[Dixielandjazz] Mickey Mouse Music / Mickey Bands etc

[Stephen G Barbone]

> Roger Wade wrote
>
> My 88 year old father tells me he heard this term used before World  
> War 2 for bands like Welk's and others of that non-swinging style.   
> He specifically mentioned Guy Lombardo and Shep Fields to me as  
> examples.

I agree Roger, the term was in  use before the big war. Here's a clip  
from an oft quoted biography of Guy Lombardo:

"The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven" was the logo of Guy Lombardo  
& His Royal Canadians, who by 1930 had established themselves as  
America's top dance band. Unfairly lumped in with unswinging "Mickey  
Mouse" bands of the era, the music of Lombardo's outfit was actually  
top-notch, and they were constantly cited by Louis Armstrong as his  
favorite band for their purity of intonation. A cache of early sides  
for Gennett reveals that the band was capable of playing "hot" any  
time they wanted to, but sweet music and singing novelties featuring  
brother Carmen is what the public wanted, and Lombardo failed to  
disappoint. He became a national institution hosting televised New  
Year's Eve broadcasts from New York, making his rendition of "Auld  
Lang Syne" part of our national memory chest and his lasting legacy."

There should be a distinction made between "Mickey" bands/music and  
the bands fronted by Lombardo, Lanin, Davis, Duchin, et al. To call  
them "Mickey would be absurd. They were great bands. On the other hand  
there were a lot of copy cat bands of lesser musicians who neither  
swung, nor exhibited the musical knowledge and business acumen of  
Lombardo and his peers. What the copy cats played was junk by  
comparison.

In my youth I did a couple of "jazzy" gigs with small Meyer Davis band  
units. in NYC. The guys I played with were superb, far better than me.  
I also went on the road for 4 weeks to joints in small towns with a  
not so good "Mickey" band. They played the same tunes, but the  
differences in musicianship were legion.

Like Al Levy said, the musicians in the Lombardo, Lanin , Davis,  
Duchin  et al bands were top notch. You had to know about 2000 songs,  
or be able to convincingly fake them in order to get hired. MANY OKOM  
jazz musicians were able to keep eating because they would play these  
high paying gigs whenever they could. Even to the point of sending a  
sub into a joint like Nick's which paid about $30 a night for 6 hours  
to take a Lanin gig which paid $100 or more for 4 hours. And hope for  
overtime which might bring the Lanin pay to over $200.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband