Let's Dance : The Best Of Ballroom Swing, Lindy, Jitterbug & Jive

Let's Dance! : The Best Of Ballroom... (Series) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 11, 1997)
• Original Release Date: November 11, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino
• ASIN: B00000344A
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,255 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #24 in Music > Pop > Easy Listening > Ballroom Dance
  • #55 in Music > Jazz > Jive Jazz

Track Listings

1. Ability to Swing

2. Think

3. Who

4. Destination: Anywhere

5. Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me

6. Hot Coffee

7. Messin' With the Kid

8. Chain of Fools

9. Rocket 88

10. My Boyfriend's Back

11. Ol' Man River

12. Jive After Five

13. The Walkin' Blues

14. Trickle Trickle

15. Jack, You're Dead!

16. Why Do Fools Fall in Love?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do not buy this CD!, January 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Let's Dance : The Best Of Ballroom Swing, Lindy, Jitterbug & Jive (Audio CD)

What a waste. Is this bad music? Not really. Is it the best choice for Lindy Hopping? No! It is one of the worst compilations out there in fact. This is a result of people that teach at a general dance studio trying to be cool and find music you can swing to--while not being swing music. Or perhaps they couldn't secure the rights to anything else??? Could you dance to these songs? I guess. Do I want to? No way.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent collection of 16 (8 Swing, 3 Lindy, 5 Jitterbug), November 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Let's Dance : The Best Of Ballroom Swing, Lindy, Jitterbug & Jive (Audio CD)

An excellent collection of 16 songs. The first 8 are Swing, including Think, Chain of Fools (Aretha Franklin); Ability to Swing (Patti Austin); Hot Coffee (Carl Anderson). The next 3 are Lindy, including My Boyfriend's Back (Melissa Manchester). the last 5 are Jitterbug and Jive, with Jive After Five (Carl Perkins), Trickle Trickle (Manhattan Transfer), and Why Do Fools Fall In Love (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers).

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful collection for dance DJs and party hosts / hostesses, April 4, 2007

By 

J. Wakefield (SLC, Utah) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let's Dance : The Best Of Ballroom Swing, Lindy, Jitterbug & Jive (Audio CD)

4 stars
This is a fine collection of vocal music for various kinds of swing dancing. All 16 tracks have been digitally remastered and they are reasonably clean of noise, pop, hiss, etc. I can't say I love every track, but it is a useful collection for dance DJs and party hosts / hostesses.

The first eight tracks are listed under "swing." They are slow-between 29-31 measures per minute. Single rhythm swing would not be much fun to these, but they are great for triple rhythm swing. If you are adventersome, and this is not a stretch if you love it, dance West Coast swing and slink up the hall!

Tracks 9-11 range betweem 33-37 mpm, and they are fun if your knees will let you dance Lindy-hop to them.

Tracks 12-16 are listed as jitterbug or jive and range from 38-54 mpm.

Here are the titles, durations, suggested dance, measures per minute, and artist:

Ability To Swing, 4:51, WCSwing, 31 (Patti Austin)
Think, 2:20, WCSwing, 28 (Aretha Franklin)
Who told you? 4:09, WCSwing, 29 (James Cotton, et al.)
Destination Anywhere, 3:12, WCSwing, 30 (Commitments)
Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me, 2:50, WCSwing, 31 (Nina Simone)
Hot Coffee, 4:54, WCSwing, 30 (Carl Anderson)
Messin' With The Kid, 2:15, WCSwing, 30 (Buddy Guy & Junior Wells)
Chain Of Fools, 2:48, WCSwing, 29 (Aretha Franklin)
Rocket 88, 2:51, Lindy, 37 (Buster Poindexter)
My Boyfriend is Back, 3:27, Lindy, 33 (Melissa Manchester)
Ol' Man River, 3:26, Lindy, 34 (Earl Grant)
Jive After Five, 2:22, Jive, 38 (Carl Perkins)
Walkin Blues, The, 5:22, Jive, 40 (Royal Crown Revue)
Trickle Trickle, 2:22, Jive, 46 (Manhattan Transfer)
Jack, You're Dead, 2:48, Jive, 54 (Joe Jackson's Jumpin' Jive Band)
Why do fools fall in love, 2:17, Jive, 44 (Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers)