Music for the People: Popular Music and Dance in Interwar Britain

by James Nott

Overview

Popular Music was a powerful and persistent influence in the daily life of millions in interwar Britain, yet these crucial years in the development of the popular music industry have rarely been the subject of detailed investigation. For the first time, here is a comprehensive survey of the British popular music industry and its audience. The book examines the changes to popular music and the industry and their impact on British society and culture from 1918-1939. It looks at the businesses involved in the supply of popular music, how the industry organised itself, and who controlled it. It attempts to establish the size of the audience for popular music and to determine who this audience was. Finally, it considers popular music itself - how the music changed, which music was the most popular, and how certain genres were made available to the public.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199254071
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/03/2002
Series:	Oxford Historical Monographs
Pages:	302
Product dimensions:	9.48(w) x 6.41(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

University of Edinburgh

Table of Contents

IntroductionThe Mechanised Popular Music Industry1. The Rise of the Gramophone and the Development of the British Gramophone Industry2. The Role of the Gramophone in Daily Life in Interwar Britain and its Effect on Musical Culture3. Radio, Cinema, and Popular Music in Interwar BritainThe Live Popular Music Industry4. Developments in Live Music 1918 to 1939: From Performers to Listeners5. Live Music: Dance Bands, Dance Music, and Dance Musicians6. The Expansion and Development of the Dance Hall Industry7. The Experience of Dancing, Dance Halls, and the Dance Culture 1918-1939Popular Music and Popular Music Artists8. Tastes in Popular Music 1918-1939Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"Through an examination of topics such as the gramophone, radio, and dance halls, Nott convincingly documents the influence of the burgeoning music industry. In this way, the book complements recent scholarship on other facets of interwar mass entertainment. Nott relies on a wide range of archival and periodical material from the music industry, and as a work of business history the book is quite useful."—HISTORY: Reviews of New Books

"Nott makes excellent use in his book of the Mass Observation files, the back issues of The Melody Maker magazine and the archives of the Performing Rights Society to provide primary source material on which to base his analyses. It fills a gap in the scholarly literature and will need to be read by anyone interested not only in the popular music but the popular culture of interwar Britain."—Albion

From the Publisher