[Dixielandjazz] Cartoon Music

[Stephen G Barbone]

> "Robert S. Ringwald" <robert at ringwald.com>  wrote
>
> Ahem, a band that can play the type of music that was used in some
> cartoons.  But certainly not a band that plays "cartoon music."

Aw come on Bob , lighten up. The only reason many diss "cartoon music"  
is that they insist on using it as a pejorative term. Note the below  
from http://www.cartoonresearch.com/gerstein/cartoonmusic/  Then also  
note if you pursue the website further, you will find that "Darktown  
Strutters Ball" was used to make points in "Trader Mickey"  and  
"Showing Off"  in the 1930s. There is a hell of a lot more socio-  
cultural history that goes along with "cartoon music" then most folks  
realize.

For the copyright mavins, note the "fair use" disclaimer at the upper  
right of the page.

Cheers,
Steve barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband



Who doesn't remember classic cartoons?

Warner, Disney, MGM, Columbia, Fleischer, Lantz; name a studio, and  
your eye recalls the images, your brain the actions and personalities  
of favorite cartoon characters. From Bugs Bunny's hat dance with "El  
Toro" to Donald Duck's fanny-wagging ballet on the ice, animated  
images were built to last by their artists and storymen.

Same goes for those animated melodies.

No, really: rewatch a cartoon you've seen before, and your ears may  
well recall the background score before your eyes recall the visuals.  
Quite a feat for mere accompaniment to be so memorable. You know the  
tunesof Bugs and the bull, of Donald in winter, almost as if they were  
written to hold an audience on their own.

And so they were.

In truth, the tunes of these old cartoons are memorable because they  
were the popular music of the 1920s and before: the drinking songs,  
the minstrel reels, the cultural memories that filled animators' lives  
behind the screen. Lives that we today have lost touch with; for  
excepting classic cartoons, yesterday's cultural memories sadly fill  
today's memory hole.

It's time to reclaim the past. Cartoon music holds a history waiting  
for us to rediscover, love, hate, and learn from, and that's the goal  
of this page. Starting with classic songs as we know them from  
cartoons and cartoon spin-offs, I'll move outward to show you the  
buried history that they contain: broader cultural significance as  
seen through vintage sheet music, rare original recordings, bizarre  
facts and weird old-time cliches. Lots of weird old-time cliches.

Come along—you know you want to. . . .