Lounge Music
tagStarted c. 1948Peak 1956–1965Last big hit c. 1963
Located in 1 route
Lounge Music combines easy-listening arrangement craft with a consciously atmospheric, locale-suggesting mood: tropical, urban, cosmopolitan, or faintly futuristic. Tempo and texture are usually moderate, with brushed percussion, vibraphone, piano, strings, and brass used more for scene-setting than virtuoso display.
History
The style coalesced in postwar America as nightlife, suburban hi-fi culture, and resort fantasy met on LP and radio; Martin Denny and Les Baxter pushed exotic destination-imagery, Esquivel made stereo spectacle itself part of the style, Henry Mancini gave it soundtrack prestige, and singer-led records by Julie London or Dean Martin tied the instrumental and vocal sides of lounge into a single mid-century atmosphere industry.
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.”