It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing band — but that’s not a problem in Vegas

Friday, July 30, 1999 | 10:03 a.m.

The craze, or whatever it was, has crested.

"Swingers" is a 3-year-old video store inhabitant, having dropped out of the top-10 video rental and sales lists. Swing-dancing siren Heather Graham is running the streets with Austin Powers these days, and hep-cat Vince Vaughn has graduated to "Psycho."

The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies have had their dalliance with MTV, which, in fickle fashion, has fled to the arms of Ricky Martin and Lauryn Hill.

Is swing music and its accompanying whirling and turning dancing indeed dying? Even in Las Vegas?

Not on your life. Daddy-O.

Although swing music and dancing enjoyed a burst of popularity a couple of years ago and has suffered an inevitable leveling-off period, it remains a favorite diversion in a famously swingin' town.

"History repeats itself, and if anyone thinks or remembers the history of Las Vegas, swing music and big-band music was part of that history," said Rick Michel, who has performed with Lon Bronson & His All-Stars and, most recently, the Gene White Orchestra in Las Vegas. "We've had the cross-over artists that sparked it, people like Brian Setzer and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, who appeal to a younger crowd, and when you apply that to the history of Las Vegas it's a natural fit."

Four years ago, Michel performed with the Gene White Orchestra at the Rio's Copacabana Showroom for weekly performances carried live on KORK 920-AM. The band, and its music, remains popular.

The Gene White Orchestra has been featured at the Flamingo Hilton's main showroom as part of the hotel's summertime "Big Band Fridays" promotion, which has also featured Buddy Greco with his wife, Lezlie Anders, and her orchestra playing the swingin' sounds of legendary artists such as Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw and Duke Ellington.

"A couple of years ago it started becoming more and more popular with the younger crowd, kids who are young enough to be my own kids doing dances from the '40s," Michel said. "We went through a phase where everyone was going 'retro' for the '60s, with tie-died shirts and bell-bottoms. Even the '70s has had its 'retro' run, and the appeal of nostalgia -- especially with this music -- is very strong."

The Desert Inn has committed to the swingin' big-band trend with "The Rat Pack is Back," a David Cassidy and Don Reo production that opened this month. Michel has already filled in as Sinatra once.

"Sinatra never goes out of style," he said. "The big-band music style will always be popular."

Dickie Pride, singer for Uncle Sugar & The Sweet Daddies, which plays every Saturday at Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, said he noticed a strong shift toward swing music a couple of years ago.

"The swing party by the pool at the Hard Rock Hotel was inspiring, because it was a common meeting ground and swing music was being played and everyone started getting into it," Pride said. "You had the media giving it a lot of coverage, and everyone was starving for a new kind of music. They were looking for something that was simple and kind of stupid, but fun."

Originally, Pride fronted the rockabilly band the Shakin' Dominoes before joining the swing scene about two years ago.

"I had been playing rockabilly for 16 years and heard some fine players were putting a swing band together," he said. "It gives you a chance to get personal again, to get close to the opposite sex. It's not just the music, but the dancing, and the crowd seems to be more interested in the dancing than the band."

For the past two years swing dancing has been a significant draw for the Charleston Heights Arts Center. A spacious dance floor was added in 1997 and swing bands have been a favorite attraction.

"We have full dance classes with swing dance and all of our music is live," JoAnne Lentino, Charleston Heights Arts Center coordinator, said. "People love to dance. We've got a lot of events scheduled that appeal to older and younger people."

The Walter Boenig Little Big Band performs tonight. On Aug. 21, the Carl Grove Combo -- which performs music by request along with its regular set -- will be featured at the Arts Center.

Las Vegas dance instructor Robert Judd said swing dancing's popularity among younger people is evident even out of the club or dance hall.

"I've seen the commercial for the Gap, with the kids doing '40s swing, or retro swing," Judd said. "That's a neat look, a lot of upbeat, jumping dance, very athletic, like what you see when people dance to the music of Cherry Poppin' Daddies. It's what the young people like."

The more popular form for more, shall we say, seasoned dancers is the Jitterbug.

"Jitterbug doesn't require a lot of movement, but it's still upbeat, you just don't bounce as much. 'In the Mood' is a Jitterbug song," Judd said. "It's not as demanding to the body. When I was 21, I wouldn't mind doing retro all night. But now I do one retro I want to sit down, and I'm 51 years old and in good shape."

Judd also said the more popular local form of swing is West Coast swing, which is performed to a six-step count. East Coast swing is a more standard, eight-stop count.

"The difference is West Coast is a much more intricate, stylized step that you must practice repeatedly with your partner," Judd said. "You can't just pick somebody from the side of the floor and do West Coast swing. It's very, very difficult."

Judd is such an expert at dance steps he once appeared as a contestant on "Dance Fever" in 1982, performing the Hustle while still an instructor living in his hometown of Boston.

"We came in second," he said. "We got one bad score."

Locally, dancers can join two prominent local swing clubs. The Swing Dance Club of Las Vegas Club meets every Wednesday at Peppers Lounge and the Movers & Groovers convenes each Sunday at Gilley's in the New Frontier hotel-casino.

Movers & Groovers -- originally called the Matinee Dance Club before deciding to meet at night -- has been in operation for 15 years and its membership numbers around 90.

"We're a social club that meets to promote West Coast swing dancing and to have a good time," Marie Pelliccioni, Movers & Groovers president, said. "Dancing is a universal language."

Pelliccioni marvels at the sprightly, energetic younger dancers who have put a new spin on swing.

"They spin like tops. They can spin 13 or 14 times and not get dizzy," she said. "They've added a certain elegance and grace. It used to be that we'd dance from the waist down. Now, they dance from the neck down and they are something to behold."

Bellagio, Texas Station and the Reserve also feature weekly swing dance parties. The Reserve added a Monday swing night -- starring Jump, Jive & Wail -- this month.

"I was down there just last week and the place was hoppin' with people of all ages," Dennis Hetherington, public relations manager at the Reserve, said. "It's really popular among the younger people. We had couples in their early 20s all the way up to the age when swing was first popular."

The Gold Coast has been home to one of the longest-lasting regular dance parties in town, where disc jockey Larry Taylor has hosted his Big Band Night each Sunday and Tuesday for more than a decade.

"I started on a two-week contract," Taylor said. "The two-week contract lasted 12 years."

Classes are offered about an hour prior to the dance party, and the crowd typically swells to between 200 and 300, Taylor said.

"It's mostly locals, mostly a senior-type crowd, and it's all about getting dressed up and having fun," Taylor said. "When I hear about ballroom dancing or swing dancing coming back, I just say, 'It never died.' "

Not in these parts.

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