Ken "Snakehips" Johnson | Introduce Swing to Britain | Short Biography

Ken "Snakehips" Johnson was a gay, black dancer who formed an all black band, 'His West Indian Orchestra' in 1936. Through inspiration from the US, he introduced swing to Britain and importantly helped radical change to society through racial integration up to and during The Blitz.
NOTE Longer intro than would be usually due to first video in upcoming series.
Sources & Links
Information:
1. Stephen Bourne - Fighting Proud: stephenbourne....
2. National Archives - Travel to UK: discovery.nati...
3. Ancestry (Subscription Required) - Travel to UK: www.ancestry.c...
4. Black Plaque Project: blackplaquepro...
5. Bucks Free Press: www.bucksfreep...
6. Uncovered: uncover-ed.org/...
7. Londonist: londonist.com/...
8. Alastair Macaulay - Buddy Bradley: www.alastairma...
9. Sandy Brown Jazz - Black British Swing by Lionel King: www.sandybrown...
10. Henry Bebop - Black British Swing Discogrophy: henrybebop.co.u...
Images/Footage:
1. Imperial War Museum - Images of the Blitz: www.iwm.org.uk...
2. Guyana Times International - Queens College: www.guyanatime...
3. Ships Nostalgia - SS Nickerie, Travel to UK: www.shipsnosta...
4. Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School : www.swbgs.com
5. Sir William Borlase's Grammar School - Plaque: openplaques.or...
6. The Lifelong Dance Student via Picturegoer - Buddy Bradley: lifelongdances...
7. Ballet Webb - Buddy Bradley: balletwebb.blog...
8. University of London - Senate House: www.london.ac....
9. Islington Studios - Oh, Daddy! - 1935
10. Britannica - Fletcher Henderson: www.britannica...
11. Jeffrey Green - Leslie Thompson: jeffreygreen.c...
12. Sandy Brown Jazz - Leslie Hutchinson: www.sandybrown...
13. Postcard Finder - Shepherds Bush Empire: www.postcardfi...
14. BBC - Cafe de Paris: www.bbc.co.uk/...
15. History of Sorts - Cafe de Paris: dirkdeklein.ne...
16. Cinema Treasures - Rialto Theatre/Cinema: cinematreasures... & cinematreasures...
17. The Spectator - Gerlad Hamilton: www.spectator....
18. Tom Cullen - The Man Who Was Norris: The Life of Gerald Hamilton: www.google.com...
19. BBC Programme Index - Radio Times: genome.ch.bbc....
Music:
1. Goodbye My Beautiful, Ken "Snakehips" Johnson and His West Indian Orchestra
2. From My Heart, BDKSonic (VN Video Editor)
3. Better Days, Bensound.com
Additional Resources:
1. www.swbgs.com/...
2. www.elisarolle....
3. Interview with Joe Deniz: • Joe Deniz remembers Ke...
4. www.biography....

[@JamesIrwins78s]

Great video, I learned a lot more here than I had ever known about Johnson. I do like his music and the video of him dancing has been blowing up on my channel recently which has drawn my attention back to him after two years. Thanks!

[@kittymervine6115]

there is an account of that night, by a woman who wrote a book about the last debutante year (before the war). She survived by being on the upper deck area with her date, looking down. The first thing she saw was the band was gone. Also people rushed in that she thought were there to help, but instead they were robbing the dead. That was not uncommon sadly, and rarely metioned. It was pure luck, if you happened to be on the upper level and near the walls, you lived. If not it was a quick death and no one felt anything except the survivors, who had a sense of guilt.