Musician's colloquialism: If you say a band "swung like sh**", what do you mean? (price)

[Those Who Squirm]

It was in a recent bio of John Lennon that I came across this. Recounting how, as a small boy, he was taken to hear a USAF band at some event or other, he said the above. As little as I imagine the teenage or adult Lennon would have enjoyed a USAF band, the time of the incident was well before anyone had heard of rock and roll. Moreover, by all accounts it was rather a time of "music starvation", in that there were only a very limited variety of genres being played on the Beeb, and what with high price of records few people could afford to build up music collections. Also, I understand the military did have some very capable jazz and dance ensembles.

Musicians do tend to have some expressions that mean almost the opposite of what they sound like. In his memoir, Ray Charles refers to the fellow musicians he most respects and admires as "m-f'ers". In England, it seems that to "go down a bomb" means the performance was hugely successful, and so on.

So if a band swings like sh**, do I want to go seek them out? Or should I run away in the opposite direction?

[bigpaul]

I think he meant they were rather good but that is only my personal interpretation.

[George & Bill]

I don't know. 'Hung like a squid' means you have several huge sausages but near-microscopic spicy Swedish spheres in your butcher's shop.