the world will be celebrating Swing dancer extraordinaire Frankie Manning (and coined by dancers all over as the “Ambassador of the Lindy Hop”). Frankie was a leading dancer at Harlem’s legendary Savoy Ballroom where, in the mid-1930s, he revolutionized the course of the lindy hop with his innovations, including the lindy air step and synchronized ensemble lindy routine.

Frankie also lived to be 94 which is what allowed him to reach newer generations later in life (I even got to meet him. Picture at the end).

Frankie Manning's Favourite Big Band Swing Music

He also was a HUGE lover of Swing Era Big Band Music, maybe it’s because he lived to see so many of those band perform live (Frankie was born May 26th, 1914). I too love this music and that is one of the reasons why I love the Lindy Hop.

So for today’s post in honour of May 26th, I thought it would be fun to share some of Frankie’s favourite swing music from a 2007 album I found online. I will even try to share any videos with him dancing to any of the matching songs if they exist.

If you are a fan of big band music, this post is for you! If you are looking to dance to Frankie’s favourite songs? This post is for you! Enjoy!

The Album: Really Swingin’: Frankie Manning’s Big Band Favorites – various artists. An Essential. One of the best ways to start your collection, this album contains 16 tracks of big band swing music picked out by the man himself, Frankie Manning.

Frankie Manning and Ann Johnson Vintage Dance Photo
Frankie Manning and Ann Johnson Source: Pinterest

The Swing Era Big Band Songs

==> Playlist: Listen on Spotify Here

1. Shiny Stockings – Count Basie & His Orchestra

Frankie Manning and Norma Miller Dancing to Shiny Stockings at Frankie 85 at Roseland Ballroom, NYC 1999 (Video link).

Who was Norma aka the Queen of Swing? Take a read here: Women of the Big Band Era Everyone Should Know Part 1


2. Swingin’ At Newport – Count Basie & His Orchestra

Swingin At Newport (Live (1957/Newport)) · Count Basie (video link).


3. Jersey Bounce – Benny Goodman

“Jersey Bounce” was far-and-away Goodman’s most popular instrumental hit of the 1940s, spending twenty weeks in the national top-10, six of them peaked at #2 (video link).


4. T’aint What You Do – Jimmie Lunceford AKA THE SHIM SHAM (video link)

About the Shim Sham:

The Shim Sham was originally a tap routine that become a popular routine for finale’s where the entire cast of a show would do this routine. Leonard Reed was said to have choreographed the Goofus which was a tap routine that sparked it all. From the Vaudeville finale it made it’s was to New York. It got changed and simplified and eventually you end up with this version of the Shim Sham for Lindy Hoppers.

Then during the Swing Dance revival, Frankie Manning taught it around the world and it has been whole heartedly adopted by lindy hoppers. When this songs plays at a swing event, anywhere in the world, you will get a bunch or people dancing this routine (Source).

Learn the Shim Sham from Frankie Manning & Erin Stevens in 1995 (video link).


5. Begin The Beguine – Artie Shaw (video link)


6. Hamp’s Boogie Woogie – Lionel Hampton & His Septet (video link)


7. Let’s Get Together – Duke Ellington & His Orchestra (video link)


8. Tuxedo Junction – Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra (video link).

The below video from 1997 is of Frankie teaching ‘The Tranky Doo’ (a famous line dance) that he choreographed. It is also called the ‘Frankie Doo’ as there are two versions of this dance.


9. Segue In C – Duke Ellington & Count Basie (video link)


10. Posin’ – Jimmie Lunceford (video link)


11. In The Mood – Glenn Miller & His Orchestra (video link)


12. Tippin’ In – Erskine Hawkins & His Orchestra (video link)


13. Flying Home – Lionel Hampton & His Septet (video link)

I have seen this clip a million times and it still gives me the chills, it’s so good!

The Lindy Hop Swing Dance Scene from 1992 movie Malcolm X featuring Denzel Washington, Spike Lee. Choreographed with the help of Frankie Manning (blue suit) & Norma Miller (yellow dress) also performed in the scene. Otis Sallid/Choreographer.

Song is “Flying Home” by Lionel Hampton. Great Aerials, Floorials, Jitterbug, Charleston, – one of the best Lindy Hop Swing Dance Scenes in a movie. Background dancers include Dawn Hampton & Ryan Francois.


14. Take The ‘A’ Train – Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra (video link).

This is a segment from the film Reveille with Beverly from 1943; the song was composed in 1939.


15. One O’ Clock Jump – Count Basie & His Orchestra (video link)


16. Corner Pocket – Count Basie & His Orchestra (video link)

I hope you enjoyed these fantastic swing tunes and maybe even got in a dance. I know I’m looking forward to dancing to all these tunes at Toronto Lindy Hop World Lindy Hop Big Band Dance on June 1st, 2024. See you there maybe!

