[Dixielandjazz] Charlie/propaganda swing

[Anton Crouch]

Hello Cary

Nobody seems to have replied on-list with details, so I'll give it a go.

"Charlie" was Karl Schwedler, a singer who made approx 90 recordings in
Berlin between March 1941 and February 1943. The "orchestra" of "Charlie
and his orchestra" was that of Lutz Templin and included such well-known
players as Kurt Abraham (reeds), Willy Berking (trombone) and Freddie
Brocksieper (drums).

Schwedler sang in English and the format of the performances was to take a
popular British or American song and sing it in a "propaganda" version
(often after singing it "straight"). The nature of the propaganda varied
from drawing attention to Allied losses to offensive attacks on the allied
leadership, mixed with the occasional dose of anti-semitism. The quality of
the big band swing was high, but I agree with Steve Barbone that the
playing tended to be a bit stiff.

An Englishman, Norman Baillie-Stewart, had some involvement in the
undertaking and he wrote in his autobiography that the process was for the
propaganda to be first written in German and then translated into English.

Did the propaganda have any effect? I doubt it but I suspect that some of
it was as amusing in the 1940s as it is now. For example:

St Louis Blues becomes Blackout Blues and is sung by "a negro from the
London docks" who hates to see the evening sun go down "cos the Germans, he
done bomb this town".

Miss Annabelle Lee becomes Miss BBC.

South of the Border features "a well known English capitalist" who wants to
move to the "western Atlantic, America way".

Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen becomes an "Anthem of the international brotherhood
of bolsheviks"

The Man with the Big Cigar is Churchill, "friend of the USSR".

Bye Bye Blackbird becomes Bye Bye Empire and has Churchill lamenting that
all he'll have left is the London zoo.

Pocketful of Dreams has Roosevelt declaring that "I've got a pocketful of
schemes" and that he'll "save the world for Wall Street".

There is the occasional serious song - for example "Thanks For the Memory",
which includes such lines as "Thanks for the memory, that is in every
German's mind, when you broke the ties that bind, and dictated a peace,
called Treaty of Versailles - how rotten that was".

The session of July 1942 is of some interest. Alongside Charlie's efforts
are two sides by Lale Andersen and, yes, one is a version of Lili Marleen.
This July 1942 version of Lili Marleen (not be confused with the "famous"
version of August 1939) has the vocal in both German and English and may
have been the stimulus for the Allied appropriation of the song. Does any
listmate have any info on this?

The Germans were, of course, not alone in using popular music for
propaganda purposes. How could we forget Johnny Desmond singing "Long ago
and far away" in German or the neo Dadaist (oops, sorry) efforts of Spike
Jones. 

Finally a request. Who remembers a WW2 song called "You're a sap, Mister
Jap (to mess with Uncle Sammy)"? I have the barest memory of it and have
the feeling that it may have been sung by an Andrews Sisters type group.

All the best
Anton