[Dixielandjazz] Mickey Mouse Music pre WW 2?

[Larry Walton Entertainment]

Mickey bands are alive and well here in the Mid West.  As I said I have 
played with the Jan Garber Band as well as others at the Crystal Ballroom in 
Staunton Illinois.  The ballroom is about 50 miles North East of St, Louis. 
For a small town these bands, mostly based out of the Chicago and Wisconsin 
areas, draw pretty good crowds.

There is a style to it.  They typically play five tune sets made up of a 
Latin, several foxtrots, a waltz and maybe a polka followed by a chaser to 
clear the floor.  The band puts away music and pulls the next set.

Don't mistake these bands as being easy to play with..  The markings are 
very important and if you miss very many you are out of sync with the band. 
There are also frequent key signature changes. Sight reading these charts 
that may be really old and worn can be a challenge.  Sometimes page two or 
three isn't there.  The band members have been playing these charts forever 
and there are revisions to charts that aren't written out like extra endings 
so you can spend half the time trying to figure out where you are. 
Sometimes the guy next to you will help sometimes not.

I think that Swing bands are somewhat easier to play with or at least easier 
to sight read than Mickey band charts but that's my take on it.
Larry
StL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen G Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Bill Haesler" <bhaesler at bigpond.net.au>; "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" 
<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 7:51 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Mickey Mouse Music pre WW 2?


> OK Bill, here is Dictionary.com definition of Mickey Mouse Music. 
> (Dictionary.com is based on the Random House Dictionary)
>
> Mickey Mouse
> noun (often initial capital letters) informal
>
> 1. trite and commercially slick in character; corny; (mickey mouse  music)
>
> 2. useless, insignificant, or worthless (mickey mouse activities just  to 
> fill up one's time)
>
> 3. trivial or petty: (mickey mouse regulations.
>
>
> Origin:
>
> 1930-35; after the animated cartoon character created by Walt Disney, 
> orig. with reference to the banal dance-band music played as  background 
> to the cartoons.
>
> Word Origin & History
> Mickey Mouse
> cartoon mouse character created in 1928 by Walt Disney (1901-66) As an 
> adj. meaning "small and worthless" it dates from 1936, originally used 
> especially of mediocre dance-band music, a put down based on the type  of 
> tunes played as background in cartoon films.
>
> Now that's not proof either, but see other etymology for corroboration 
> e.g.
>
> http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Mickey+Mouse
>
> I can't remember much about musical slang in use before the late 1940s 
> but do remember at that time that "mickey mouse" fit the above 
> definitions and was in common usage among musicians in NYC. So while  none 
> of the above is absolute proof, coupled with Roger's dad's memory  of it 
> being used pre WW2,  I'll buy it.  <grin>
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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