Still Relevant?

[Gary D.]

Each era seems to have its own music identifying that time. The mid-1930s to early post-war years had the likes of Glenn Miller and the Dorseys. I can't say if the early 1950s (by then, swing had died out) had anything special in the way of music, until Bill Hailey and the Comets came along in the mid-1950s.

Whenever there is a '1940s night,' I guess it's fun to dress up like your parents and jitterbug. But Glenn Miller, in my mind, is every bit as good now, 2009, as he was in 1941, without all the 1940s trappings.

 

[Chrome]

I think that bigbands stayed on until the small bands tuned in and rock'n'roll didn't affect older people very positively. Here in old world young "rebels" listened jazz since not that much of the r'n'r spread here like wildfire.

Country is and was in my opinion very popular in certain areas and is a reason for outbreak of rock virus (which Beatles unfortunately killed)

Yes, bigbands are as good now as they were then.

 

[DerMann]

It's funny that you mentioned that the younger 'rebels' listened to jazz.

On Pandora (amazing internet radio, I'd highly recommend checking it out), my swing and big band stations (Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey) usually get a few jazz songs from the era. Jazz is also where to look for old swing and big band LPs in record stores. Odd because they are quite different, one is fast and joyous, while the other tends to be more somber and slow.

 

[dhermann1]

The 1946 to 1955 period had plenty of good music, but the social structure was a little odd. At that point, because the returning vets had moved to the suburbs, and started families, the downtown hotels that had always supported the big bands stopped employing them. That's what killed the big bands. But there was still plenty of pop music with a beat. During that short period they called it Bop. It was related to. but not quite the same as BeBop in jazz. There's a Honeymooners episode where a teenage girl dances to a tune called the Hucklebuck. It's not really swing and not quite rock n roll, but it does have great rhythm and energy. And she dances a post swing variation of jitterbug. But at that time to pop stations were playing mostly bland stuff like Vaughn Monroe and Frankie Layne. Don't get me wrong, Frankie Layne is GREAT, but not very rockish.) And the music of the black performers was stuck into a category called "race music".
So it was an odd time for pop music. Rock n roll really broke out in 1955, but had been percolating for several years before that. The point I'm getting at is that the break between swing and rock looks very sudden and drastic from our point of view, but it wasn't nearly so sharp. That period in popular culture has been very overshadowed by the period right before and right after.
As far as the trappings go, I love getting dressed with my vintage ties and baggy trousers to go swing dancing, To me it enhances the experience, but it's not required for enjoyment of the music.
Edit: Jazz vs Swing in the late 40's. One thing that happened to jazz, aside from the turn to wilder "straight ahead" music, was that many of the musicians became heroin addicts, Charlie Parker and Gerry Mulligan are prime examples. The soft raspy hip voice associated with 50's jazz is just the strung out addict's drugged voice. The musicians that were not junkies still played a lot of high energy stuff, but the drugs took their toll.

 

[MrBern]

listening or dancing

Also:

http://www.answers.com/topic/1944

A new 30 percent federal excise tax on nightclubs that feature dancing puts a crimp on attendance at such places, whose patrons find the new "bebop" jazz almost impossible to dance to. Performers are happy to do without the dancers, and nightclub owners are quick to ban dancing in order to avoid the new tax.

 

[Chrome]

Could the reasoning behind that law be war time, people can't be happy when others are dying. They should be focused to their task, not boozing and partying just to come hungover to work.

 

[filfoster]

hung over to work

Partying and boozing seem more important than ever during wartime and "The Greatest Generation" seemed to feel that way too, from what I read and what my mom says.

 

[LondonLuke]

I suppose boozing and partying would provide a very welcome diversion to the death and destruction