My Amazon Reviews: Brian Setzer Orchestra "The Dirty Boogie"

Rock it Inside Out  
4 Out of 5 Stars

When Hollywood Records initially signed the Brian Setzer Orchestra to the label in 1993, it looked like the height of folly. After all, who would want to see a washed up new wave singer fronting a Big Band with his twanging guitar singing songs from World War Two? Initially, it looked like this prophecy would come true; the first two albums from the BSO flopped. Hollywood dropped him, Interscope decided to sign him, and it was the late 90's. Setzer had already done the swing-by-rote thing, so he changed things up a little, putting more energy into "The Dirty Boogie."

Then something strange happened. The movie "Swingers" became a cult hit. Swing Clubs began springing up all over (and especially in Southern California), kids were buying zoot suits and a whole new breed of bands started making inroads. Before you knew it, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Cherry Poppin' Daddies and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy were releasing records, getting airplay and showing up on TV. When Setzer, who already had half the decade working this stuff up and road testing it finally released "The Dirty Boogie" in 1998, it became a top ten, double platinum album, territory the other nu-swing bands were unable to reach.

The reason Setzer's album was superior in sales and sound is multi-fold. First was the timing, again, he'd already been playing this game for awhile. The second was style. Setzer, unlike most of the other bands, had already stopped trying to recreate the exact sounds of albums of the 30's and 40's, deciding instead to beef up the sound and inject his own personality into the music. Except for the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, most of the other bands sounded like ironic lounge acts (read; Sterile). And finally, Setzer worked in modern sounds/songs amid the oldies. Gwen Stefani played Ann Margaret to Setzer's Elvis in a remake of "You're The Boss" and then reworked his own Stray Cats hit "Rock This Town" into a barn burner of a horn recording.

It made for a lively album and deserving of it's wild popularity. Setzer's originals sit comfortably alongside of standards by Louis Prima ("Jump Jive and Wail") and Bobby Darin ("As Long as I'm Singing"). His guitar is still razor sharp, played to best effect of "Sleepwalk" and "Hollywood Nocturne." Setzer;s singing also shows that he's enjoying this second career, he's both serious and playful throughout. And while the swing craze dissolved withing a couple of years, "The Dirty Boogie" still holds its own as Setzer's best of the BSO albums and as a listenable record long after the fad went away.