Charlie and his Orchestra
Encyclopedia
Charlie and his Orchestra (also referred to as the "Templin band" and "Bruno and His Swinging Tigers") were a Nazi
-sponsored German
propaganda
swing
band. Jazz
music styles were seen by Nazi authorities as rebellious, but ironically propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels
conceived of using the style in shortwave
radio broadcasts aimed at the United States
and particularly the United Kingdom
.
British listeners heard the band every Wednesday and Saturday at around 9 pm. The importance of the band in the propaganda war was underscored by a BBC survey, released after World War II, which indicated that that 26.5 percent of all British English listeners had, at some point, heard programmes from Germany. The Propaganda Ministry also distributed their music on 78 rpm records to POW camps and occupied countries.
sound. However, such African and American influences were viewed as counter to goals of German racial purity and by 1935 were outlawed. The Nazi's informally labeled it as Negermusik
. An underground jazz scene persisted in Berlin. Here, band leader Lutz Templin and drummer Fritz Brocksieper
brought together key swing figures of the late 1930s, including singer Karl Schwedler
("Charlie"), clarinetist Kurt Abraham, and trombone player Willy Berking
. They escaped notice by pasting pro-German lyrics over sheet music and using instruments like harpsichords for boogie rhythms .
Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels recognized that both art and propaganda was meant to bring about a spiritual mobilization in its audience, and was well-aware of the popularity of swing and big band music in Allied countries. He gave permission to bring Berlin's best jazz musicians into the music propaganda program, and in 1940 Charlie and his Orchestra were born.
As an official Reichsministerium band, the group made over 90 recordings between March 1941 and February 1943. Arrangements were by Templin, Willy Berking
, and Franz Mück, with lyrics written by the Propagandaministerium. Schwedler was allowed permission to travel to neutral and occupied countries to collect jazz and dance music, which helped the band and propaganda ministry to craft more recordings. Outside of their official duties, many members of the band supplemented their income by playing in underground venues.
By 1943, bombardment by Allied planes took a toll on German broadcast operations and the studio, employees, and musicians were moved to southern Germany to perform on station "Reichssender Stuttgart". Even when the city finally came under attack, the band played jazz hits live on international shortwave radio while German domestic stations were playing the "cuckoo" air raid warning.
After the war, the musicians reorganized under Fritz Brocksieper with the band name "Brocksieper Freddie", but were still recognized as "Goebbels' band". They played for US Armed Forces clubs in Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg. Conductor Lutz Templin became one of the founders of the ARD
broadcast network. Schwedler, by various accounts, either emigrated to the US in 1960 or became a businessman who retired at Tegernsee
.
Allied losses, convince listeners that Great Britain was a pawn for American and Jewish interests, and carry German dictator Adolf Hitler
's messages in an entertaining form. The songs stressed how badly the war was going for the target audience, and how it was only going to be a matter of time before they would be beaten.
American swing and popular British songs were initially performed true to the original, until about the second or third stanza where pro-German lyrics and monologues would be introduced. For example, in the Walter Donaldson hit You're Driving Me Crazy
, Schwedler croons about the confusion of new love, and in the third stanza continues: Here is Winston Churchill's latest tear-jerker: Yes, the Germans are driving me crazy / I thought I had brains / But they shot down my planes..." Later, the entire lyric would be modified, clearly based on the original. The band even recorded some "cover versions" of the originals, unaltered.
Cornelius Ryan
's nonfiction book about D-Day
, The Longest Day
, includes a snippet from Schwedler's cover of Louis Armstrong
's 1930s hit, I Double Dare You:
Indeed, anecdotal accounts indicate that British
Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
enjoyed the broadcasts, finding the lyrics hilarious.
Many of the members of Charlie and his Orchestra went on to successful careers in music after the war. Charlie himself emigrated to the United States.
National Socialist German Workers Party
The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...
-sponsored German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
swing
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
band. Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music styles were seen by Nazi authorities as rebellious, but ironically propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
conceived of using the style in shortwave
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
radio broadcasts aimed at the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and particularly the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
British listeners heard the band every Wednesday and Saturday at around 9 pm. The importance of the band in the propaganda war was underscored by a BBC survey, released after World War II, which indicated that that 26.5 percent of all British English listeners had, at some point, heard programmes from Germany. The Propaganda Ministry also distributed their music on 78 rpm records to POW camps and occupied countries.
History
In the 1930s, there was great demand in Germany for jazz music, as well as swing, which mixed elements of the big bandBig band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
sound. However, such African and American influences were viewed as counter to goals of German racial purity and by 1935 were outlawed. The Nazi's informally labeled it as Negermusik
Negermusik
Negermusik was a pejorative term used by the Nazi's during Third Reich Germany to signify musical styles and performances by African-Americans that were of the Jazz and Swing music genres. They viewed these musical styles in a racist fashion as inferior works belonging to an "inferior race" and...
