Among the things going extinct soon...sexy lingerie. Not trashy lingerie for empty-headed ho's with butts the size of watermelons. We're talking about elegant items that cause Miss Otis a lot of regrets in the morning.
The heyday for this stuff was probably the 30's, with a nod to the tawdry 50's when Lily St. Cyr was selling mail order from the back of magazines, along with Frederick's of Hollywood.
Similarly, the heyday for hotcha Big Band music, the kind that accompanied hot dancing in speakeasy nightclubs and was played throbbingly loud on a cheap hotel radio, was also the 30's, but again, with a nod toward the dying last days of Fletcher Henderson as he tried, yet again and again, to put together a new band. Fletcher was about 55 when he died, December 29, 1952.
Here's a meld of a classic Fletcher Henderson instrumental, and glimpses of "Pre-Code" movies where a glimpse of stocking was usually not enough; slips, bras and panties were on the menu, too.
Any women wear “slips” anymore? No James Corden, the question was ANY WOMEN?
Do you suppose Millennials have ever heard of the terms “step-ins” or “tap pants?” Both refer to what might best be described as the female version of boxer shorts. Instead of tight panties, these were loose-fitting, and, well, you’ll see plenty of them in the video clips, A misconception about B&W movie entertainment was that it was always prudish. No, in fact as soon as a woman stepped in front of a camera, the idea was to get her clothes off and, hopefully, horizontal.
Stag films go back to the silent era, and so did the legendary Clara Bow. Soon there was Mae West and even Betty Boop cartoons showing off saucy humor. Things got so outrageous that a censor was brought in to create a code of conduct for the film studios. The Hayes Office took a lot of fun out of films, but there was still some hot moments, and you can see plenty in “pre-code” movies (of which this compilation partakes).
As for the music, Big Band stuff could definitely swing. Johnny Carson used to simmer about this, pointing to Doc and the band, saying, "If people don't think that's hip...." Because it actually was. Once you understood it, the arrangements and the finesse of the great horn players and drummers is evident. Big Band isn't Glenn Miller doing "In the Mood" (a song Peter Sellers hated so much, he willed that it be inflicted on mourners at his funeral).
Just imagine the cats dancing to extremely fast-paced stuff like “Hotter than ‘Ell,” while drinking bootleg liquor or, gasp, smoking REEFER. Yes, there was definitely some reefer madness going on at some of the after-hours clubs that featured blazing brass and frantic piano and a powerful full band of hepcats stewed or fried on booze or weed.
Some have a passing knowledge of Cab Calloway or Fats Waller, and of course latter-day saints like Miles Davis, but two of the best Big Band leaders were Jimmie Lunceford and Fletcher Henderson. Both offered the kind of hotcha that was often used to pump up the excitement in bizarre movie cartoons featuring insane-looking animals.
Henderson was wise and slick, and hired some of the legends, from Louis Armstrong and Don Redman to Benny Carter, Henry "Red" Allen, Roy Eldridge, Sun Ra and Coleman Hawkins. His bands recorded a ton of 78's, and he was a classy guy, insisting his guys dress well for their gigs. Henderson also worked as an arranger for Benny Goodman, a secret weapon in Benny's battle to become the hippest guy on radio (up against the Dorsey brothers and Artie Shaw among others).
I was fortunate that when I was really get into jazz, there were still some big record stores staffed by people who knew what they were doing. At the jazz section one day, I asked, "Who played that fast, bouncy jazz you'd hear on the soundtrack of old Terrytoons and Felix the Cat cartoons?" "Oh, check over here...budget MCA records by Lunceford and Henderson." Henderson was a bit hotter and more intense of the two, although there's unintentional humor in his version of "Knock Knock Who's There," where he puns, badly, his own name. "Knock Knock." "Who's There." "Fletcher." "Fletcher who?" "Fletch-yo-self Go!"
Go, GO. Great Granny may have been keeping some secrets from you. She could’ve been decked out in stockings, garterbelt (suspender belt in the UK), step-ins, slip…and after dancing for a few hours, slipping and sliding in bed to some hot action and Fletcher Henderson music. Hell, 'ell, she might even be in one of the film clips. Hotcha!
That URL again...ZIPPYSHARE VERSION:
MEGA VERSION:
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