History of pop

Pop is short for popular, and it's remained the defining term for the ever-changing music favoured by the public. Although not specifically applied until the middle of the 20th century, pop music as such can be traced by a few decades before that.

The Early Days

You could say that the songs of music hall were the first real pop songs, written by professionals and widely performed for audiences. That dates back to the Victorian era, when a performer needed a catchy, identifiable song.

Things changed with the advent of recording, early in the 20th century. With that, music had the chance to be much more widely disseminated. Records, played at 78 rpm on wind-up gramophones, were relatively cheap.

In America, that led to a breed of professional songwriters in New York who wrote pieces intended to be recorded and sell well - Tin Pan Alley. They were largely hacks, but did produce some beautiful material. London had its own equivalent as the music business became centred on Denmark Street in the West End.

The Crooners

The first major pop stars as such were the crooners of the 1930s and '40s. Bing Crosby sold millions of records, as did Frank Sinatra (arguably the first modern pop star, with screaming teenage female fans - the bobbysoxers), and in Britain, Al Bowly.

They recorded and performed with full orchestras in the main style of the day. But there were other vocals groups, such as the Mills Brothers and the Inkspots, whose harmonies set the standards for those aspiring to fame.

With the style known as swing, big bands also came into their own, with tunes like Glen Miller's "In The Mood" becoming standards.

The Charts

Curiously, pop music charts as such didn't exist until 1952, when the first Top Twenty was recorded. It came at an interesting time, as "teenagers" really came into being. Historically there'd been no transitional period between childhood and adulthood. Now, after World War II, that seemed to begin, imported from America, and in skiffle, an interpretation of American folk music (personified by Lonnie Donegan), teens found their music.

Rock'n'roll brought much more of that, and Elvis Presley became a global star, the biggest of the late 1950s and early 1960s. But he would find himself supplanted by the Beatles, who revolutionised pop by writing their own material, instigating a fashion that remains undiminished.

The Beatles set the standard for pop music, and it remains undiminished - Beatlesque has become a standard descriptive adjective. From 1962 until their break up in 1970 they dominated the charts in Britain and America.