This weekend I finally saw "The Artist" and I loved it! "The Artist" depicts the disappearance of silent movies and the emergence of the first talking pictures during the 1920's and 1930's. "The Jazz Singer" which was released in 1927, was the first popular talking picture. Very soon all silent movies were considered to be too old fashioned, leaving musicians which accompanied these movies without a job. Movie Companies, however, were forced to rehire these musicians to make soundtracks, and thankfully music continued to be an important part of movies.
The roaring twenties was the decade of Prohibition (in which manufacturing, importing, exporting, selling and transporting alcohol was banned by law in the U.S.), the emergence of the phonograph and the first record studios, and of course the great crash of 1929. By the 1930's Big Bands headed by great musicians such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Tommy Dorsey were the talk of the town. It was also the decade in which The Grand Ole Opry was first broadcasted throughout the entire US, and Billboard published its first list to aid jukebox owners in their music choice.
The 1920's and 1930's also brought forward some of the greatest artists of the 20th century. We all still know and love Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Rodgers, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Billie Holiday and of course the amazing Cole Porter. Here are some of my favorite songs from these two decades. All of these songs were used in movie soundtracks.
The roaring twenties was the decade of Prohibition (in which manufacturing, importing, exporting, selling and transporting alcohol was banned by law in the U.S.), the emergence of the phonograph and the first record studios, and of course the great crash of 1929. By the 1930's Big Bands headed by great musicians such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Tommy Dorsey were the talk of the town. It was also the decade in which The Grand Ole Opry was first broadcasted throughout the entire US, and Billboard published its first list to aid jukebox owners in their music choice.
The 1920's and 1930's also brought forward some of the greatest artists of the 20th century. We all still know and love Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Rodgers, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Billie Holiday and of course the amazing Cole Porter. Here are some of my favorite songs from these two decades. All of these songs were used in movie soundtracks.
Bessie Smith - "St. Louis Blues" (1929)
Jimmie Rodgers - "Waiting for a Train" (1930)
Fred Astaire - "Dancing Cheeck to Cheeck" (1935)
