After reading my recent post on how Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt survived World War II (hint: rank-and-file Nazis loved jazz!), Dmitriy T.M. sent me a link to a fascinating account of a German jazz band, called Charlie and His Orchestra, that was put together by Joseph Goebbels, a Nazi propaganda guy.
To recap, jazz music was labeled “Neggernmusik.” Attributed (rightly) to blacks and Jews, it was considered pollution to German sensibilities. Jazz lovers, jazz musicians, and swing dancers were all sent to concentration camps.
Nevertheless, Undercover Black Man describes how Goebbels saw potential in the music and, so, “weaponized” it to “screw with British and American minds.”
Charlie and His Orchestra recorded jazz standards, but changed the lyrics to “anti-British, anti-American, anti-Communist or antisemitic messages.”
The songs were broadcast via medium-wave and short-wave radio to Great Britain and North America. It was all about taunting and demoralizing the Allies… and trash-talking Winston Churchill and F.D.R. by name.
In this clip, the Orchestra, covering Goody Goody, is accompanied by WWII photographs. The propaganda starts at 1:04:
For more, check out the Charlie and His Orchestra versions of You Can’t Stop Me From Dreaming, You’re Driving Me Crazy, and Makin’ Whoopee.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 17
WanderingOak — May 11, 2010
I forget where I found them, but I downloaded MP3s of Charlie and his Orchestra about a year ago. Even though they were designed as propaganda, today they hilarious parodies, along the lines of Spike Jones. I actually have a mix CD somewhere, with both Charlie and Spike Jones on it. I have a friend who is a WWII reenactor, and he plays it at parties.
Danielle Ketterer — May 11, 2010
Such propaganda reminds me of the initial social ban on dancing and folk songs that were popular among slaves in the 19th Century, prior to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Slave music and dance was viewed as a possibly uniting factor among the slaves who may consequently long for freedom. Eventually these forms of entertainment were twisted into the Jim Crow/black face form of entertainment for the white, upper-class masses. These similarities between this example and the one in the article can be seen across time and cultures, which suggests that the oppressors (whoever they may be), see the impact these conceptually-free medias have on the population they're trying to oppress. Music, dance, literature, radio, and other forms of mass communication can have a powerful influence on the spread of ideas, even in this day and age in the United States where (presumably) there is not the same level or type of propaganda taking place as was demonstrated in Nazi Germany.
Theora23 — May 11, 2010
You might want to take a look at this entry from WFMU's Beware of the Blog. They've got a pretty good history of Charlie and His Orchestra, plus two CDs' worth of downloads.
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/03/charlie_and_his.html
Theora23 — May 11, 2010
Oh, and there are a couple of good books on Jazz in Nazi Germany I recommend highly. "Different Drummers" by Michael Kater and "Swing Under the Nazis: Jazz as a Metaphor for Freedom" by Mike Zwerin. :-)
Gene — May 11, 2010
I have to wonder about the people who played this music. Whether they truly believed Nazi ideology and this was a way they could justify playing jazz to themselves, or if they were just jazz musicians scared for their lives.
Jeremy — May 12, 2010
This is fascinating stuff. You have to wonder how many people tuned in and started enjoying the music, only to be jolted out of it when the propaganda started.
Sounds like it wouldn't make you any friends with anyone within earshot, either.
Christine — May 12, 2010
Sorry for nitpicking but the term would have been "Negermusik" (not how you spelled it as "Neggernmusik", the additional g and n would be totally random and wouldn't even make a word in any dialect I'm aware of) and it kept being used for rock and pop into the 70s and even 80s by unpleasant and/or uneducated older people who never learned better or refused to stop using it.
Anonnymouse — May 12, 2010
Just felt like noting that the Undercover Black Man, David Mills, recently died. He was involved in TV, including the new show Treme.
Um — May 12, 2010
Nobody in the whole country could speak unaccented English or devise some taunts that didn't fall flat?
I'm with Wandering Oak - today, they're hilarious.
Poppies — May 13, 2010
How is "Negermusik" (jazz) rightly attributed to Black AND Jewish people?
kailey — May 16, 2010
Swing Kids is a pretty good film that addresses this topic.
LibraryLady — May 17, 2010
Check out the CD collection Swing Tanzen Verboten! http://www.amazon.com/Swing-Tanzen-Verboten/dp/B0000918PJ
It's got a whole CD of Charlie plus 3 cd's of other German and European WWII era jazz, plus a book with interesting essays and photos.