And here it is - the 70th anniversary of this unique in all history event.
There isn't much one can do to celebrate it - near all the participants from either side of the stage have passed into the ether.
The documentation is slim - some newsprint and photographs, some newsreel footage, some facts and figures. Was there a live broadcast on that Sunday back in May of 1938? Is there advertising and paper ephemera extant? Or is it all now just the memories of those who were there seven decades ago - memories alive in the minds of men and women now in their mid 80s and beyond?
What a show!
Hail to the Randall's Island Carnival of Swing!
Once upon a time..........
NY TIMES
SWING BANDS PUT 23,400 IN FRENZY; Jitterbugs Cavort at Randalls Island as 25 Orchestras Blare in Carnival Trek Begins at 8 A. M. Excitement Only Starts
May 30, 1938, Monday
For a full five hours and forty-five minutes, 23,400 assorted jitterbugs and alligators-more conservatively known as swing music enthusiasts - cavorted yesterday at Randalls Island Stadium to the musical gymnastics of twenty-five swing bands, vainly bucking the lines of police and park officers who were sworn to protect the swing maestros from destruction by adulation.
What gets me so excited, almost emotional, whenever I see that clip is that it was really the blistering ROCK N ROLL of its day.... music with rippin attitude...bring it on...
Thanks for reminding us of this great moment in music...
If I had a time machine...Heidi
This music is not too fast; you're just too damn slow.
Unique event - tremendously popular for a few hours and then forgotten except by Jazz fans and the people who were there.
Are there any NY area old-timers who attended? Do any of the senior dancers now recall going? Has anyone ever asked them?
I asked Frankie Manning about the time Guy Lombardo played the Savoy and he remembered specifically not going - haha! Maybe he and other would remember going to Randall's Island that Spring day so long ago.
Approx. 10 minutes of unseen for 70 years newsreel footage has surfaced from the Randall's Island Carnival of Swing.
It's raw footage meant to be edited into a newsreel of the day. Some of this footage was used back in 1938, but most of it sat in the film canister for close to 70 years until it reached the hands of a film collector.
The contents of the footage is approximately 40 shots of the bands and musicians. The other 60 is mostly the crowd and the young dancers who patronized the event; black kids and white kids mostly in their teens and 20s.
Quoted from "John100" Approx. 10 minutes of unseen for 70 years newsreel footage has surfaced from the Randall's Island Carnival of Swing.
It's raw footage meant to be edited into a newsreel of the day. Some of this footage was used back in 1938, but most of it sat in the film canister for close to 70 years until it reached the hands of a film collector.
The contents of the footage is approximately 40 shots of the bands and musicians. The other 60 is mostly the crowd and the young dancers who patronized the event; black kids and white kids mostly in their teens and 20s.
-more to follow-
awesome! love to see this come out, hopefully with some Creative Commons licensing as well so it can be utilized by dance clubs/venues!
I agree. Who has the movie clips now? What's the plan? When can we see them? And most importantly, when can we get 23,000 lindyhoppers together again?? What about Governor's island next summer with a dozen dance floors? Frick and Frack?? Ingbar? Someone.
I do not know yet the situation of the copyright, if any, on this material. Remains to be seen.
There is material in the video on YouTube that is not among the newsreel footage that was given to me on DVD.
What the DVD contains is more bands, musicians, dancers and the crowd there.
Audience members are exceptionally well dressed, although it is a Sunday morning/afternoon when folks back then might have felt the need to dress less than casually.
Bands on hand on film - Count Basie, Kay Kyser, looks like Willie "The Lion" Smith on piano, Stuff Smith and more.
In the stands, it looks like it is blacks with blacks, whites with white for most of the shots, but far from all. Everyone is just enjoying themselves and mixing freely. I didn't see any B&W's dancing together, just kids clapping and bouncing and shagging in place and jitterbugging wherever they can find a bit of space.
There's a cute shot of a little black boy maybe 5 y/o just bouncing around to the music while older kids encourage him by clapping in rhythm.
Nothing changes department - The cameraman/men focus closely on bouncing breasts whenever they can. No way that footage would get used. Same thing happens today.
All this footage is easily recognizable when you see it in documentaries b/c of the early morning sunlight and all the musicians in dark glasses at 9 a.m. on a Sunday in May 1938.
You folks in the NYC area have the greatest opportunity to find old timers who were at the event with memories and perhaps photographs and - dare we think it - home movies! If you can ask around, tht would be great!
Jerry...we had a change of plans...apologies! On our way home from lindy workshops with Mickey and Kelly, Joe (frack) and I popped into a pet store...well, we walked out with two guinea pigs who we are spending the evening bonding with (I've been a guinea pig person since age 2 and we lost our last one a year ago)... So apologies for not showing up at Remix...this evening took an unexpected and furry turn..
John: I'm a dancer, HUGELY into jazz of the 30s, clothing of the 30s (7 days a week, I wear vintage), and I focus on balboa and collegiate shag. 1938 is a favorite year...and I'm certainly eager to know more about this footage when the time is right. Heidi
This music is not too fast; you're just too damn slow.
As long as copyright is a little mysterious, why not post to Youtube or better yet blip.tv to share eh?
