Soundies: A history on PBS

I had TIVOd this show on PBS and watched it today. It was totally fascinating. I would seriously recommend trying to catch this show. I didn't know this but these "Soundies" from the 1940s were way ahead of MTV. The technology and these music 'videos' started before the second world war. Nothing Tiki or Exotica before the war of course ( although there was some burlesque - fan dances ). The videos changed during the war years as they became very patriotic and war effort message oriented. After the war, before the technology was crushed by the new technology of television, you could maybe start to see Exotica creeping in. They played a video of Dorothy Dandridge in a jungle scene that was something else. The trompone player was using his trompone to stir a big pot with a missionary in it. The song was I think "Jig in the Jungle." The racial stuff made me cringe. Hard to believe how insensitive a lot of stuff was then. It was a different world I guess. I'd be interested to hear what anyone else thought that saw this.

How strange! I just found out about "Soundies" last night, when I happened across this site: http://www.doctormacro.com/index.html

They have a bunch of soundies hosted there, as well as a link to the Internet Archive, where you can download higher resolution versions. There is one in particular that caught my eye, "The Hawaiian Hula Song"

http://www.doctormacro-m1.com/FilmClips/Soundies/Soundie%20-%20Hawaiian%20Hula%20Song.wmv

I don't recognize the singer myself, but the song is really good.

I didn't see the PBS special though.

Chris

Here is a link to an article by the NY Sun that describes the Dorothy Dandridge piece "Jig in the Jungle." I found this very interesting. I think I'm going to have to rent the biopic movie with Halle Barry playing Dorothy Dandridge.
http://www.nysun.com/article/49783