1940’s Jazz: Jazz Goes to War | Hits + Myths Presentation

A presentation by Michael Deakin 

For America, the Forties started with spectacular revues, exciting music and huge stars setting a lifestyle for the American Dream. The onset of war in Europe highlighted the role that music could take in maintaining morale and awareness of the need to protect the “folks at home”. Radio and recording industries stepped up to the task, with initiatives to reach “our boys” at the battle fronts. Glen Miller was probably the best-known bandleader, who created amazing sounds from ordinary soldiers; others, such as The Andrews Sisters, toured camps and battlefields constantly. And then there was radio, broadcasting jazz daily to everywhere that troops were stationed.