ISSUE NO. 2 FEBRUARY 2012

DANCE LESSONS—THE HOLIDAYS ARE OVER!!

WHATS YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION???

Learn more DANCING!! DANCE CLASSES WILL BE RESUMING FOR MOST DANCE SCHOOLS IN THE FIRST WEEK OF FEBRUARY—IF NOT ALREADY. CALL A DANCE SCHOOL AND JOIN IN THE FUN!

Hello everyone! Now the Christmas holiday period is over—its time to get back to dance lessons and brush up on old moves and learn some new ones—and of course to start planning just how we are going to fit in all the great dance events and festivals coming up. How about this for a different weekend away?? THE WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT REQUIRES THE HELP OF 251 people dressed in the 20s period dancing the same Charleston Routine for 5 minutes. Date: Saturday, 4th February 2012 Time: Rego 8am I Attempt 10:30am At Leura Mall ($2 Donation to participate)

We would like the opportunity to present and welcome all Australians and you together with your group and members to register and participate with the Charleston Challenge Downunder world record attempt. This is a fantastic opportunity to be a part of something special that will hopefully become part of a regular annual

event being the Roaring 20s and all That Jazz Festival. (http://www.roaring20s.com.au/) We thank you for your interest in advance and would greatly appreciate your support and help with sharing this Charleston Challenge Downunder event and getting as many people involved in this wonderful community festival being the “1920s and All that Jazz” to take place in the beautiful and spectacular Blue Mountains region of NSW. Should you require further information or have any questions regarding the Charleston Challenge Downunder or the Roaring 20s and all that Jazz Festival please visit http://www.roaring20s.com.au/ or please email the team at info@charlestonchallengedownunder.com.au

BLUES AT THE EXCHANGE HOTEL Stewart Smith, licensee of the Exchange Hotel is to be congratulated on putting on some wonderful' out of town’, bands on a Sunday afternoon. Many are ’headliners’ at special festivals or we’d have to travel far to see and hear them. Some might think that ‘blues’ is all melancholy and sad, but rest assured it is far from that. Many of today's most popular forms of music have their origins in the blues with modern hip-hop, rap, jazz, bluegrass country, rock and roll, rockabilly and jazz. Almost all of the most popular forms of American music owe at least some of their roots to the blues. The music as a whole is powerful, emotive and celebrates everyday life, from love, murder, jail poverty sex and love lost. In the 1950’s blues had a huge influence on mainstream American popular musicians such as Bo Didley and Chuck Berry. The bands we have seen so far have all incorporated these more enthusiastic playing styles into their repertoires. A small dance floor is shared by dance lovers of all styles, from modern jivers to rockabilly as well as those who like to freestyle. A good blues band has something for everyone. Add to that nice cold beer, yummy tucker, and a great atmosphere, the Exchange is the best place to be on a Sunday afternoon ( from 4pm) for something different and 100% enjoyable.

What’s coming up.. (links on ‘events’ page of Rock To It)

Sydneys premier Jump Blues,Swing band "THE Lemon Squeezin' Daddies" now with the soulful sounds of Miss CELIE on vocals ,return for 2012 to Newcastles premier swing venue the BELMONT 16'S SAILING CLub ,Belmont on saturday 4 th February at 8.30pm with a selection of their groovy jump blues and swing with some new sounds from miss Celie, free admission for dancers and music lovers.

Swing @ The Roxbury Sat 4th Feb Everyone is welcome and we always have a great mix of levels from beginners to advanced. Good meals are also available at the pub. The Roxbury Hotel 162 St Johns Rd Glebe From 8.30pm, Entry $6 Feb Roxburys: 4th and 25th JUMP, JIVE and WAIL returns on Friday 17th February. New venue is Level 1, The Lans-downe Hotel, Corner City Road and Broadway, Sydney.This is the monthly residency presented by Limpin’Jimmy and the Swingin’ Kitten . 10pm to 2am free entry!

SATURDAY 3RD MARCH

What’s coming up.. (links on ‘events’ page of Rock To It)

The History of Rock & Roll By Mike James

Women in Early Rock & Roll

The role played by women in the formative years of Rock & Roll is sadly much overlooked. Some of the very earliest and some of the very best music of the genre was produced by female artistes. As usual, most of the following tracks are easy to find on YouTube and I urge you to do so because some are absolute

classics in their own right, in addition to being important in the development of Rock & Roll music. Trixie Smith was originally a blues singer and turned to cabaret and musical revues in the late 1920’s. Her recordings of ‘My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)’ from 1922 and ‘Jack, I’m Mellow’ (1936) are absolute classics of their time, and yet now completely forgotten. The latter is a song about marijuana and the YouTube film clip is a hoot! Trixie died in 1943 after a short illness, aged 48.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Rosetta Nubin) was a gospel singer of great talent and renown in the 1930’s and early 1940’s whose ‘in-your-face’, stomping showmanship and guitar work endeared her to popular audiences while she was denounced by the rather more staid of the religious bent. Her guitar work was especially jazz-influenced and in later life she was the darling of the jazz circuit. ‘That’s All’ (1938) and ‘Rock Me’ (1938) with Albert Ammons are especially worth taking the time out to listen to, as is ‘Shout Sister Shout’ with the Lucky Millinder Band. This latter was also done by the Boswell Sisters in 1931 but is not as powerful in my estimation. Ruth Brown (Ruth Alston Weston) was a pop/R&B singer from a church choir background (her father was the director) who ran away at 18 years old and married a trumpeter! In 1949 she began recording for Atlantic and had 16 Top 10 hits on the R&B charts including ‘Oh What A Dream’ (1954) backed by The Drifters, ‘A New Love, (1957) and ‘Lucky Lips’ (1957) also

