Cocktail Lounge
tagStarted c. 1948Peak 1956–1964Last big hit c. 1965
Located in 1 route
Cocktail Lounge is the intimate, bar-side heart of lounge: piano or small combo, brushed drums, soft bass, discreet solos, and vocals that feel tailored to conversation as much as performance. It is elegant but not grand, suggestive rather than dramatic, a martini with melody.
History
As hotel bars, restaurant lounges, and supper clubs became central outlets for adult nightlife, a smaller-scaled alternative to big-room entertainment took shape; Julie London, Keely Smith, Blossom Dearie, Bobby Darin, Peggy Lee, and Mel Tormé all recorded material that sounded perfectly fitted to that environment, and their records later became canonical artifacts in cocktail-culture revival.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Wikipedia, “Lounge music”
- Museum of Broadcast Communications, “Easy Listening/Beautiful Music Format”
- The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Music, “Other mainstreams: light music and easy listening, 1920–70.”