Charlie and his Orchestra

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^[1]. 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 band 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 ^[1].

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^[1].

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^[1]. 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^[1].

Style

The purpose of the band was to stir pro-Nazi sympathy, draw attention to World War II 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:

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 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.

See also

• Lord Haw Haw
• Tokyo Rose
• Degenerate art
• Swing Kids

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Wir haben damals die beste Musik gemacht, Von Steinbiß, F. und Eisermann, D., Der Spiegel, April 18, 1988.

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