The Dance Band Era: The Dancing Decades from Ragtime to Swing 1910-1950

176 pp. 12 x 8 3/4. "... provides the first comprehensive critical survey of the bands and bandleaders - the popular music scene - of the 1910s, '20s, '30s and '40s. It examines them both in musical terms - describing developments in instrumentation, for example, and techniques of arrangement - and in their social and economic context, discussing the roles of radios and records, cinemas and hotels and theatres - the whole publicity machine." CONTENTS: The Formative Years; The United States - The Twenties; Britain - The Twenties; The United States - The Thirties; Britain - The Thirties; The Swing Era; European Dance Music; The War Years and The Aftermath; The Business of Dance Music; Postscript; Discography; Bibliography; Index.