Swing Dance Music

A number of people have been asking me about swing dance music. I'm going to share what I have below. But first I want to talk about what makes great swing music, in my opinion.

I don't care for big band music very much. I find most of it rather dull. However, you will find some big band in the list below -- especially the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Brian Setzer was the frontman for The Stray Cats and really knows how to swing it up.

Swing music should make you want to dance. When it comes on, your fingers should be tapping out the rhythm. Maybe your feet get involved. If you're driving along, maybe you find yourself tapping on the steering wheel or pulsing the brakes as you come to a stop. Maybe you wiggle a little in your chair, pulsing your shoulders or nodding your head.

However your body expresses itself isn't important. It's just that the music makes your body want to move. All the music on this list makes my body want to move. Furthermore, every album listed is full of songs that are truly danceable. The tempo is clear and in a range you can dance to. Sure, there might be a few songs on each album that don't fit the bill, but for the most part, you can dance to all of these songs.

Purists won't be impressed with some of my choices. Tough. This is the music I like. :-) You can dance swing to almost any 4-beat music if the tempo is right. I've danced swing to Hip Hop mashups -- and looked good doing it. I would have preferred something swingier, but you dance to what you've got at the time.

Most of this music is readily available from Amazon.

Groups and Albums

Most (not all) links are to Amazon.

• Anything by Davina and the Vagabonds. This is a local band that plays at venues around town. I see them as often as I can. You won't be disappointed. Buy their music off their web site or come to one of their events. Also available at Amazon for significantly more than the cost if you buy direct from Davina.
• Anything by The Brian Setzer Orchestra. I own The Dirty Boogie. Some of the songs are too upbeat for me, but all are fabulous swing.
• Anything by The Stray Cats. Their style is referred to as Rockabilly, and it's totally danceable.
• Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Zoot Suit Riot.
• The Atomic Fireballs. I love their swong "Swing Sweet Pussycat" which can be found on "Torch This Place". This song appears at the end of the movie "Three to Tango" with Neve Campbell and Matt Perry.
• The Swing This Baby collections. I own three of these:
  • Swing This Baby
  • Swing This Baby Volume 2
  • Swing This Baby III
  These are swing collections from a variety of modern bands.
• Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. They have a few songs on the Swing This Baby collections or you can buy their albums at Amazon.
• Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time. The tempos tend to be slower in this album, perhaps more condusive to West Coast Swing. But the song I'm listening to right now is a beautiful triple step swing song. I love the slower swing songs because I can put a lot of extra touches in and am not so frantic.
• The Manhattan Transfer. I only have "The Boy from New York City" (single) purchased from iTunes, but you can probably swing to most of their music.
• The Pretenders. I have a few singles thanks to iTunes.

Individual Songs

You can find these on iTunes.

• The Georgia Satellites: Keep your Hands to Yourself. This is slower, good west coast, but you can triple step to it just fine.
• The Raveonettes, Love in a Trashcan.
• Anne Murray: Make Love to Me. Another West Coast song. I bought The Best... So Far. It's filled with danceable music in a variety of styles, including 1 or 2 waltzes. So if you want one album that will give you several styles, this album might be good for you.

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Last Updated: March, 2010.