Charlie and His Orchestra

In the 1930's, The National Socialists had a love/hate relationship with swing music. They outlawed it on their homefront, throwing it into the category of "degenerate" art. But at the same time, they employed it in the service of the fatherland. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, assembled a fairly competent swing band called Charlie and His Orchestra to perform Nazified versions of the jazz hits of the day. Led by an English speaking German, Karl Schwedler, Charlie and His Orchestra broadcast on the medium-wave and short-wave bands throughout the 1930s to Canada, the US and Britain.
The idea was to lure the masses in with the irresistible tonic of swing music and then slyly work in the anti-Jewish, American and British lyrics after the second or third verse. The broadcasts of Charlie and His Orchestra were not available in the Fatherland proper, but that only enhanced their legend, and they picked up an underground following in Germany as well.

For educational purposes only.

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Education

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• Charlie and His Orchestra
• German propaganda
• WWII
• WW2

[clintonearlwalker]

@Rach84 Nearly all "anti-Nazi's" in Germany talk about "swing music". The movie "Sophie Scholl, The Final Days" begins with Sophie singing an American jazz song with a thick German accent. Another German resistance member said he sang "The Flat Foot Floogie with the Floy Floy" all the time. American jazz was a big deal there. The song in this vid by "Charlie and His Orchestra" was beamed by the Nazi's to England and the US. It was "acceptable" jazz by Nazi standards.

[Rach84]

@clintonearlwalker I knew about how some rebelled, but you gave me more insight into it. Thank you for the info!

[clintonearlwalker]

@Rach84 After Adolf Hitler gained "seizure of power" in 1933, the Reich's Music Chamber[10] was also created in that same year. This was then followed by a full legal ban on this music on October 12, 1935 across all German national radio.[11]Eugen Hadamovsky, who purportedly stated:"As of today, I am speaking on a definitive ban on the Nigger jazz for the entire German Radio."). The "Swing Kids" still had records though, and they used them.

[clintonearlwalker]

Young adults in Germany were encouraged to join the "Hitler Youth" through the 1930's later I think it became mandatory. A counter group that liked swing and wouldn't join the "Hitlerjugend" arose. "The Swing Kids (German: Swingjugend) were a group of jazz and swing lovers in Germany in the 1930s, mainly in Hamburg (St. Pauli) and Berlin." Instead of "Sieg Heil" they shouted "Swing Heil". The Gestapo arrested many of them. Yes, German kids in the 1930's listened to American swing.

[Rach84]

@clintonearlwalker So around in the late 30s, American swing music was played on German radio?

[clintonearlwalker]

@Rach84 "On 2 January 1942, Heinrich Himmler wrote to Reinhard Heydrich calling on him to clamp down on the ringleaders of the swing movement, recommending a few years in a concentration camp with beatings and forced labor. The crackdown soon followed: clubs were raided, and participants were hauled off to camps."--Wikipedia I think the movie "Swing Kids" is posted on YouTube, I watched it here once if it hasn't been removed for copyright.

[FreiTilsit]

Swing music wasn't outlawed by the National Socialists. Only certain jewish band leaders were banned in response to the world-wide jewish led boycott of Germany.

[Rach84]

Do you know if swing music was played at all on german radio during the 30s or 40s?

[perla51]

Very interesting dear Tomo...the Goebbels's band !!!!I knew that he was interested about cinema and often he speaks to the radio for the German people.Thanks and big hugs Perla.

[Britcomsarebest]

It used to take me 4 hours to present a two hour programme on community radio playing the happy tunes of the 1920's,30s and unusual songs. It was the above song by Karl Schwedler and 'Stormy Weather' (also a German propaganda song) that created most response. Now, thanks to YouTube I can sit back and enjoy all these old tunes without the hassle of hunting through the record shops trying to find other old tunes.