Big Band Pop
tagStarted 1935Peak 1938-1960Last big hit still active
Pop songs delivered over a full swing orchestra: punchy brass sections, reed-driven swing, walking rhythm and a band singer out front. Energetic and danceable, with arranged riffs and shout choruses behind the vocal. The ballroom-era pop sound, later revived as finger-snapping, horn-charged swing pop.
History
Born in the 1935 swing boom when dance orchestras dominated pop, with vocalists fronting bands led by Goodman, Dorsey and others. The format faded as big bands broke up in the late 1940s, but solo singers carried the swinging-orchestra sound forward, and a 1959 Darin-led revival plus later swing nostalgia kept big-band pop a recurring, recognizable mode.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_band
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_the_Knife
- https://www.britannica.com/art/big-band