CAB CALLOWAY PERFORMS "MINNIE THE MOOCHER" 1931 JAZZ SONG w/ SCAT SINGING XD62545

Genre: Soundie

Year Published: 1940s

Description: MINNIE THE MOOCHER

Complete Record: This "soundie" (essentially a 1940s music video) features Cab Calloway performing "Minnie the Moocher". This was Calloway's 1931 jazz hit, characterized by his signature scat singing ("hi-de-hi-de-ho"), theatrical dancing, and high-energy band performance. It's not clear exactly when this version was filmed, as there is no copyright date shown, but it likely is from the mid-to-late 1940s. "Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz song co-written by Cab Calloway and first recorded in 1931 by Calloway and his big band orchestra, selling over a million copies. "Minnie the Moocher" is famous for its nonsensical ad libbed lyrics, also known as scat singing (for example, its refrain of "Hi de hi de hi de ho"). In performances, Calloway would have the audience and the band members participate by repeating each scat phrase in a form of a call and response, eventually making it too fast and complicated for the audience to replicate. First released by Brunswick Records, the song was the biggest chart-topper of 1931.[2] Calloway publicized and then celebrated a "12th birthday" for the song on June 17, 1943, while performing at New York's Strand Theatre. He reported that he was then singing the song at both beginning and end of four performances daily, and then estimated his total performances to date: "she's kicked the gong around for me more than 40,000 times.