If you don't know how, I'd be happy to walk you through the process.
--R
The NYTimes radio log lists a 90 minute broadcast from Randall's Island on 5-29-1938 beginning at 11:00 am and lasting until 12:30 pm.
Curiously, it is only listed in their "Leading Events of the Week" section and there are no other listings at all for WNEW programming in the bulk of the radio logs for that day and for the next day.
So based upon NYTimes printed info all there was was a 90 minute broadcast, but there is no further info to corroborate a 90 minute broadcast vs a longer broadcast.
BTW - Un-noted until now Sunday 5-29-1938 was right in the middle of the Memorial Day weekend. This might explain some of the extra dressiness we see on the people at the show.
I emailed the radio log web site owner and he said, essentially, such is the essence of radio logs in newspapers. They cannot be relied upon a being complete or accurate which makes research difficult at times.
Next step - contact WNEW and see what they show in their logs for that day = or - see if perhaps another NY paper had a more complete, precise log for that Sunday.
Then - find the broadcast! This would be a colossal find in the world of Jazz and Swing.
To find that thing, might we have to find an acetate disc or two in an inky-shadowed attic near Delancey???
Finding that kind of thing would be amazing, albeit unlikely unless some rich kid with a tape deck machine was near a radio that day (this is 1939, after all, and the commercial application for magnetic recording wouldn't take off until the late 1940s and early 1950s).
Quoted from "Bigg_Al" To find that thing, might we have to find an acetate disc or two in an inky-shadowed attic near Delancey???
Finding that kind of thing would be amazing, albeit unlikely unless some rich kid with a tape deck machine was near a radio that day (this is 1939, after all, and the commercial application for magnetic recording wouldn't take off until the late 1940s and early 1950s).
Either disc recorded at home by some with a home disc recorder - and they were in existence in 1938 (not 1939)
OR
Transcribed and saved by WNEW or some other organization.
1938 Randall's Island Carnival of Swing - 70th anniversary
John100
And here it is - the 70th anniversary of this unique in all history event.
There isn't much one can do to celebrate it - near all the participants from either side of the stage have passed into the ether.
The documentation is slim - some newsprint and photographs, some newsreel footage, some facts and figures. Was there a live broadcast on that Sunday back in May of 1938? Is there advertising and paper ephemera extant? Or is it all now just the memories of those who were there seven decades ago - memories alive in the minds of men and women now in their mid 80s and beyond?
What a show!
Hail to the Randall's Island Carnival of Swing!
Once upon a time..........
NY TIMES
SWING BANDS PUT 23,400 IN FRENZY; Jitterbugs Cavort at Randalls Island as 25 Orchestras Blare in Carnival Trek Begins at 8 A. M. Excitement Only Starts
May 30, 1938, Monday
For a full five hours and forty-five minutes, 23,400 assorted jitterbugs and alligators-more conservatively known as swing music enthusiasts - cavorted yesterday at Randalls Island Stadium to the musical gymnastics of twenty-five swing bands, vainly bucking the lines of police and park officers who were sworn to protect the swing maestros from destruction by adulation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbubFSgUTlM&feature=related
Effervescent
NICE!
I swear Blip-Blip and Eve are in that video!
-Eff
Taken by a Sicilian -Trazy
Ain't cha! -Eff
John100
If any of the NY press has printed anything recently, please post a link here.
Thanks!
Perhaps today something other than mine will come to light.
Effervescent
Are we the NY press? :dunno:
-Eff
Taken by a Sicilian -Trazy
Ain't cha! -Eff
John100
No. :x :lol:
But - was there something on Y? I didn't see anything.
Someone might ask FM if he was there; NM, too.
rikomatic
Wow. Neat clip!
Ah when swing was the pop music of its day.
Kickass Flamenco solo (vid)
How to Learn Lindy
Lindy Bomb NYC on Facebook & Twitter!
KattenPejst
According to the book The Rise of a Jazz Art World, page 124 the editorial [New York Times 5-31-1938: 18 ] continues:
"They were of all races, all colors, all walks - or rather all swings and all shags - of life."
frick and frack
What gets me so excited, almost emotional, whenever I see that clip is that it was really the blistering ROCK N ROLL of its day.... music with rippin attitude...bring it on...
Thanks for reminding us of this great moment in music...
If I had a time machine...Heidi
This music is not too fast; you're just too damn slow.
John100
Unique event - tremendously popular for a few hours and then forgotten except by Jazz fans and the people who were there.
Are there any NY area old-timers who attended? Do any of the senior dancers now recall going? Has anyone ever asked them?
I asked Frankie Manning about the time Guy Lombardo played the Savoy and he remembered specifically not going - haha! Maybe he and other would remember going to Randall's Island that Spring day so long ago.
John100
Approx. 10 minutes of unseen for 70 years newsreel footage has surfaced from the Randall's Island Carnival of Swing.
It's raw footage meant to be edited into a newsreel of the day. Some of this footage was used back in 1938, but most of it sat in the film canister for close to 70 years until it reached the hands of a film collector.
