In 1996, no independent film captured audiences hearts and attention more than Swingers. The film written by Jon Favreau, directed by Doug Liman and staring a then young Vince Vaughn, Favreau, Heather Graham took a moment out of L.A.'s neo-retro nightlife and plastered it on screen. The film, which was about the neo-retro swing movement that hit Los Angeles and Vegas in the mid-90's captured America's attention and brought swing music back to pop radio. The soundtrack to Swingers was more than just a movie soundtrack, it became the soundtrack to a brief movement in American pop culture and the score to a revitalization of a sound as American as apple pie.
Big band music was the sound of post World War II and when our service men came back home from the front, they had something cheerful to welcome them in. Swingers captured the underground scene that reestablished that form featuring music from Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Jazz Jury, Bobby Darin, Average White Band, Dean Martin, and many more it paved the way for artists like Cherry Poppin' Daddy's, Brian Setzer Orchestra, The Amazing Royal Crowns, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Royal Crown Review, The Atomic Fireballs, and countless others who burned up the Billboard charts and had massive MTV play. Now, nearly 20 years after the fact, the soundtrack is still as bumping as ever.
