Toaring 1920s: The Original Charleston - The Knickerbockers, 1925

The Original Charleston, Fox-Trot/Charleston (Mack-Johnson) – The Knickerbockers (Ben Selvin’s Dance Orchestra), Columbia 1925 (USA)

NOTE: In the history of dance in the 20th Cen tury there were 4 dances which contained great almost magic power, that during the 20th Century ladnmarked four eras, thus named by its names: the Viennese waltz (with its offspring: an English Waltz), tango, charleston and rock’n’roll. Each of those eras had its musical icon: like “On a Beautiful Blue Danube” and “Fascination” for the Waltz Era, La Cumparsita for the Tango Era and Elvis Presley’s hits for the rock’n’roll. For the Charleston Era, its immortal Royal Icon was undoubtedly The Original Charleston.
The dance had its predecessors (shimmy, fox-trot) and continuations (black bottom and fox-trot again) yet its short reign on the dance floors of the world between 1924-27 impressed indelible stigma in a culture, customs, fashion. In order to be able to dance well, women cut their curls and braids, replacing them with a bobby-haircut, their skirts were cut over their knees with their waists lowered, a string of pearls appeared on their breasts, a long cigarette holder and a highball drink in a hand. Crazy charleston rhythm did not tolerate corsets and stiff bras, so the silhouette of a woman became loose and even defiant. Ever since, the "liberated woman" fashion was supposed to keep up and even intensify until today. Unusual, unforgettable tune: The Original Charleston had hundreds of performers. The first and most famous version was cut by Paul Whiteman in 1925. Immediately after that, Whiteman’s biggest competitor in the US, Ben Selvin launched his own excellent recording, and here it is. I greet you in a charleston way: hey, hey!