University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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21 1 J 1 J Photo by Hoffman In pairs and in crowds the stu- dents flocked to the afternoon sessions. I ONG predicted and hailed enthusiastically, swing has burst onto the | Hill. Blaring music, truckin ' , jam bands, the Big Apple all are part of the same sweeping trend for free expression. The style of this fall ' s dancing is a far cry from that of no farther back than last Christmas. Today ' s swing mania at K.U. was forecast just before school opened, as early arrivals pushed back the tables at the new Cottage and danced to the nickelodeon phonograph. Excitement of boys ' rushing was over- shadowed by excitement over the first jam band in a Hill hangout, as sweating, swaying humanity piled three layers deep in booths just for a peek. The cafeteria was next, and then the Jayhawk. When Benny Goodman came to Kansas City, K.U. made a mass pilgrimage, jamming the trains, paralyzing the highway, to stand in wide-eyed worship. Said Goodman over the air: K.U. is definitely an important branch of the swing school. Phcto by Hoffman In the afternoon, they just watched, sometimes standing. In the evening, they danced, at a Varsity or other party, swinging out with abandon. This year ' s music, this year ' s dancing, demands timeouts. These girls were sitting here partly to rest, partly to cool off, partly because room was all gone inside. The ' rested at night too. This gang is on the steps just outside the Union ballroom during one of those sweltering affairs that first week.

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The Cottage was first with a jam band, 4 to 5 P.M., M.C ' d by Brody Schroff. The fellow in the foreground is Jake Ward, whose particular brand of skiddledybip was in great demand for a while. Guest stars were a part of the plan. Here Dorothy Fritz, see page 59, and Eddie Singleton, front man for Louie Kuhn ' s band, have their turns at the mike. The Cottage packed ' em in, wished for expanding walls, slapped on a cover charge in self-defense. Not to be outdone, Jack Townsend, new manager of the Union Building, an early swing enthusiast himself, installed a second jam unit, playing for lunch and dinner. When the Jayhawk, too, got on the band-wagon, Townsend threatened to add a fan- dancer. The spectators watched, swung to the rhythm, ap- plauded wildly. Cokes by the gallon and cigarettes by the thousands were consumed.

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THE JAYHAWKER i 1 FROM the orchestra platform of the Memorial Union Ballroom on varsity nights, most of the Hill society can be surveyed in one sweeping glance. Inevitable is the small crowd of stags and couples crowded about the stand, too in- trigued by the music to dance. Farther out on the floor more ac- tive couples truck, glide, laugh, and, this year, big apple with noisy enthusiasm. As often as not, whether at a free mid-week or a $3.00 class party, even standing room is at a premium. K. U. is dance-conscious. And the credit is largely that of the K.U. dance bands, Louie Kuhn ' s and Red Blackburn ' s, top-notch in the Middle West. Five years ago students of this University did not know of swing, the blessed event for modern dance bands. Organized campus bands were not capable of meeting outside competition whether on or off the campus. But today, swing, as interpreted by Red ' s and Louie ' s orchestras, is completing the stu- dent ' s education. The orchestras themselves are out of the amateur class, with a record of engage- ments equal to many famous bands in this section of the country. Back in the fall of ' 33, our first personality, found in the bands to- day, broke into the lime light. Red Blackburn, medical student, took over the most prominent Hill band organized and led by one Bill Phipps. Whereupon the in- dustrious Phipps promptly or- ganized another, thus utilizing all the good dance band musicians available on the campus. During that winter these Hill bands handled all the Hill dances more capably than ever before. In the fall of ' 34, Phipps turned over his second band to Bill Hibbs, who successfully fronted it that winter. Phipps, still the man at the controls, acting as booker, keeping the bands busy, remained in the background. Replacing Hibbs as leader and bringing a new name, in the fall of ' 35, came one Wayne Wright, capable, enter-