The swing revival just sort of showed up in the late 1990s and was gone before Y2K struck. No one was really sure where it came from. Its disappearance was equally mysterious. This music would be played at middle and high school dances across America despite the fact students could not stand it. The confusion is perhaps best summed up by the drunk driving whale song by The Brian Setzer Orchestra.
Okay, so it’s not actually the drunk driving whale song. The name is Jump, Jive an’ Wail, although very few people probably know or care about that. I’ve listened to the tune far more times than I would have liked and never once were the words “Jump”, “Jive”, or “Wail” audible.
Well, technically I heard wail, but it was the whale variety. And this isn’t one of those things you hear as a kid only to grow up and realize you were wrong. Even today, it’s painfully obvious that Brian Setzer is saying drunk driving.
Why he and his orchestra are singing about drunk driving remains the great unknown. You would have thought the forever meddling Mothers Against Drunk Driving would have stepped up and said something. But they did not. Instead, this remains a curiosity left in the 1990s like collect calling or Slice soda.
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No escaping the drunk driving whale song
It felt like the drunk driving whale song was everywhere. However, there is a distinction that must be made here between Jive an’ Wail and Smooth, another 1990s jam that was pervasive. Rob Thomas and Carlos Santana received heavy airplay on countless radio stations that meant it was being played in your city at all times.
The drunk driving whale song was an octopus with its tentacles invading all aspects of daily life. Sure, it got radio play. But the tune was also in commercials for the Gap that were on every channel. You’d hear it at school dances, in movies and everywhere else lame white people mingled.
Additionally, there was seemingly a law in place that all talk radio shows had to play the song as bumper music. Everyone from Rush Limbaugh to Don & Mike were using this has a rejoiner in 1999.
There is a twist we need to mention. This was a freaking cover song. That’s right, The Brian Setzer Orchestra’s only hit isn’t even an original. Man, the late 90s really were the worst.