The contents of the footage is approximately 40 shots of the bands and musicians. The other 60 is mostly the crowd and the young dancers who patronized the event; black kids and white kids mostly in their teens and 20s.
-more to follow-
PitStopPete
awesome! love to see this come out, hopefully with some Creative Commons licensing as well so it can be utilized by dance clubs/venues!
Swifty
Holy crap, that's awesome. I can't believe I've never heard of it before.
√4 = Rainbows
Jerry
I agree. Who has the movie clips now? What's the plan? When can we see them? And most importantly, when can we get 23,000 lindyhoppers together again?? What about Governor's island next summer with a dozen dance floors? Frick and Frack?? Ingbar? Someone.
frick and frack
Ha! Well, the poster said "more to come"...so I think we'll have an update shortly.
This music is not too fast; you're just too damn slow.
John100
I am glad to see such interest.
I do not know yet the situation of the copyright, if any, on this material. Remains to be seen.
There is material in the video on YouTube that is not among the newsreel footage that was given to me on DVD.
What the DVD contains is more bands, musicians, dancers and the crowd there.
Audience members are exceptionally well dressed, although it is a Sunday morning/afternoon when folks back then might have felt the need to dress less than casually.
Bands on hand on film - Count Basie, Kay Kyser, looks like Willie "The Lion" Smith on piano, Stuff Smith and more.
In the stands, it looks like it is blacks with blacks, whites with white for most of the shots, but far from all. Everyone is just enjoying themselves and mixing freely. I didn't see any B&W's dancing together, just kids clapping and bouncing and shagging in place and jitterbugging wherever they can find a bit of space.
There's a cute shot of a little black boy maybe 5 y/o just bouncing around to the music while older kids encourage him by clapping in rhythm.
Nothing changes department - The cameraman/men focus closely on bouncing breasts whenever they can. No way that footage would get used. Same thing happens today.
All this footage is easily recognizable when you see it in documentaries b/c of the early morning sunlight and all the musicians in dark glasses at 9 a.m. on a Sunday in May 1938.
You folks in the NYC area have the greatest opportunity to find old timers who were at the event with memories and perhaps photographs and - dare we think it - home movies! If you can ask around, tht would be great!
Jerry
Thanks John for the info. I'll see Heidi tonight so we'll smooze.
John100
Jerry-
Great!
John
ps- who is Heidi?
Jerry
either Frick or Frack. I forget. lol
frick and frack
Heidi (frick) here...
Jerry...we had a change of plans...apologies! On our way home from lindy workshops with Mickey and Kelly, Joe (frack) and I popped into a pet store...well, we walked out with two guinea pigs who we are spending the evening bonding with (I've been a guinea pig person since age 2 and we lost our last one a year ago)... So apologies for not showing up at Remix...this evening took an unexpected and furry turn..
John: I'm a dancer, HUGELY into jazz of the 30s, clothing of the 30s (7 days a week, I wear vintage), and I focus on balboa and collegiate shag. 1938 is a favorite year...and I'm certainly eager to know more about this footage when the time is right. Heidi
This music is not too fast; you're just too damn slow.
TheRiz
As long as copyright is a little mysterious, why not post to Youtube or better yet blip.tv to share eh?
If you don't know how, I'd be happy to walk you through the process.
--R
John100
Duke Ellington RICOS May 29th, 1938
(RICOS photos are generally easy to spot b/c of all the sunlight and the WNEW mics.)
John100
http://www.jjonz.us/RadioLogs/pagesnfiles/logs_files/1930s/1938/38_05May/ 5Bn 5D38-05-29-(Sun).pdf
The NYTimes radio log lists a 90 minute broadcast from Randall's Island on 5-29-1938 beginning at 11:00 am and lasting until 12:30 pm.
Curiously, it is only listed in their "Leading Events of the Week" section and there are no other listings at all for WNEW programming in the bulk of the radio logs for that day and for the next day.
So based upon NYTimes printed info all there was was a 90 minute broadcast, but there is no further info to corroborate a 90 minute broadcast vs a longer broadcast.
BTW - Un-noted until now Sunday 5-29-1938 was right in the middle of the Memorial Day weekend. This might explain some of the extra dressiness we see on the people at the show.
I emailed the radio log web site owner and he said, essentially, such is the essence of radio logs in newspapers. They cannot be relied upon a being complete or accurate which makes research difficult at times.
Next step - contact WNEW and see what they show in their logs for that day = or - see if perhaps another NY paper had a more complete, precise log for that Sunday.
Then - find the broadcast! This would be a colossal find in the world of Jazz and Swing.
Bigg_Al
To find that thing, might we have to find an acetate disc or two in an inky-shadowed attic near Delancey???
Finding that kind of thing would be amazing, albeit unlikely unless some rich kid with a tape deck machine was near a radio that day (this is 1939, after all, and the commercial application for magnetic recording wouldn't take off until the late 1940s and early 1950s).
John100
Either disc recorded at home by some with a home disc recorder - and they were in existence in 1938 (not 1939)
OR
Transcribed and saved by WNEW or some other organization.
One never knows.
John100
General admission was 50 cents. Reserved seating - 1.50.
I just got a reprint of the NYT article the day after the show.
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