Monday
Apr182011
Tennessee Songs: Chattanooga Choo Choo
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 1:46AM The highest-rated comment on this Glenn Miller Orchestra video says, “HOT friggin’ DAMN!” which pretty well sums us this dance by the Nicholas Brothers, a peacock showdown set off by the smokin' hot Dorothy Dandridge.
“When you hear the whistle blowin' eight to the bar
Then you know that Tennessee is not very far.
Shovel all the coal in.
Gotta keep it rollin'.
Woo, woo, Chattanooga, there you are.”
Contrast the Nicholas Brothers' version with the Frances Langford version: a bit of staged, staid militarism from the World War II era.
And then Bette Midler, in a bohemian bathhouse routine that would later propel her to fame.