That Toddlin' Town

by Sengstock, Charles A., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780252029547
• ISBN10: 0252029542
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-11-05
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

As a centre for jazz and blues, vaudeville, and a budding recording industry, Chicago and its environs probably spawned more nationally recognized dance bands than any other city in the United States in the 1920s and 30s. While ample attention has been paid to their black counterparts, Charles A. Sengstock Jr.'sThat Toddlin' Townlooks at the history of the white dance bands, theater orchestras, radio studio ensembles and night club bands. Sengstock examines these bands not only in terms of the music they played but also in the context of the venues in which they played and Chicago's volatile economic and social climate. Viewing the bands as an economic system, he analyzes them as businesses with all the usual pressures brought on by ambition, personality clashes, and the overriding need to serve clients. More than a mere popular phenomenon, these dance bands--along with their charismatic leaders, powerful booking agencies, and the Chicago Federation of Musicians--had a major impact on the music industry at large and influence over other entertainment media.

Table of Contents

Edgar Benson and the early Chicago booking agents	p. 9
Jules Stein and James Petrillo	p. 21
How radio made stars of the dance bands	p. 38
Ice rinks, beer gardens, and other early Chicago dance halls	p. 53
The Trianon, the Aragon, and the modern ballroom era	p. 68
Early downtown Chicago hotels join the dance party	p. 84
The beat goes on	p. 97
Dance bands thrive in Chicago's cabarets and restaurants	p. 111
The bands earn respect	p. 125
Dance bands in the roadhouses	p. 138
"Rah, rah, rajah"	p. 148
The economic challenge of the thirties	p. 158
The last hurrah	p. 169
Maps of important Chicago dance venues, 1900-1950	p. 183
Major Chicago dance venues and the bands that played there	p. 187
Benson bands and orchestras	p. 195
Chicago ballroom floor dimensions	p. 196
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