“The Jitterbug” (1939) – Judy Garland * Written by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg * 78: “Over the Rainbow” / “The Jitterbug” * Label: Decca
“The Jitterbug” is a song that was axed from The Wizard of Oz film, but appeared as the B-side to Judy Garland’s hit version of “Over the Rainbow,” released the same year. It tapped in to the high energy dance craze of the day and was slated to feature Dorothy and her yellow brick road cohorts jitterbugging to exhaustion under the influence of the title’s critters. Most notable about this recording, though, is the melody Harold Arlen uses in the verses, which foretells Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Bali Ha’i” exactly ten years before South Pacific. This places it in the timeline after Franz Waxman’s 1935 score for The Bride of Frankenstein, which is often cited as a possible influence on “Bali Ha’i.”