Could swing be successful because it's an easier way to connect to someone than groping in a mosh pit? Welcome to the big secret. The music has melody, it's definitely more upbeat than most alt-rock, and the dancing requires touching. That puts swing in sharp contrast to modern-day dancing, which is "basically humping the air," says Steve Perry, lead singer of the ska-influenced band Cherry Poppin' Daddies, which has sold, according to SoundScan, more than 1.1 million copies of its album Zoot Suit Riot.
Indeed, swing has launched an all-out assault on the pop charts. The swing-ish Squirrel Nut Zippers have sold more than a million copies of Hot, while both Setzer and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (the band in Swingers) are becoming radio mainstays. "We're playing Setzer up to 40 times a week. Our listeners can't get enough," says Julie Stoeckel, music director of San Francisco's alt-pop station Alice@97.3. Also popular is Swing This, Baby!, a compilation of the best new bands from Slimstyle Records, a swing-heavy label out of Tucson, Ariz.
While these groups are bringing back treasures by the likes of Prima, Fats Waller, Louis Jordan, and Benny Goodman, they aren't just recycling old music. They're splattering and amping up jazz with their experiences in ska, rockabilly, and punk. "We call it hard-boiled swing. It definitely has more edge than anything Glenn Miller would do," says Scott Steen, trumpet player for the Royal Crown Revue. Formed in 1989 by former punkster Eddie Nichols, Royal Crown have recorded a song with Bette Midler (who did her own boogie-woogie thing in the '70s) for her new album, Bathhouse Betty.
But if the music has been updated, the swing look is still retro. Don't dare show up at San Francisco's HiBall or Denver's 9th Avenue West in a pair of khakis and a pocket tee. A vintage zoot suit will give you immediate entree to the top clubs, but good luck finding one. Most thrift stores have been ravaged. San Francisco's Siegel's, a men's department store, offers the next best thing: zoots made new from the shop's original 1930s and '40s designs. Since October, they've sold more than 4,000, along with 3,500 pairs of spectator shoes. Insiders are also snapping up '40s ties (the authentic ones are made of rayon, not silk, which wasn't available during the war...that's the big one, WWII).
Enthusiasts, however, don't just stop at the clothes. As part of a national fascination with the '40s, from Saving Private Ryan to knee-length skirts and even to Matt Drudge's Walter Winchell-style hat--swing has become a consumer lifestyle. The most die-hard collectors surround themselves with old cars, Raymond Chandler novels, vintage furniture, and vinyl albums. "I know guys who are spending $50,000 on cars and another $50,000 on suits," says Jay Siegan, manager of such up-and-coming bands as Blue Plate Special and the New Morty Show. "I've never seen people pour so much money into a scene before."
In fact, about the only thing that could dent all those fedoras is swing's own success. Scenesters worry the revival is exploding so fast that it's in danger of becoming a media-saturated cliche. Already, Pottery Barn is planning a second swing CD for next year. The sound is the background music for MTV's The Real World and Road Rules. Even Regis and Kathie Lee swing. Michael Moss, publisher of Swing Time magazine, estimates there are more than 200 bands out there, many of which, he moans, are recycling "the Louis songbooks. It's all Louis Jordan and Louis Prima." Adds Siegan, "Every single ska band is turning into a swing band."