recorded by Cliff Richard.Ruth Brown passed away in 2006 aged 78. LaVerne Baker (Dolores LaVerne Baker) began her singing career in Chicago clubs in the mid 1940’s. At 24 years old she signed for Atlantic, her first hit ‘Tweedle Dee’ (1955) was the beginning of a long career of hits on both the R&B and pop charts. ‘Jim Dandy’ (1956) was also a major hit and her recordings of ‘Saved’, (1961) and ‘See See Rider’ (1962), although not big hits are great recordings in their own right. She died in 1997 aged 67.

Wanda Jackson (Wanda Lavonne Jackson) was perhaps the first popular rockabilly female artiste. Known as the ‘Queen Of Rockabilly’ she is perhaps best known in Australia for ‘Let’s Have A Party’ (1960) her re-make of a 1959 Elvis Presley song. She was undoubtedly earlier a country singer who made the move to rockabilly in the late1950’s and then reversed track as rockabilly’s popularity declined in the 1960’s to become once again a country singer. She moved into gospel and foreign-language recordings at the same time. However, it is her R&R recordings that we feature here. Her attitude and gravelly voice were as one with the genre as can be heard on ‘Hard Headed Woman’ (1958), ‘Rock Your Baby’, ‘Candy Man’, ‘Long Tall Sally’ and of course ‘Let’s Have A Party’ (1960). She dated Elvis Presley for some time, but it appears that one of their record companies was not happy with their association, perhaps because it was better if the artistes remained single…..they sold more records that way! It is rumoured also that Wanda was too much for Elvis to handle! Wanda’s ‘bad-ass’ attitude and reputation was way out of Elvis’ bible-belt upbringing! Wanda continues to work and has a current album released in 2011. Women had a great influence on Rock & Roll. I hope that you can get to see and hear how much influence by getting online to YouTube. Revel in the glory days! Yours in R&R, Mike James

What’s coming up.. (links on ‘events’ page of Rock To It)

What’s coming up.. (links on ‘events’ page of Rock To It)

It's our 5th Birthday & Your Invited When: Monday 6th February 2012 Where: Covelli - Boutique & Shoe Specialist Address: Shop 9-116 High St East Maitland

Time : 5.00pm till 9.00pm RSVP By: 1st Feb 2012 Ph 49347434 or Email: info@covelli.com.au No Presents please as we are doing the giving. ALL FLOOR STOCK IS DRASTI-CALLY DISCOUNTED

Most stock HALF PRICE and MORE

4HRS only from 5PM - 9PM Refreshments will be available www.covelli.com.au

COVELLI HAVE SUPORTED ROCK TO IT FOR ALL OF THEIR FIVE YEARS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

SEWING ‘ORIGINAL’CLOTHES Like many of my generation, I learned to use a sewing machine and made a few basic items in primary school. Early working days was all about ready to wear fashion and the trendy shops, supplemented by opshops which provided a wealth of wonderful clothes - including many from the 1940's and 1950's - and don't I wish I still had those! It wasn’t until I took up 50’s dance that the sewing machine came out again to try and recreate some of those lovely vintage fashions that would be suitable for high energy rock n roll dancing. It should have been easy with the new ‘vintage’ patterns and many of the current styles reminiscent of 50’s fashion. With great expectations and high hopes I measured cut and sewed carefully, but the darn thing just did not fit quite right, and it was an unpick and modify job to make it right or at least acceptable. Sometimes the whole thing just ended up in the rag bin, or a dress became a skirt. What was going wrong? I found the answer to that in a book I had heard about, but never bought until recently. It is the Patti Palmer & others "Fit for Real People", a guide to tissue fitting patterns and making correct adjustments before you cut your fabric, so the patterns actually fit your body. The thing is, that every pattern is made to a basic sloper ( the basic bodice and skirt pattern). This is designed to fit a perfectly proportioned 20 year old body, size 10 with a B cup bosom. Not too many of us like that, hence the fitting problems. Of great interest is the direction not to buy a pattern according to our full bust measurement, but by our 'high bust', and then do a bust adjustment according to our size, and tweak the pattern in the back, shoulder and other areas so it fits us, and every pattern from then on is tweaked the same. After absorbing the contents of the book, I got myself a 'fit pattern' and discovered where my body is different from the standard used. With a couple of adjustments to a pattern, the darn things now easily fit right first time!! Eureka!. Nothing beats going out and finding that perfect dress, but its also very rewarding to sew yourself an ’original’. You can easily buy this book, here is the link http://www.fishpond.com.au/Books/Fit-for-Real-People-Pati-Palmer-Marta-Alto/9780935278651