If I'm incapacitated, play me some Swing!

Mom was singing the Andrews Sisters' Hold Tight, Hold Tight inside my head this morning. If you haven't heard this golden trio of singers, you're missing something special. (I became a fan because they were in a number of Abbott and Costello movies.)

That led to hours of Big Band enjoyment, with Glen Miller, Artie Shaw, Bennie Goodman, Gene Krupa, and singers like Rosemary Clooney and Frank Sinatra...Chattanooga Choo-Choo and In the Mood, a couple of favorites. They're a bit before my time, granted, but you can't keep but 'tap your toes' to this music, no doubt about it.  Plus it reminds me of my parents, who DID grow up with this music.

With Uncle Jay, 1956

Mom, an Arthur Murray dance instructor during the 1940s, probably taught Dad, and they'd suddenly lock arms and waists and start spinning around the living room while my sister and I watched.  If Dad wasn't around she'd grab one of us, and one of my lifelong regrets will be that I didn't pay more attention when she was trying to teach all those great moves.  It just didn't jive with Rock-n-Roll at the time, darn!

Busby Berkley's 1930s musicals lifted spirits during the Depression.  Big Bands kept people going throughout WWII. We need something now, dontcha think?  If there's nothing comparable that comes to mind, then I suggest you join Duke Ellington and Take the A Train.

Thanks for the boost, Mom.