. An underground jazz scene persisted in Berlin. Here, band leader Lutz Templin and drummer Fritz Brocksieper
Fritz Brocksieper
Fritz "Freddie" Brocksieper was a German jazz-musician, drummer, and bandleader.He played professionally in Nuremberg beginning in 1930. In 1939 he went to Berlin...
brought together key swing figures of the late 1930s, including singer Karl Schwedler
Karl Schwedler
Karl Emil Heinrich Schwedler, also known as Charlie Schwedler was a singer and leader of the Nazi propaganda jazz band Charlie and His Orchestra during World War II....
("Charlie"), clarinetist Kurt Abraham, and trombone player Willy Berking
Willy Berking
Willy Berking was a German orchestra conductor, trombonist and composer.-Career:Willy Berking studied music in Düsseldorf and then in Berlin, where he was at the age of 18, his first big band founded. He had the jazz and especially the swing prescribed, which, however, by the National Socialists...
. They escaped notice by pasting pro-German lyrics over sheet music and using instruments like harpsichords for boogie rhythms .
Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels recognized that both art and propaganda was meant to bring about a spiritual mobilization in its audience, and was well-aware of the popularity of swing and big band music in Allied countries. He gave permission to bring Berlin's best jazz musicians into the music propaganda program, and in 1940 Charlie and his Orchestra were born.
As an official Reichsministerium band, the group made over 90 recordings between March 1941 and February 1943. Arrangements were by Templin, Willy Berking
Willy Berking
Willy Berking was a German orchestra conductor, trombonist and composer.-Career:Willy Berking studied music in Düsseldorf and then in Berlin, where he was at the age of 18, his first big band founded. He had the jazz and especially the swing prescribed, which, however, by the National Socialists...
, and Franz Mück, with lyrics written by the Propagandaministerium. Schwedler was allowed permission to travel to neutral and occupied countries to collect jazz and dance music, which helped the band and propaganda ministry to craft more recordings. Outside of their official duties, many members of the band supplemented their income by playing in underground venues.
By 1943, bombardment by Allied planes took a toll on German broadcast operations and the studio, employees, and musicians were moved to southern Germany to perform on station "Reichssender Stuttgart". Even when the city finally came under attack, the band played jazz hits live on international shortwave radio while German domestic stations were playing the "cuckoo" air raid warning.
After the war, the musicians reorganized under Fritz Brocksieper with the band name "Brocksieper Freddie", but were still recognized as "Goebbels' band". They played for US Armed Forces clubs in Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg. Conductor Lutz Templin became one of the founders of the ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
broadcast network. Schwedler, by various accounts, either emigrated to the US in 1960 or became a businessman who retired at Tegernsee
Tegernsee
Tegernsee is a town in the Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the shore of Tegernsee lake, at an elevation of 747 m above sea level....
.
Style
The purpose of the band was to stir pro-Nazi sympathy, draw attention to World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Allied losses, convince listeners that Great Britain was a pawn for American and Jewish interests, and carry German dictator Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's messages in an entertaining form. The songs stressed how badly the war was going for the target audience, and how it was only going to be a matter of time before they would be beaten.
American swing and popular British songs were initially performed true to the original, until about the second or third stanza where pro-German lyrics and monologues would be introduced. For example, in the Walter Donaldson hit You're Driving Me Crazy
You're Driving Me Crazy
"You’re Driving Me Crazy" is a U.S. popular song composed by Walter Donaldson for the 1930 musical comedy Smiles. It was recorded the same year by Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians and became a hit...
, Schwedler croons about the confusion of new love, and in the third stanza continues: Here is Winston Churchill's latest tear-jerker: Yes, the Germans are driving me crazy / I thought I had brains / But they shot down my planes..." Later, the entire lyric would be modified, clearly based on the original. The band even recorded some "cover versions" of the originals, unaltered.
Cornelius Ryan
Cornelius Ryan
Cornelius Ryan, was an Irish journalist and author mainly known for his writings on popular military history, especially his World War II books: The Longest Day: June 6, 1944 D-Day , The Last Battle , and A Bridge Too Far .-Early life:Ryan was born in Dublin and educated at Synge Street CBS,...
's nonfiction book about D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
, The Longest Day
The Longest Day (book)
The Longest Day is a book by Cornelius Ryan published in 1959, telling the story of D-Day, the first day of the World War II invasion of Normandy. It includes details of Operation Deadstick, the coup de main operation by gliderborne troops to capture both Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge before the...
, includes a snippet from Schwedler's cover of Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
's 1930s hit, I Double Dare You:
- I double dare you to venture a raid.
- I double dare you to try and invade.
- And if your loud propaganda means half of what it says,
- I double dare you to come over here.
Indeed, anecdotal accounts indicate that British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
enjoyed the broadcasts, finding the lyrics hilarious.
Many of the members of Charlie and his Orchestra went on to successful careers in music after the war. Charlie himself emigrated to the United States.
External links
- WFMU Radio: Charlie and his Orchestra - includes samples
- Listen online: Charlie and his Orchestra at boomp3.com
- Listen online or download mp3s of ten complete songs: Tennessee Bill's Old Time Radio