Customer Reviews

Swing Kids: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First off let me commend the original score by James Horner, it goes along very well with the movie and stands on its own outside.
Second, I'll explain why the swing recordings on this CD are a must have even though they've been recorded before. I've read one review saying that you can get these songs on other original artists' CDs for better quality. It's not true. The sound quality is alright, nothing special, but it's the ARRANGEMENT that the film makers put in these songs that makes them unique. My favorite is "Shout And Feel It", which was originally recorded by Count Basie with all-big-band style. On Swing Kids, however, they replaced the brass section with Django-Reinhart-style guitar solo, which I think is just priceless! My only drag on this CD is the shortenning version of Benny Goodman's originally 8-minute-long hit "Sing Sing Sing," but one good thing about it is there's less of the annoying Harry-James-style trumpet interlude. "Bei Mir Bis Schon" is another highlight. Originated with names like Benny Goodman and the Andrews Sisters, whose flowery singing was too much of a distraction for audiences to appreciate the beautiful tune of the song. This version with Janis Seigel is much better, since they simplified the singing and put more emphasis on the instruments, giving it a smooth flow. However, the ULTIMATE STROKE OF GENIUS is combining Benny Goodman's "Life Goes To A Party" with Count Basie's "Jumping At The Woodside." Those songs on their original recordings were kind of bland, but mixing them together with a few instrumental rearrangements created a whole new exciting piece.
Over all, Swing Kids would be a great addition in anyone's swing collection, but you have to be a real avid fan of swing to fully appreciate this CD.

When I first saw Swing Kids back when it started showing on premium TV I was dumbfounded. I had never really heard big band swing before. From the first second of the movie I wanted to get up and dance. I also wanted to become a musician. I was about 12 years old at the time. I am now a 20 year old musician and I feel the music the same way I did when I first heard it. I will never forget the movie and its music that introduced me to one of the most incredible genres of music in the world. And not only is the swing music an incredible selection, but the original scores are moving as well. You can feel the fear that the people living in Nazi Germany were feeling. It brings tears to my eyes as I listen to the story the songs are telling. If you ever buy a soundtrack in your life, this is the one to buy. And mind you, I am not your typical jazz listener. I am in love with the likes of the Cure, RHCP, Jane's Addiction, Bjork, SP, and Primus as well as Debussy, Tchaikovsky, and Schubert. So, take it from me, whatever you listen to, this will be something that will pull you into the swing mood and will never lighten its grip.

I LOVE this CD!! My husband is sick of me playing it all the time. The well-selected old favorites are beautifully interpreted by modern musicians (read: excellent sound quality). The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I don't really enjoy the original music written for the film. Nothing against these pieces- they serve their purpose in the movie- but they don't go well with the energetic uplifting swing numbers that I bought the soundtrack for.

SWING KIDS is a fine but obscure movie about young nonconformists in prewar Nazi Germany who rebel against their authoritarian society by indulging in Swing music and dance clubs. Derided by the Nazis as "decadent", "Black" and "Jewish," Swing was banned, and it's adherents were forcibly conscripted, arrested, tortured, and sent to concentration camps. In SWING KIDS, the irresistible pressures of conformity ratchet apart the relationship between three best friends. Sad, yet ultimately defiant, SWING KIDS is a fascinating look at ordinary day-to-day life in National Socialist Germany.

Fortunately, "sad" is not a word that can be applied to the soundtrack, which is rife with Swing classics from Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Count Basie, and others. Some of the records are wonderfully archaic scratchy originals. Others are new orchestrations done for the film.

The downside to this CD is James Horner's film orchestrations which are mostly not Swing, and manage to interrupt the party just as it settles into its groove. It's unfair to complain: After all, this is a movie soundtrack, the guy who wrote the original music for the movie should be on it, and when he's in Swing, he's got that Thing. But having to listen to a cheery little minor key string piece titled "Arvid Beaten" in between "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" and "Jumping At The Woodside" is really disconcerting. Like the soundtrack to YELLOW SUBMARINE, the film orchestrations should have been gathered together on the "B" side (a good argument to bring back the 33.3 record). For myself, I just hit the "Track Forward" button.

Fortunately, the Swing more than outweighs Horner's minor musical distractions. This should have been a five star recording, and could have been a three star recording. I'm giving it four stars. The Swing is splendid.

I originally got this album because of the swing music. The sounds are top quality and I truly love to listen to it. The main difficulty is that there are also back ground songs on the CD which are more mood music than anything else. Although the music is good to listen to the styles don't mesh. Usually I have to use the program button on my radio anytime I want to listen to it, that way I can listen to either the swing music or the orchestral stuff. This cd is excellent for those who want a variety of songs to practice their swing dance technique, and you get a bonus of some moving melodic music as well.

Swing Kids was the first movie I ever saw that had me in tears, running down my face. It sparked in me a long-time interest in the Holocaust and the millions of lives it destroyed. I'm sorry to see that so many people think so little of the original score. The swing songs are great, I'll wholeheartedly agree, but for me, the songs that really tug at my soul are "The Letter" and "Swing Heil", because they remind me of the scenes from the movie which they went along with so well, which introduced me to a very dark part of the human experience. If all you want to do is dance, then fine, skip over the score songs, but I recommend seeing the movie and listening to the score if you understand music as a form of understanding the human soul.

Swing Kids is one hellouva cd and one hellouva soundtrack. It represents old swing titles (Swingtime in the rockies, Flat Floot Floogie and Goodnight My Love by Benny Goodman, It Don't Mean A Thing by Billy Banks) few score numbers (Nothing To Report, The Letter, Arvid Beaten, Training For Utopia, Ashes, The Bismarck and Swing Heil composed by James Horner) and few remakes of old swing classics recorded for the movie (Sing Sing Sing, orig. Benny Goodman, Shout and Feel It, orig. by Count Basie, Daphne, orig. by Django Reinhardt, medley Life Goes to a Party/Jumpin' at the Woodside, and fabulous Bei Mir Bist du Schön by Janis Siegel). Sound quality is great and music danceable. I highly recommend this record.

After recently viewing the movie Swing Kids for the first time, I was eager to purchase the soundtrack of the movie as I was amazed at the wonderful music demonstrated in the swing clubs throughout the masterpiece of a movie. Not only does the album contain old favorites like "Sing Sing Sing (with a swing)" and "Goodnight My Love," but also contains numerous others not normally placed on big band or swing albums that make this CD a must-have for any afficionado of swing dancing and big band music! It makes you want to simply get up and start jitterbugging around the room!

This is the best CD. It has everything. The get off your butt and dance!! swing music. And the sad sweet melodies from the sound track. The movie was wonderful. I cry everytime I watch it, and also when I hear the songs from the sad parts of the movie. If you haven't seen the movie you must go and rent it. It is an amazing glimpse into one of history's darkest eras. into the lives of a group of friends, who through their music rebel agaist the Nazi society. And the choices they are forced to make.

The score/filler tracks leave a lot to be desired, after all, they are up against Benny Goodman and other relentlessly lively swing standards... so, like another reviewer urged, skip those. But definitely drink in the other songs... you will want to dance... in fact it will be impossible to stay in your chair. You will want to listen to it loud and listen to it often. You can't help it. This music is infectious and addictive!

The album starts with the absolutely fantastic "Sing Sing Sing..." and later showcases the fantastic "It Don't Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got that Swing..." among other jumping, swingin tunes... who can help but fall in love with it? It is impossible.

"Goodnight my Love" and "Bei Mir Bist du Schon" are other favourites... excellent complements to the rest of the album. Perfectly put together.