The Sultans of Swing

In ersatz, neo-swing speak, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is so fucking money right now. Thanks to the octet's cameo role in the instant cult classic Swingers, BBVD is riding high on bankable rub-off and playing to packed houses on their first nationwide tour. In the film, the band didn't pick up a single chick, but provided the background music when the lovetorn Mikey, played by Jon Favreau, cut a rug with Lorraine, played by Heather Graham.

Hell, if learning to swing-dance means the chance to shag a Heather Graham-type, then BBVD may well be music's answer to the Spanish fly. But it wasn't always that way. Up until the film's thunderous buzz blanketed the country and made swing, which peaked in popularity in the Forties, a Nineties fad of choice, BBVD was just another band trying to make ends meet on the long and winding road. Sure, every band complains about grueling tour schedules, but BBVD did their time in spades.

"What we used to do is we would play the Derby [in Los Angeles] on Wednesday, go to San Francisco on Thursday, go down to Tempe on Friday, Phoenix on Sunday, drive back, start all over again, and go the other way," says frontman Scotty Morris of the "Hey Scotty, what's it gonna be?" line in the group's current single, "You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)."

For several years, a dilapidated Chevy van was BBVD's home. "When we were a five-piece, it was cool," says saxophonist Andy Rowley, before adding, "It was still a death trap." The creature-comfortless ride had a bench in the middle, a standard front seat and a futon in the back. "We went through two engines and one transmission," laughs Rowley.

During this time, the band had become friendly with aspiring actor/scribe Favreau, who was writing a semi-autobiographical film about the lives of pick-up artists, called Swingers. He asked BBVD to play themselves in the film to add some authenticity to movie. "So we agreed to it and had no idea what it was going to be," Rowley says. "I thought it was about swing dancing."

BBVD appear during the film's third act and do nothing but act natural. "People at the Derby didn't know they were filming a movie," Morris says. "And that whole scene was shot live. That was us playing totally live."

The first hint the film would have impact on BBVD's careers was during the unofficial debut. "We went over to the Fairfax Theater on a Wednesday night [to see the film] and then everybody went over to the Derby and we partied and danced and played all night," Morris remembers. "The next day Jon calls me up and says, 'You're not gonna believe it, man, but there's a huge bidding war for the film.'" In more faux-swing speak, it was on.

After selling 30,000 copies of their self-titled debut out of the back of their van, the band signed a deal with EMI-Capitol and re-released the album in February with added tracks. Now, BBVD is enjoying the road in a new Ford Club Wagon. They're also playing to clubs so packed that swing-dancing has become a perilous activity. "The band is so fun to watch live that you don't have to swing dance, but I'll tell ya, it sure is fun when they do," Morris says.

BLAIR R. FISCHER