NOT JUST A POODLE SKIRT, chrome, pink & black 50s-themed cafe, although that era is well represented. Nostalgia is part of it, but the main idea is that the era between the 20s and early 60s produced great popular entertainment: jazz, musical theatre, and popular music, as well as some of the best movies ever made–a wealth of rich content worth exploring in depth.
Anchored by an old-fashioned soda fountain and art deco jukebox loaded with tunes both well-known and obscure from each decade in our period of interest, the Jitterbug Palace will offer music and movies on CD and DVD; books on the people and trends in the history of jazz, dance bands and early radio & TV; the actors, directors and studios; and hundreds of posters and other memorabilia.
I invite you to poke around on this site; check out the sound and movie files–regard them as previews of things to come. And don't miss the links to some cool nostalgia/historic web sites. Your comments are welcome; you can email me to get on the mailing list for news of the Jitterbug Palace's ultimate location and other info.
Click to watch full-length movies now.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH clips from old Hollywood movies, short music films and TV shows, many of which the Jitterbug Palace will offer for sale.
The movies were updated 9-2-09.
IMPORTANT: clear your cache often in order to see the newest additions.
MOVIE GENRES WILL INCLUDE:
Silent Classics
Musicals
Screwball Comedies
WW II
Astaire & Rogers
Film Noir
Adventure
Science Fiction
Swashbucklers
Serials
Comedy
Hitchcock
Westerns
Selected TV Shows
NEW WEB CAM! See Jitterbug Palace's home town on the GRASS VALLEY CAM
Milkshakes
Sundaes
Banana Splits
New York Egg Cremes
Fountain Drinks
Mary Fraser Candies
Featuring your favorite big band, pop, doowop, surf, western swing, R&B and rock and roll hits. Well-represented also is The Great American Song Book—The Gershwins, Rodgers & Hart, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Jerome Kern.
SAMPLE PODCAST Here's a more extended sample, featuring somewhat abbreviated selections, of what you might hear on the Jitterbug Palace jukebox over a period of a half hour or so.
Listen to one of my favorite online jazz broadcasts:
Many of these sites feature podcasts, RealAudio, MP3 or other sound files.
Sara & Swingtime Need a great 30s-40s style singer and band for your Northern California event? Check out the sound samples—you'll like what you hear!
The Dean Martinis Nashville jump blues, swing and jazz band whose motto is "Taking jazz back to the dance floor!"
Worlds Records Amazing selection of older (and some contemporary) jazz and pop; lots of European and British compilations. I buy most of my music from Worlds Records.
Maxwell DeMille's Cicada Club If I lived in L.A., you'd find me here every Sunday night. Check out the archived shows.
Mora's Modern Music There are a ton of bands playing retro arrangements, but in my opinion this one (or rather this family of bands,
since Dean Mora has various configurations and covers the 20s through the 40s) is the most authentic. They play the Cicada Club and other SoCal venues.
Divaville: Nothing but great singers broadcast live every Wednesday evening, 6-9 West Coast time.
About the musicians, the bands, the movies, the studios, the stars . . .
This one on the influence European & Russian pre-WWII political exiles had on American popular entertainment is highly recommended; the link below will allow you to browse several pages and if it looks interesting, complete the purchase:
