Manufacturing Memory: American Popular Music in the 1930's

Cool online Jukebox here, featuring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, The Carter Family, Ethel Waters, Blind Willie Johnson, Leadbelly, Duke Ellington, Robert Johnson, Judy Garland, Glenn Miller, etc etc. Doesn't get any better than that.

"American popular music from the 1930's reflects the cultural and social conditions that shaped the American identity during the period. For the purposes of this academic endeavor, the term "popular music" applies to any music in any genre from a select time frame that aspired to and achieved popularity with a particular audience. The popular music of the thirties can be used as a lens to better understand the collective memory of the American people during a decade marked by the Depression, emerging technologies and the growing population of cities as many Americans relocated from rural areas. The music in these pages is in many ways reflective of how Americans imagined themselves during this period. It is important to note that all of the songs posted here were originally released as phonograph records, and as such were the products of an industrial process that shaped this imagination of national identity."