FlinterFile: Cab Calloway- Minnie The Moocher

In 1931, Cab Calloway recorded his famous song Minnie The Moocher. The song, which gave him the nickname ‘the Hi-de-Hi-de-Hi Man’, coming from the scat he does in the song, was his biggest hit. The song tells the story of Minnie the Moocher, a belly-dancer girl, who is introduced to opium by the cocaine taker ‘Kokie’. Her fantasies in the taking of opium are told, but the end of Minnie is unknown, though the “poor Minnie” at the end suggests a bad ending. The song became especially well-loved for the interaction with the audience, as they get to repeat some scats from Calloway. In the thirties it sold more than a million copies, but it regained its popularity in the eighties, when Cab Calloway does the song in the movie the Blues Brothers, when he rescues their concert. Enjoy

Cab Calloway- Minnie The Moocher

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