Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies

Zoot Suit Riot is a ska swing song by Cherry Poppin' Daddies. It is big band style swing music with a definite ska twist. In the late 1990s, swing music was yet to experience the renaissance of recent years and I remember noting this song as something distinctly different from other music of the day.

Zoot Suit Riot is more memorable than a particular favourite for me. Around the time it was released in 1997, my mother was in hospital. As she was in the process of waking up after her operation, she kept mumbling something about a bottle of beer. As someone who doesn't drink and had just had surgery, we thought this was a really strange thing for her to say. It wasn't until we'd got her home and she was listening to the radio that she said, "that's the song the doctors were listening to!". Hopefully she meant before theatre, and not during her surgery when she should have been well and truly anaesthetised!