The "Big Band Era"
Even before World War II it became a centre of activity for the popular music industry, especially music publishing and songwriting. Scores of music publishers had offices in the Brill Building. Once songs had been published, the publishers sent song pluggers to the popular white bands and radio stations. These song pluggers would sing and/or play the song for the band leaders to encourage bands to play their music.
During the ASCAP strike of 1941, many of the composers, authors and publishers turned to pseudonyms in order to have their songs played on the air.
Brill Building songs were constantly at the top of the Hit Parade and played by the leading bands of the day:
- The Benny Goodman Orchestra
- The Glenn Miller Orchestra
- The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra
- The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
Publishers included:
- Leo Feist Inc.
- Lewis Music Publishing
- Mills Music Publishing
Composers included:
- Buddy Feyne
- Johnny Mercer
- Rose Marie McCoy
- Irving Mills
- Billy Rose
- Peter Tinturin
Read more about this topic: Brill Building
Famous quotes containing the words big, band and/or era:
“To my big brother George—the richest man in town.”
—Frances Goodrich (1891–1984)
“Nothing makes a man feel older than to hear a band coming up the street and not to have the impulse to rush downstairs and out on to the sidewalk.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“It struck me that the movies had spent more than half a century saying, “They lived happily ever after” and the following quarter-century warning that they’ll be lucky to make it through the weekend. Possibly now we are now entering a third era in which the movies will be sounding a note of cautious optimism: You know it just might work.”
—Nora Ephron (b. 1941)