Remembering ’90s Swing Music

This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

Tom Breihan, writing for Stereogum, with a remembrance of the late ’90s swing revival:

Looking back, it’s hard to figure out how all this shit happened, but there are some threads to pick at. After grunge began to pass out of favor, this stuff seemed like its polar opposite: sharp rather than slovenly, crisp and efficient rather than wild and intuitive, knowingly silly rather than deadly self-serious. Within the rapidly atomizing alt-rock universe, there was a hunger for something smooth and sophisticated. A few years before the grunge revival popped off, there was the deeper-underground but just as silly lounge revival, with Combustible Edison releasing music on Sub Pop and a ton of Esquivel reissues coming out. But if you’re looking to blame the swing revival on anyone, blame Hollywood.
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Zoot suit riot, throw back a bottle of beer!

 

I was in 8th grade when that style exploded in 97/98, alternative radio really jumped on that one haha. Good times though, and the festival he's referring to with the surprise Tony Bennett performance before The Ramones was the HFStival...here in Baltimore that festival was everything back then.

 

I remember in like 1998 they played "Zoot Suit Riot" at my town's 4th of July fireworks show three times in a row and people went nuts for it... even more so than they did for "Proud To Be An American." Weird times.

 

There was a swing club at my high school. The only song ever played was Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5".

 

Now it's all about electroswing

 

What a horrible, horrible rabbit hole this has taken me down

 

I remember this, as I was starting grade school.

I wonder how well a band named "Cherry Poppin' Daddies" would fare if they started in 2016.

 

Article's spot on: now I just wanna listen to Berlin.