Music for the People
Popular Music and Dance in Interwar Britain
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:5th Sep '02
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Awarded the Proxime Accessit - The Whitfield Book Prize 2002
Explores popular music between the wars, the era of Noel Coward and Ivor Novello, Gracie Fields and George Formby. This book tells the story from the days of the jazz mania of the 1920s to the outbreak of WWII. It also examines the popularity of dance halls such as the Hammersmith Palais, concluding with a checklist of the most popular songs.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 to 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.
Nott provides an excellent account of the technology and commercial development of the gramophone, radio and cinema. * Cultural and Social History *
This is an important contribution to interwar history and its popular culture. * Cultural and Social History *
Historians have generally not given music the attention that they have been prepared to allow to literature and fine art. Reading books of this quality might finally make them realise just how much they have been missing. * Social History Society Bulletin *
[Nott] is at his best when writing the socio-economic history of music, showing a good eye for significant data, industrial imperatives and patterns of change over time. He is particularly good on the gramophone industry as it attempted to build an image of respectability while also remaining attuned to the demands of the marketplace, and produces one of the best accounts to date of the workings of European and Irish-based commercial radio. * Social History Society Bulletin *
... excellently researched and constantly thoughtful. * Social History Society Bulletin *
Mechanization, commercialization, Americanization, standardization--such are the governing themes of James J. Nott's fascinating, scholarly account of the popular music industry in Britain between the wars. * Paul Smith, Times Literary Supplement *
... a clear, well-researched and entertaining volume. * Matthew Hilton, English Historical Review *
Nott should be congratulated for a work that runs from the comedy of George Formby, the musicals of Jessie Matthews, the swing of Benny Goodman, and the star status of dance band leaders such as Jack Hylton, Henry Hall, and Jack Payne. This is a fine, scholarly monograph and the author demonstrates a clarity of expression throughout. Such a comprehensive account of inter-war commercial music deserves a long shelf life among studies of twentieth-century popular culture. * Matthew Hilton, English Historical Review *
This academic but readable book will fascinate the enthusiast and social historian alike ... for those seriously interested in the analysis of popular music it is a must. * Journal Into Melody *
Different aspects of popular music are analysed in an academic but readable manner. * This England *
- Winner of Awarded the Proxime Accessit - The Whitfield Book Prize 2002.
ISBN: 9780199254071
Dimensions: 242mm x 163mm x 22mm
Weight: 594g
302 pages