Charlie and his orchestra

tIt is actually one of the more interesting ideas of Goebbels, who was a master of propaganda. He reckognized the music genre was popular in the Allied countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States (later on). He wanted to use this information to spread propaganda to his enemies through the music. Only a high-ranking Nazi party member could do that, since the music was labeled as 'negro music' and outlawed in 1935.

In 1940 he gathered some of the best underground musicians within the Jazz and Swing genre. They should copy some of the most popular songs and make lyrics that were critizising the Allied forces and their leaders. Usually the template was to start the songs normally, and then slowly introduce the propaganda into songs in a funny way. The band would be broadcast on frequencies similar to the popular Allied radio's, and then be mistaken for a band from their own country.

All the songs were sung in perfect English, enen though they were performed by Germans. 'The man with the Big Cigar' is a charicature on Winston Churchill, and is three minutes of bashing him. Give it a listen, and imagine what you would think if you heard it after coming back from combat.