Traditional pop music
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Traditional pop or Classic pop music denotes, in general, Western (and particularly American) popular music that either wholly predates the eruption of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, or to any popular music which exists concurrently to rock and roll but originated in a time before the appearance of rock and roll, and its offshoots, as the dominant commercial music of the United States and Western culture. The terms pop standards or (where relevant) American standards are used to denote the most popular and enduring songs from this style of music.
Classic pop embraces the song output of the Broadway and Hollywood show tune writers from approximately World War I to the 1950s, such as Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, Dorothy Fields, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter and a host of others. These songwriters and composers are usually considered part of the canon known as the "Great American Songbook". The big band era further developed the genre of "pop standards". Bandleaders like Tommy Dorsey, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, and Count Basie continued to innovate. Big band singers, who had previously been considered instrumentalists and were rarely singled out, now became huge stars, like Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dinah Shore.
The genre was embodied by a remarkable and diverse group of singers, writers and stylemakers. Jazz pioneers Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Paul Whiteman first popularized jazz music among a diverse audience. Meanwhile the Tin Pan Alley and Broadway songwriters popularized the "Great American Songbook". Soon afterward, radio introduced millions of Americans to the same songs, often written by artists like Hoagy Carmichael, or sung in a more soothing, personal style by crooners like Rudy Vallee or Bing Crosby.
The distinction between pop standards and the broader popular music of the aforementioned time period lies in an enduring appeal of the greatest of these songs, long after their time of being "chart hits," although methods for measuring commercial appeal changed greatly over the course of the twentieth century. The songs of classic pop may also be said to possess certain ineffable qualities, including but not limited to an ease and memorability of melody, along with wit and charm of lyric. The greatest of the classic pop writers achieved this with regularity, although many classic pop standards, such as "Learning the Blues" by Dolores Silver, were their era's version of one hit wonders, written by individuals never again writing a song that eventually became considered a standard.
In later decades, the standard-bearers were bands and orchestras led by such luminaries as Guy Lombardo, Nelson Riddle, and TV-friendly singers like Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin, and the cast of Your Hit Parade. Many artists made their mark with pop standards particularly the great interpreters like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis Jr., Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughan, and Cleo Laine. In other genres such as country music was Patsy Cline and classical artists like Victor Borge), made their biggest impact in creating crossover pop, or by performing on pop music shows like Toast of the Town. As well as jazz singers Sarah Vaughan Peggy Lee Mel Torme and popular singers Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis and Jack Jones
Other performers who work in the style of classic pop after its heyday (during the swing era and into the 1950s) include Harry Connick, Jr. and Michael Bublé, as well as those known as cabaret singers such as Andrea Marcovicci and the late Bobby Short. As their careers progress, many artists from the rock and roll era often try their hand at classic pop. Linda Ronstadt, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Cyndi Lauper, and Rod Stewart have all made forays into this territory.
Arguably, the last of the great classic pop songwriters, using rock and roll instrumentation but with arrangements and compositions in the spirit of predecessors from the earlier era, are Burt Bacharach along with his partner Hal David.
The appearance of lounge culture in the mid-1990s in the United States sparked a revival of interest in the music, style, and performers of popular music prior to rock and roll, such as the Rat Pack and recording artists associated with exotica, although the latter has only a cursorial connection with classic pop.
At present, very little serious critical history or historiography exists discussing the legacy of classic pop. Alec Wilder, a songwriter himself, authored a classic in the genre, American Popular Song. Currently prominent is the work of Will Friedwald in his books Jazz Singing, Sinatra! The Song Is You, and Stardust Melodies: A Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs.
Singers and groups generally associated with this musical genre include:
| Male singers | Female singers | Male groups | Female groups |
|---|---|---|---|
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- World Book Encyclopedia, 1967, "Popular music".
