Popular Music in the 1930s
Glen Miller Orchestra
During the 1930s music really became a big way of telling a story. Many songs were sung about the Great Depression, new technology, the growth of cities, and the diminishing rural population. The 1930s started off as more of a Jazz age like the 1920s, but after a few years music with more horns and rhythm caught on. Later on, songs like Moonlight Serenade by the Glen Miller Orchestra were popular during World War II.
During the 1930s jazz music became very popular with the younger generation, especially college-age kids. The early part of the decade was when “sweet” jazz was played. Sweet jazz involved violins and arranged sheet music. The older crowd of Americans liked the sweet jazz best because it was more composed. Swing music became popular when big bands and dancing were associated with each other frequently. The swing orchestras usually had between 20-25 pieces in them. Individuals had complex solos and singers performed vocals with the instrumental music, making the only thing swing and sweet jazz had in common arranged music.
Big Bill Broonzy
Popular musicians during this time included Shep Fields, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Jimmie Lunceford. Blues artist “Georgia Tom” Dorsey started making religious music during the Great Depression. Big Bill Broonzy became one of the most important people in blues history. 250,000 jukeboxes were being played by 1939 and helped the sale of 13 million records a year.
Popular songs during the first half of the 1930s, 1930-1934, included hits like Happy Days Are Here Again, Puttin’ on the Ritz, Ten Cents a Dance, Brother Can You Spare a Dime?, Can You Take It?, and Stormy Weather. Hits from the second half of the 1930s, 1935-1939, included Good Night Irene, It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie, The Music Goes Round & Round, Great Speckle Bird, Come on in My Kitchen, Carelessly, I Got Rhythm, Over The Rainbow, and Moonlight Serenade.
I really enjoyed this blog topic. I consider music to be the best thing in my life, so learning about parts of its history is a pretty awesome thing. Although I don’t regularly listen to jazz and swing, I believe it is some of the best music ever created. Where would we be today if jazz and swing were never tried out? Would we ever have gotten to rock & roll? Or the amazing 80s music I listen to on a daily basis? Probably not, or at least not as quickly as we did. You just don’t always get that true, quality music today like you did back in the 1930s for example. I think it was interesting that how almost exactly at the middle of the decade the music preference changed from jazz to swing. Doing this wants me to research other decades and find out details of their music industries as well.
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