# What music was popular in England, pre-1940's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788 "2003-04-20T04:49:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrentLumkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@BrentLumkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrentLumkin)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/1 "2003-04-20T04:49:50Z")
My cousin wanted me to find out, for a paper he has to write, so here I am! He needs to know some songs, and the such, which were popular in this time period, and then write a paper on it, or perform it for the class. Thanks guys, to anyone who helps us out here! ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/2 "2003-04-20T05:14:30Z")
I know Music Hall was popular. These were mostly funny or sentimental songs done by performers who were geared to the working classes. Three I can think of offhand, (and have records by) are Gracie Fields, Stanley Holloway and George Formby. England also had a lot of Musical Theatre, especially in London’s West End and I imagine the music was popular in the same way as a Broadway tune over here. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/3 "2003-04-20T05:14:30Z")
Well, [George Formby](http://www.mellor48.freeserve.co.uk/formbybio.htm) would be on any list of musical performers who were popular in England pre-WWII. Your cousin should be able to find the titles and lyrics to many of Formby’s songs just by doing a web search. ---
**Author:** ![BrentLumkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@BrentLumkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrentLumkin)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/4 "2003-04-20T05:28:36Z")
Oh wow, thanks a lot guys, you have been VERY helpfull. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/5 "2003-04-20T15:26:39Z")
Don’t forget [Ivor Novello](http://hometown.aol.com/Novello/) or [Noel Coward](http://www.noelcoward.net/introduction.html). ---
**Author:** ![BrentLumkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@BrentLumkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrentLumkin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/6 "2003-04-21T03:35:43Z")
Once again, thanks! If anyone else can help me on this in ANY way at all, it would be appriciated! ---
**Author:** ![BrentLumkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@BrentLumkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrentLumkin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/7 "2003-04-21T03:54:08Z")
Could anyone give me any more specifics about this time period, something of an “overall” picture? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/8 "2003-04-21T04:22:27Z")
Um, you might want to track down a video of the British (Bob Hoskins starring) version of **Pennies from Heaven** : [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0077060](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0077060) It has a soundtrack of the very music you’re probably looking for. ---
**Author:** ![BrentLumkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@BrentLumkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrentLumkin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/9 "2003-04-21T04:26:40Z")
Thanks, we’ll take a look at that soon! He told me he actually needs more general information about the time period, not just specific people. I suppose we can take all of these specific people and write something on all of them, and how they all had a hand in forming the musical culture of England or the such. Anyone else care to help us out? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/10 "2003-04-21T04:41:25Z")
Without trying to sound like a jerk, I think that part will be up to you and your cousin, **BrentLumkin**. The SDMB doesn’t serve as a homework-doer, or even that much of a homework-helper. I’m surprised you got as much help as you did, because Dopers usually aren’t as generous as that when it comes to homework. After all, it is your cousin earning the grade, so it should be his responsibility to do the work. Again, I don’t want to sound mean, I’m just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![BrentLumkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@BrentLumkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrentLumkin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/11 "2003-04-21T04:47:01Z")
Well, I did take that as you sounding rude, but no worries. We aren’t asking you to write a paper or even dirrect us. All we are wanting to know is either some information on this subject, or at least some websites and the such to find said information. I mean… …it isn’t that easy to find specific information on the musical history of pre-WWII England. I consider this research, I’m here “searching” for information just as I would on Yahoo or the librarry, that is all. He will still have to write the paper and do the presentation, but he needs to have something to work with. For weeks he’s been trying to find something on this, and thus far he has found almost nothing. Hell, he’s got more to work with from this thread alone than he has from hours of endless, pointless searches on Yahoo and the such. If this thread, asking for information, is so pointless and against the rules, would someone just delete this thread for me then? ---
**Author:** ![BrentLumkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@BrentLumkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrentLumkin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/12 "2003-04-21T04:52:49Z")
By the way, I understand what you said 100%, and did not mean this as a knock to you at all. I did not in any way mean for someone to explain something like how these people influenced the musical history of England or anything like that, lol. If you thought that, then you got the wrong idea. It’s just hard to work on something that you can’t find any information about at all hardly, or do not know how to find said information. Again, I just chalked this up to a type of research. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-music-was-popular-in-england-pre-1940s/169788/13 "2003-04-21T11:36:55Z")
During the first half of the 20thC many folk did not have their own radio, up until around 1937 or so, hardly anyone had tv, just a few rich folk around London. Many folk didn’t even have a gramaphone either, the result was that sheet music was very popular and pianos were fairly common. The music they played would often come from the silver screen, it was the main media influence on working class audiences and would have been the most recent. Music hall had many ballads and singalong songs, many of these would date right back to the Victorians and was, as far as the ‘youth’ were concerned, the music of their parents. During the 30’s big bands took off and this is when the US media culture came to the fore along with Hollywood productions. Here is a starter for you, [http://www.jabw.demon.co.uk/bdb.htm](http://www.jabw.demon.co.uk/bdb.htm) If you want British music then the BBC is the natural place to go. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutmusic/features/vinyl/](http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutmusic/features/vinyl/) Music hall is also a good search term as this is what recorded music from films and wax discs replaced throughout the 1st half of 20thC. [http://www.musicals101.com/musichall.htm](http://www.musicals101.com/musichall.htm) [http://www.rfwilmut.clara.net/musichll/xf2.html](http://www.rfwilmut.clara.net/musichll/xf2.html)