Swingin' at the Seance

"Swingin' at the Seance" is a short film that is a 'Soundie'...an early sort of music video that was played on specially built jukeboxes from 1940-1947. These jukeboxers were unusual because they not only played music but video...like music videos of the modern era. And, if you are curious about this an other soundies, you might want to buy yourself a copy of "Soundies the Ultimate Collection"...a 4 disc set of about 200 of these films.

"Swingin' at the Seance" is an unusual song by Johnny Long and His Orchestra and features Helen Young. The print is a bit rough and in need of further restoration. I earlier said it was unusual...mostly due to the strange special effects and the way the song is sung. Overall, an average sort of film despite the title.

Johnny Long's orchestra performs while Helen Young sings the title song in this soundie from 1941.

It's one of more than two thousand "soundies" produced between 1939 and 1947, meant to be played on a device called a Mills Panoram. For seven years they could be found in bars, night clubs, and other places where people would gather. Think of them as music videos, available for viewing at a dime a song.

The performance is strong and bluesy, although most of the interesting visuals are derived from using an optical printer; it's mostly cut between the band and the singer lip-syncing the song.

Long was a left-handed violinist. He started his band in 1932, and as late as 1956 was seen on television. He died in 1972 at the age of 56.