Review

November, 25th 2016

Fascinating swing by The Mills Brothers lasting 3:05. The whole minute goes the dancing-style intro and then uplifted voice starts to sing the lyrics. From it, we understand that ‘diga diga doo’ is not some deliberate cognitive-outspoken words, but just chants to make a rhyme to the main words. This is also absolutely light-minded lyric, meaning approximately the following: there is a singer – a guy who loves a girl, and she loves him too. Under the notion ‘love’ is meant the notion ‘lust’ indeed, as they speak about the physical act of coitus, covering the name of a song with circumlocution ‘diga diga doo.’ He says also he is a ‘diga diga doo’ man and he heeds no marriage laws, meaning under this that he spits on the laws of copulation and is ready to do it with her wherever she wants to and wherever he agrees in any circumstances. What is her is his and the counter wise. So the entire ‘diga diga doo’ thing is just a copulative act covered by the nonchalant and reckless swing.
It is interesting to know that this frank thing was sung somewhere before 1972. The Mills Brothers were active between 1931 and 1972 releasing over 80 singles, 30 albums and disks collections (one of them, released not long before they ceased the official career, was the one with a long name ‘The Longines Symphonette Society proudly presents The Mills Brothers and the Mellow Years’ that included as many as 5 disks embracing 51 songs in total).
Diga Diga Doo was written by Dorothy Fields in 1928 and sung by A. Hall in the revue ‘Blackbirds.’ These performers obviously covered a song in their variant of performance, as they started to be active only 5 years later after song’s emergence in the showbiz.
Many of singles of this swing/jazz band were popular in the country of their residence – the US. There are a number of singles that reached the first position in the weekly charts. Amongst them are: Tiger Rag, Dinah (with Bing Crosby), Paper Doll, You Always Hurt The One You Love, Till Then, and The Glow-Worm. By the end of their career, starting from 1968, the ranking of their songs in weekly charts were not so adorable. 21st was the best and the worst was 131st, made by ‘The Jimtown Road’ in 1969. Three years later, after every their next single wasn’t raised more than at the 100th position (131, 111, 118 were the places), this quartet made a final decision to break apart and to stop be engaged in what they were doing.
In addition to singing, they appeared in films. There were 20 of them from 1932 till 1956. These were mostly heart-touching films; it is even evident from the names of them: I Ain't Got Nobody, Twenty Million Sweethearts, Broadway Gondolier, Rhythm Parade, Daddy's Little Girl, When You're Smiling, and The Mills Brothers on Parade.
These guys are fascinating. They have done so many songs and albums during their activity in show business but we barely remember them now. They left a hugest jazz and swing heritage, but we admire people like Taylor Swift and Britney Spears. The genre is different, though, we know it; it is for connoisseurs of the true things only. Just like this fantasy film by J. K. Rowling as a screenwriter and a producer. Reference: More info on Wikipedia: The Mills Brothers, Mills Brothers discography, 1928 in music