The Skunk Song

Cab Calloway and his band perform the title track in this sound, while Cab sings with 'the Cabaliers'.

Soundies were short films, about three minutes in length. The were meant to be played on a machine called a Mills Panoram, a video jukebox that was typically to be found in bars, lounges, and similar venues. You put a dime in and got a performance from the ten on the machine. The movies would be changed weekly, and from 1940 through 1946, Mills and other companies produced more than two thousand soundies.

Calloway was a regular performer in the soundies, his high-energy performances fitting write in with the visual portion of the soundies, and his big-band sound adding some class and a good time.