Share your favourite song in the comments section below!

Frankie Manning in Toronto
Liz & Frankie Manning

Further Reading:

Thanks for dropping by!

Liz


May
2021

Celebrating Swing Dancing and the Savoy Ballroom!

categories: Lindy Hop, Vintage Dance

Hi friends! Today I woke up at dawn to see the Super Flower Blood Moon Eclipse this am (it was worth it) AND then I had planned to go back to bed right after. That was until I opened up my Facebook Messenger. All it said from my friend was “GO TO GOOGLE NOW!” Well that got me intrigued, what is happening over at Google? THIS…..

The Savoy Ballroom and Lindy Hop / Swing Dancing Google Doodle

OMG! It’s a Google Doodle featuring Lindy Hoppers & the Famous Savoy Ballroom and…IT’S A GAME with swing music and swing dancing! I started crying instantly. Like full on tears falling down my face. I miss Lindy Hopping in a crowded room with a live swing band so much, so I got all the feels.

May 26th was also the right time to post this because it’s World Lindy Hop Day and it’s Frankie Manning’s Birthday (one of the founders of the Lindy Hop). Frankie was featured in a Google Doodle in 2016 on what would of been his 102nd birthday (Frankie lived to be 94 and I met him at 92 when he was still dancing!).

Frankie Manning Birthday google doodle

Celebrating Swing Dancing and the Savoy Ballroom!

ABOUT THE SAVOY BALLROOM:

(Further Reading: 91st Anniversary of the Savoy Ballroom-Home of the Happy Feet)

Today’s interactive game Doodle celebrates swing dancing and the Savoy Ballroom—an iconic Swing Era dance hall that thrived from the 1920s to 50s in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. On this day in 2002, Frankie Manning and Norma Miller, two of members of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, unveiled a commemorative plaque where its entrance once stood.

The Savoy Ballroom made history as one of the first racially integrated public spaces in United States when it opened its doors with a no-discrimination policy in 1926. In the early 20th century, Harlem housed a predominantly Black community, including those who migrated from other parts of the U.S. and the Caribbean. This community’s impact was prevalent throughout Harlem, as the neighborhood thrived as a site for creativity and culture—and the home of the Savoy Ballroom. Albeit a white-owned institution, the Black community of Harlem made the Savoy the cultural heartbeat of the neighborhood and an epicenter of innovation for swing dance and music worldwide.

The Savoy’s ballroom awaited guests up two marble staircases on the second floor, featuring a 10,000-square foot mahogany and maple dance floor that was a city block long. The glamorous dance hall sparkled as a hub of jazz and jive. The Savoy’s twin bandstands hosted seamless live music as many of the world’s acclaimed jazz musicians—including the likes of Chick Webb, Count Basie, and Ella Fitzgerald—trumpeted out the soundtrack for thousands of dancers each night (and over 700,000 annually!). In step with the big band energy, patrons powered the nightclub with the electricity of ever-evolving swing dance styles. The Charleston, the Big Apple, and in later years the Mambo, were among dances enjoyed at the Savoy, but the most popular was the vivacious Lindy Hop, which was born and bred in the ballroom.

The Lindy Hop is characterized by a swinging rhythmic connection between partners, a flurry of acrobatic air steps in the performance version, and footwork that contributed to one of the Savoy’s signature nicknames: “The Home of Happy Feet.” With the synergistic life forces of jazz dance and music, the Savoy Ballroom shined as a melting pot of Harlem nightlife during a time of racial segregation for the next three decades. 

In 1958, the Savoy Ballroom closed its doors for good but its international impact is still felt to this day. At its historic location in between 140th and 141st Street on New York City’s Lenox Avenue, a commemorative plaque honors the Ballroom and its legacy as a home of cultural innovation.

Here’s to all the memories swingin’ at the Savoy! (SOURCE)

dancing at the savoy ballroom 1940s harlem
Source: The Savoy King

Here is a behind the scenes of the making of the doodle, featuring lots of Lindy Hop (it’s only 4 mins long-Video Link).

To end today’s post I would like to share a picture of my husband and I at the plaque for the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. It’s a pilgrimage that Lindy Hoppers make yearly to be in the same spot were so many legendary dancers and bands had stood before.

We shared a dance (the hubby and I met Lindy Hopping) and then we just soaked up the energy that still is in the air. It was a special moment for the two of us.

The Savoy Ballroom Plaque in Harlem home of the happy feet.

Friends, make sure you visit Google today (and if you are reading this AFTER May 26th, you can find it HERE), play the fun game and enjoy the music. Share your score in the comments section below!

HAPPY WORLD LINDY HOP DAY FRIENDS!!

FURTHER READING: Swing Dance & The Big Band Era (Archived Blog Posts)

Liz