"It Don't Mean a Thing…"

You walk through the doors of your local club, tendrils of 1999 still clinging to your sleeves. But beyond the barely lit haze lies a scene from Swingers or those black and whites on AMC. Club patrons sport spats and zoot suits or Andrews Sisters-era dresses while jiving away to the smooth sounds of a modern big band.

"Swing is a nice departure from the present," said Swing enthusiast Betty Tao. "I like to think of it as a temporary time machine."

Swing re-emerged in the late Nineties from the "Trends of Days Gone By" cellar with a bang, exploding onto MTV and radio airwaves thanks to groups like the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Suddenly two-tone shoes and the East Coast Swing are hip again. Clubs catering to the tastes of modern-day Swing kids have taken root like kudzu across the country.

"I think the reason [Swing] has come back," said S.W Hood, a musician and Swing-er from way back, "is that it has given people a positive thing to do as a couple."

Another part of the appeal may be the upbeat nature of the genre. Swing lets listeners leave behind the negativity of popular songs like the Ben Folds Five's "Song for the Dumped" or "Flagpole Sittah" by Harvey Danger.

"I believe people have discovered something that has been missing in past musical trends that they find in Swing -- happiness," said Hood.

Fan Raj D. Kumar agrees. "I think teens and people in their 20s can connect with Swing today because it's good, clean fun, which is something 90s society often lacks," Kumar said.

The kinds of music people grow up hearing also plays a part in their migration to Swing. Often early exposure to Swing helped lead them towards big band fandom.

"My parents met at a dance, and I remember watching them dance to big band music," said Hood. He adds, "They still dance to this day and cut a pretty mean rug."

The media helped indoctrinate Tao into the Swing lifestyle. "The old favorites by Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, and Duke Ellington were embedded in so many movies and commercials that, growing up, I couldn't help but hear and recognize them," she said.

The fashion of Swing also adds to its appeal.

"There's just something very attractive about a guy in suspenders, two-toned shoes and a fedora," Tao said. "And wearing chiffon 1940s cocktail dresses with gloves makes me feel incredibly feminine -- something that's almost inappropriate if you look at gender-free Calvin Klein ads.

Hood finds the style involved with Swing very refreshing as well.

"I was at this Swing club in Orlando a few months ago and I overheard two girls talking about the way certain guys were dancing," Hood said. "It was really funny to hear that conversation, versus something like 'I like your nose ring.'"

Critics dismiss Swing as a "here today, gone tomorrow" fad. But those rooted in the Swing "movement" are confident this blast from the past will keep swinging way into the future. Or, if not, Tao is sure it will make its rounds again.

"You know what they say, that history repeats itself," Tao said. "I'm sure thirty to forty years from now, the Macarena will be cool again, too."

Diana L. Marsh

Click here for a review of the latest disk by the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Cherry Poppin' Daddies and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.