Chris Port Blog #96. Swing Kids Please! (Anyone who doesn't swing is a fascist)

Ok. I’m convinced. Marty Gull needs swing and jitterbug. I need some jitterbug dancers please!

Check this out...

"Swing Heil!" [Clip from Swing Kids, 1993]

'In the late 1930s there was a new movement on the rise among the teenagers of Hamburg, Germany. Its followers refused to join the Nazi youth organization, the Hitler Jugend - known as the H.J. They wore their hair long and were obsessed by American movies, British fashion, and Swing music. They called themselves Swing Kids.'

Swing Heil! No more Nuremberg Musicals please...

Article about the swing movement in Nazi Germany.

Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman

Swing Kids Full movie 

Swing looks fun... and dangerous. Take a look at Hellzapoppin'. Incredible... (fast forward to 2:40 - it kicks off, big time!)

Hellzapoppin' Swing Dance Scene

(Choreographed by Frankie Manning, the 'Ambassador of Swing') 

Groovie Movie (1944)

Funny jitterbug instructional video

Jitterbug For The Total Beginner 

Fascinating article from Atomic Ballroom on the original Hamburg hepcats - the rebellious teenagers of Nazi Germany. And yes, they really did take the piss and say "Swing Heil" ;) 
http://www.atomicballroom.com/blog/2011/03/11/%E2%80%9Cswing-kids%E2%80%9D-part-2-of-2-the-real-swing-kids/ 

Janis Siegel's rendition of Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen, as seen in Swing Kids. This is the full, uninterrupted version. Not just a clip from the movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=cWvuB1vSsAc

Photo Album for Swing Kids "Swing Heil!"
https://www.facebook.com/media​/set/?set=a.195100173880099.51​276.100001403528442

Interesting note. A friend's dad's cousin was in the Hitler Youth. What a jugend. Oh well. Easily done. Crowds get boners, and their arms just go 'schwing'. Swing is better...

Swing Heil!