The Jitterbug Craze

Although almost everyone attributes the term, Jitterbug, to Cab Calloway, it was actually a trombonist, Harry Alexander White, who coined the term “Jitterbug.”  Cab Calloway’s trumpeter, Edwin Swayzee, overheard White using the term and wrote a song  for Calloway entitled “The Jitterbug” which was recorded in January, 1934.  The beginning of swing dancing that lasted for decades, albeit under many different names, e.g. Jitterbug, Lindy Hop, Jive, Shag, Bop, and even Rock and Roll.

Swing music can be attributed to Benny Goodman, who, in the summer of 1934 took his band on tour across the United States.  He had been told to play the standards, but implemented some of his own music from time to time.  He had many flops before reaching California.  His first stop was Sweets Ballroom in Oakland.  There, young people lined up for blocks to hear and dance to this  new sound.  This was the historical start of the Jitterbug craze and the Big Swing Bands. Goodman couldn’t believe his own success!  From California he made a triumphant stop in Chicago before returning to New York.  The Paramount Theater, hearing of his great successful tour, hired him for an appearance in 1936. The newspapers reported the band’s success and the “Jitterbugging in the Aisles.”  After that day, the term “Jitterbug” was here to stay.

Jitterbug’s center during the 1930s was Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom.  Musical giants such as Basie, Goodman, and Calloway played for the legendary dancers. It was the first art form to break the color barrier. Blacks and whites danced together at the Savoy.  This softened the economic depression distress. A documentary film, "The Call of the Jitterbug” vividly evokes the rich past of this form of dancing  and is available for sale or rental through the Filmmakers Library.