Artie Shaw

Video Find of the Day

When I was a kid a developed a long-lasting aversion to swing that I've only recently recovered from, thanks to my Father's refusal to let us listen to anything else in his presence, but I couldn't turn against all of it. A lot of the stuff that I retained a love for turns out to have been stuff that Artie Shaw & His Orchestra did, and did best.

Artie Shaw - Lady Be Good



One of my favorites was this next. BTW, a beguine is a kind of dance. Look it up. The song was written by Cole Porter for the 1935 musical Jubilee.

Begin the Beguine - Artie Shaw

Peggy Lee

Video Find of the Day

When I was about six I developed a huge age-inappropriate crush on Peggy Lee. The Peggy Lee I saw was the Peggy Lee who recorded songs for Disney's Lady and the Tramp. First though, here's a younger, 23 year-old, Peggy Lee singing in an awesome video with Benny Goodman. Oh. My. God.

Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee - Why Don't You Do Right



Don't worry, in this next one, Walt Disney gets out of the picture pretty soon. I love watching the guys doing the dog's voices, especially the guy doing the bulldog's voice. So cool. I think I saw this sequence just once, when I was six or seven. It made a lasting impression.

Peggy Lee - He's a Tramp-Walt Disney-Lady and the Tramp-song



Finally, here she is in her sixties, hot as ever, doing Fever.