The Swing Era, Majors/Indies and Cover Versions Flashcards
What is swing?
Swing was the popular music of the 1930s and 1940s. Swing is a style of jazz music, and we previously had examples by Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Those bands were the most successful in the early days of Swing, two of the few bands to survive after World War II, and two bands that still perform today (under new leadership). Swing bands were called orchestras or simply “big bands,” and considered of 18-25 musicians in different sections: a rhythm section of bass, guitar, piano, and drums, then sections for saxophones, trumpets, and trombones.
Who was Glenn Miller?
Starting in 1938, a big band led by trombonist Glenn Miller overshadowed the popularity of other groups.
Here is another white bandleader representative of extreme fame. As our textbook notes, his orchestra “was the most popular dance band in the world.”
How did the jukebox impact the music industry?
An economic change during the 1930s was record sales. The modern jukebox was invented in 1927: a coin operated machine as pay-per-play for a chosen song. Record sales in the 1930s were low due to the depression, and the jukebox became an important technology for accessing a variety of new recordings (mostly in social spaces like restaurants, bars, or barber shops). In 1934, Decca records changed the price of records from 75c to 35c, creating a drastic change in income for major record companies who were forced to follow. The owners of jukeboxes could afford many more records, and by 1935, 40% of all record sales were for jukeboxes.
Tracking record sales started in the 1930’s, how did this work?
This is also the beginning of tracking record sales by the industry. Billboard magazine would track record sales of what people were buying (jukebox owners would buy what their clientele wanted), and list the top 100 songs (based on sales) in three categories: pop, race music, and hillbilly music. That later changed to the charts for pop, R&B and Country in the 1950s. If you look at Billboard (online) now, you will see more genres, but still a split between pop and periphery black and white categories.
How did jukeboxes, billboard, and DJ’s create a cyclical relationship?
the hits reported in Billboard were used by radio programmers: by seeing what people were buying, they would play those hits in their programs. This is a cyclic relationship. What people hear on radio is what they are exposed to. It is what they want to hear, so it is what they buy (or get in a jukebox). Then, those numbers are translated to a Billboard chart (or top sales), which is then used by radio again to determine programming.
How did popular tastes and the war economy impact big bands?
World War II, starting around 1941 for the USA, added major pressures for big bands. Due to the war, popular tastes were changing from upbeat entertainment to sentimental songs by crooners. Many big bands also broke up because the men were being enlisted for war, or forming smaller, more economical bands. Big bands were difficult to run because they were expensive: paying the musicians and touring came with a high cost. During the war, there was a shortage on gasoline (used for the war effort): it was difficult (or impossible) for bands to tour.
How did the recording of records also impact swing bands?
Recording also took a hit. Records were made of shellac, which was a type of plastic rationed for the war effort. The United States also imposed restrictions on radio broadcasting equipment, reserving radio for a national communication service. Radio shows by Swing bands decreased substantially, limiting a lot of work.
How did taxes also impact wing bands?
The USA also implemented a number of taxes to raise money for the war, and a major target was the entertainment industry. A 20% entertainment tax was implemented (as well as a midnight curfew), which significantly slowed live music venues that thrived at night. Moreover, the USA implemented a specific 30% tax for dance clubs in 1944. Less people were going to the 4,000 capacity ballrooms. In all, there were very low funds in the music industry. Big bands either needed to become smaller (many becoming R&B bands) or shut down altogether. (You can see how impressive it is that Goodman, Ellington, and Basie were able to keep their bands going!).
How did jazz change in the 40’s?
Jazz was also changing. Small bands continued, especially with jam sessions that were held in after hour’s clubs.
Between 1942 and 1944, the style of bebop emerged as a modernist stance against pop of swing music. It was highly virtuosic with fast tempos and a complex musical language developed by black musicians in Harlem. It was art music (it wasn’t for dancing) that demanded listener’s attention and appreciation. This distanced jazz from popular entertainment, and is why jazz has that trajectory of “art” rather than “popular” as it once was with the Swing era.
Charlie Parker and Dizzie Gillespie. They, along with a few others (including pianist Thelonious Monk) were responsible for this change in jazz.
What was BMI?
> Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) was formed in 1939. As the name suggests, they were affiliated with radio. Radio threatened record sales. BMI was an alternative to ASCAP: they were an independent source for artists and publishers outside Tin Pan Alley to license their compositions (and recordings). African American musicians (from jazz, Swing, the blues, R&B) and Euro-American country musicians weren’t being represented by ASCAP. BMI looked for those groups: the mainstream pop of Swing (turning into R&B in small groups), By the 1950s, BMI was the alternative to ASCAP. BMI represented country, blues, R&B, and later, Rock and Roll.
How did ASCAP adapt to the changing times?
> ASCAP owned 90% of the copyright on Tin Pan Alley songs. ASCAP responded to the threat of radio by increasing the blanket license for radio broadcasters, and was in battle with the big networks like NBC, CBS, ABC, and Mutual. ASCAP continued to focus on mainstream pop and exert what control they could in the industry.
That exertion of control by ASCAP erupted in 1941. They called a “strike” for about a year: no radio play of ASCAP licensed material (mostly Tin Pan Alley songs).
What happened in 1942 that impacted the availability of instrumental music?
in 1942, the American Federation of Musicians (AFM)—the musicians’ union for instrumentalists—went on strike against record companies. They were looking for proper compensation for recordings—ones played on radio and in jukeboxes. The AFM settled with some companies in 1943 and 1944 as you see in your textbook. That period between 1941 and 1944, coupled with the decline of big bands, led to a huge void in instrumental music, which was filled by vocal music recordings.
How did all of these changes impact vocal music?
It is that time that vocal music had a major advantage. Crooners like Frank Sinatra were singing sentimental songs and were the centre of mainstream popular music until the late 1940s.
How was Rock n’ Roll in music for young people?
Crooning was music for the older generation. Rock and Roll served as an age specific music for baby boomers as a rebellion against the older generation.
Rock and Roll wasn’t a new style of music: Rock and Roll was Rhythm and Blues. R&B was considered “black music.” “Rock & Roll” was a marketing tool to hide the racial origins of the music and target the listening demographic of white and black youth.
But, it wasn’t the first style of music for teens. You know this already. Parlor songs were for young women to play the piano. Ragtime, early Tin Pan Alley, New Orleans Jazz, and Swing were all “youth” musics at their time. We will see how Rock was another version of teen music shortly.
Who were DJ’s? Who was Alan Freed? How was the term Rock n Roll started?
Radio DJs were salesmen and promoters, and known as personality DJs. Alan Freed is our example. He was the one who started using the term “Rock and Roll.” He had a request show on radio out of Cleveland, Ohio where white teens were requesting a lot of “R&B” records.
Freed made the term “Rock and Roll” popular when he moved to WNIS radio in New York in 1954, bringing the term to a larger market of teens. In effect, “Rock and Roll” was a marketing term for a new target audience of musical products, with no exclusive white or black audiences.
