pop culture - radio & popular music

in the 1920s and 1930s, what did some people still listen to?

the old music and songs that had been popular before and during the war

what music swept everyone off their feet in the cities?

jazz

how was jazz sound able to spread to all parts of US?

due to record players and radio

how was jazz considered by many conservatives in the 1920s?

morally lax - jazz dances, such as the charleston and the black bottom, were very sexually suggestive and also, many jazz players were black, which gave some people racist reasons for disliking it

what % of homes had a gramophone by 1950?

almost 50%

what was happening to the industry that made the records to play on gramophones?

it was booming - $75M worth of records was sold in 1929

what happened to sales of records to be played on gramophones by 1935 and why?

it dropped alarmingly as radio sales had taken off as radios played popular music for free

was listening to radio the same as owning a gramophone?

no - gramophones were where people could play what they wanted, when they wanted, but this was the time of the great depression and there was less money for everything so records had become more of a luxury

what happened to radio ownership in 1920s and 1930s?

it grew rapidly

what was the first commercial radio station?

KDKA which began broadcasting in 1920

what did radio do on presidential election day?

radio broadcast the results before the newspapers could print them - a powerful advertisement for radio

how many commercial radio stations were there by 1924?

600

what were radio stations like at first? how did this change?

at first they were independent, airing whatever the stations wanted to put out but, they needed money to keep going and so sold advertising

when and where did the first radio advertisement air?

in 1922 in NYC

what happened to programmes after the first radio advertisement aired?

they were supported by sponsors who were regularly mentioned

what did the first national radio station, NBC open with in 1926?

a US football game

what did federal government have to do in regards to radio?

pass the radio act of 1927 to set up federal licensing of radio stations and share out the airwaves

who were part of the people who used radio to get a message to the nation?

politicians and religious speakers

who was father coughlin?

a priest who broadcast a series of sermons criticising the KKK - by 1930, he had about 40 million listeners

what did father coughlin do during the depression? however, what happened ultimately?

he criticised bankers and supported roosevelt, saying the new deal was 'christ's deal' - however, when roosevelt didn't go far enough for him, he criticised roosevelt and cost the president some support

how did the number of households taking a newspaper rise in comparison to radio ownership?

the number of households taking a newspaper rose fairly steadily with the population whilst radio ownership rose rapidly

how did mass production impact radios?

made them cheaper

how did hire purchase impact radios?

made them more affordable

what did radio being to people's front rooms?

the world - music, drama, news and debates

on NBC, what did everyone with a radio hear?

they heard the same thing at the same time - people felt part of a mass culture, all listening together

what did car ownership and expanding road systems allow people to do? + how radio was involved in this

travel further than ever before - they felt they were travelling in the same country whilst listening to the same tunes and quoting the same radio show punchlines