1920's Music Analysis

Introduction

20s

Music in the 1920's was dominated by jazz, blues and the peregrinating dance bands that played what was popular at the time. Following the devastation of the first World War, Twenties music was quite upbeat and optimistic as the economy boomed and parties roared despite proscription in the US. The music industry as we know it was just beginning and all things seemed possible. Artists such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ma Rainey, Sophie Tucker, Eddie Cantor, Paul Whiteman, and Bessie Smith dominated the industry.

30s

The Great Melancholy hit tardy in the 1920s and remained throughout the 1930s, heavily influencing the music of the time. Some music like blues and country reflected the hardships faced by many, while most other popular music like immense band and swing kept an upbeat feeling in the air. Popular music accommodated its purport in providing an illusion from the rigorous conditions in the Thirties. Many musical compositions addressed the current issues while remaining optimistic, while others addressed the mood with a more tongue-in-cheek approach. It was at this time that swing music commenced its reign of the music world, with an upbeat rhythm and

Disco became one of the most sizably voluminous and most vilipended trends in music during the decade. It was so pervasive that many established singers and bands emerged with disco musical compositions to keep up with the trends, including rockers like Blondie and Rod Stewart. Heavier rock music and punk rock withal emerged during the decade, some of it as a retaliation to disco. Artists such as The Doors, The Who, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Rod Stewart, Blondie, The Carpenters, Elton John, and Billy Joel set the tone of the era and drastically shifted societies views with their edgy lyrics and unique presentation of their