Music from the s was generally upbeat and sometimes very relaxing. Humor was an important element in popular music. Advertisement Swing and Jazz dominated the music scene in the s. Musicals were also quite popular. Billie Holiday was singing with everyone and Glenn Miller was at the top of his game. The was truly the era of big band, because the s jazz sound had permeated everything, including orchestras.
No longer was jazz limited to the traditional 3-piece combo — now it was being played by very large ensembles. The musicals in the Thirties were also known for their elaborately choreographed dance numbers and some of the most iconic choreography came from Busby Berkeley. His films featured intricate and geometric placement of dancers and showgirls in what was called a kaleidoscopic shot, sometimes shown from an over-head angle.
Some of the biggest names in music either emerged from or dabbled in film musicals during the decade, many forging careers that would last several decades. The most popular and emblematic of the decade were Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers who sang and danced together on screen as as two of the most famous stars in Hollywood.
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers epitomized the multi-talented entertainers that took the decade by storm and they starred in 10 musical comedy films together all were released in the s except one. The Swing Era An offshoot of the previously popular Jazz genre, Swing music hand in hand with Big Band music was developed near the end of the s and it reached the height of its popularity from the mids to the early s.
Benny Goodman was often cited as introducing the style to the masses with his performances at the Palomar Ballroom beginning in Swing differed from traditional jazz in that the songs would often have a stronger driving force.
They focused on the rhythm sections and allowed some improvisation while often featuring a soloist or vocalist prominently. The style was also adaptable with other genres as fusions with country and blues were also popular. Bandleaders like Chick Webb, Fletcher Henderson, Cab Calloway, Gene Krupa, Artie Shaw, and the Dorsey Brothers among many others were also important in the early establishment of swing and the popularization of the genre. Many bands created different arrangements of the same songs, leading to slightly different versions vying for popularity on the charts.
As with traditional jazz and many other popular music genres throughout the 20th Century, there was a racial component to swing with very little integration between black and white band leaders, band members, and vocalists. Many black bands were treated differently and denied credit and recognition for their contributions to the genre. Record sales slowly started to increase as Americans began frequenting establishments with juke boxes. Radio continued to be an important source of entertainment, but motion pictures were no doubt the favorite escapist entertainment.
By mid-decade, Hollywood musicals would gain great popularity which continued unabated into the s. Jazz took a hard blow, as the rest of the country did, during the first-half of the s. Bandleaders, whose orchestras were filled with great jazz musicians, like Louis Armstrong , Fletcher Henderson, Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington , would continue to find employment, although their repertoire would include a liberal amount of popular songs.
Ellington was an especially talented songwriter, however, and 15 of his compositions from the s became jazz standards and popular favorites. Soon the country was swing crazy.
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