As the decade began and the U.S. soon entered World War II, swing and big band music continued to dominate the radio (still the primary means by which Americans listened to music), the concert/dance hall, and the charts. Three labels, RCA Victor, Decca, and Columbia held sway in the recording industry, but a musicians’ union strike from 1942 to 1944 against the major labels effectively curtailed the making of new records for two years. There were exceptions – records were still produced and shipped to servicemen overseas; some vocalists recorded a cappella; a few new, specialty labels, using non-union musicians, arose. Still, the strike results were long lasting- musicians gained greater compensation from record companies; big bands fell out of favor to be replaced by smaller groups; vocalists, such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, grew in popularity; and bebop, a new jazz style distinguished by fast tempos, complex chords and harmonies, and innovative improvisation, led by the likes of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, suddenly appeared, as if fully formed, to a bewildered audience in 1944.  

         Country music became a national force, with its brightest stars, Eddie Arnold and Hank Williams, rising to prominence late in the decade. Bing Crosby was once again the best-selling artist of the decade, with Glenn Miller, the Dorsey brothers, Harry James, The Andrews Sisters, The Mills Brothers, Sinatra, Perry Como, and Nat King Cole among those consistently on the charts.

         -Steve Williams (5/15/23) – Blog Post #10