TEA FOR TWO

SONGS AND DUETS FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD

SUNDAY 1 JUNE 2025 5PM. KANGAROO VALLEY HALL   

The Golden Age of song, typically spanning from the 1920’s to the 1950’s, was a rich and transformative period in American music, particularly defined by the rise of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, Hollywood musicals and the Great American Songbook.

The political turmoil and two world wars had instigated a flood of immigrants from Europe especially Jewish, Italian and Eastern European who brought their own musical traditions that blended into American styles. Composers like Irving Berlin and George Gershwin integrated classical, folk and jazz elements into their songs. Jazz, blues and spirituals also had a profound impact, incorporating syncopation, swing rhythms and blues tonality, further influencing composers like Cole Porter.

The rise of musical films and Broadway provided platforms for songs to reach wide audiences and songs from these venues became standards, eg Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. Songs were crafted to suit both narrative and emotional expression, deepening their cultural resonance.

In New York, a centralised industry was established in the locality of Tin Pan Alley where songwriters, publishers and performers collaborated to mass produce music for vaudeville, theatre and the home. Hit songs became a commodity.

Gershwin’s first song “Swanee” sung by Al Jolson (1919) earned the composer $10,000 in royalties in it’s first year, a fantastic sum in those days. 

The 1920’s saw the explosion of radio, making music more accessible to a national audience and creating a demand for popular songs. This economic viability encouraged songwriters and crooners like Bring Crosby and Frank Sinatra, popularising songs beyond stage and print.

Phonographs, radio and later television created new pathways for the discovery of music. Music became more than an art-it became an element of lifestyle and identity. Women like Dorothy Fields, Peggy Lee and Doris Day contributed as lyricists and performers expanding female roles in a male dominated industry. In song you saw the changing views on romance, freedom and individuality, matching the evolving American psyche.

The Golden Age of American Song emerged from a unique confluence of war, migration, innovation and industry. Politically influenced by national unity and federal arts programs, shaped culturally by a rich mix of traditions, driven economically by a growing entertainment industry and moulded socially by modern life and mass media, this era produced timeless standards that continues to define American musical identity.