Pop Up

In film, television, and advertising, a few bars from a pop song can evoke a moment in time—a singular intersection of personal memory and public history—with unparalleled intensity. In the years after World War II, the recording industry ushered in a new version of popular music, supplanting the big bands and crooners that had dominated the airwaves and dance halls of previous decades. In its various forms—singles, albums, and compact discs—the sale of pop music on disc became a central feature of western life until the shift to the mp3 in the new millennium.

Pop Up uses the recorded song as a point of entry to a discussion of the interwoven musical, industrial, technological, and social histories of the twentieth century. It is a book about historical change that focuses on the music itself, exploring not only the musical significance of songs from “Tennessee Waltz” to “Hot in Herre” but also the cultural transformations that made them possible. A serious but accessible book, Pop Up offers an engaging analysis of an irresistibly appealing genre of music.