World War II was the first conflict to take place in the age of electronically distributed music.
Many people in the war had a pressing need to be able to listen to 78-rpm shellac records and the radio en masse. By 1940, 96.2% of Northeastern American urban households had radio. The lowest American demographic to embrace mass-distributed music, Southern rural families, still had one radio for every two households."How America adopted radio: demographic differences in set ownership reported in the 1930–1950 U.S. censuses" by Steve Craig June 2004.
Similar adoption rates and mass distribution of music occurred in Europe. During Nazi rule, radio ownership in Germany rose from 4 to 16 million households.http://www.historyonthenet.com As the major powers entered the war, millions of citizens had home radio devices that did not exist in the First World War.
Therefore, World War II was a unique situation for music and its relationship to warfare. Never before was it possible for not only single songs, but also single recordings of songs to be so widely distributed to the population. Never before had the number of listeners to a single performance (a recording or broadcast production) been so high. Along with that, never before had states had so much power to determine not only what songs were performed and listened to, but also to control the recordings, not allowing local people to alter the songs in their own performances. Though local people still sang and produced songs, this form of music faced serious new competition from centralized electronic music.
German-English song "Lili Marlene" was the most popular song of World War II with both German and British forces. Based on a German poem, the song was recorded in both English and German. The poem was set to music in 1938 and was a hit with troops in the Afrika Korps. Mobile desert combat required a large number of radio units, and the British troops in the North African Campaign started to enjoy the song so much that it was quickly translated into English. The song was used throughout the war as a propaganda tool.
American music
American troops had regular access to radio in all but the most difficult combat situations, and not only did soldiers know specific songs but also specific recordings. This gave a nature to American troops' music during WWII: not as many songs were sung around a fire or while marching, but instead were listened to between combat on Armed Forces Radio. "Amor" - Andy Russell with Al Sack & His Orchestra (1944) "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive" - Johnny Mercer (1944) "Bésame Mucho" - Andy Russell with Al Sack & His Orchestra "Be Careful, It's My Heart" - Composer: Irving Berlin - From: Movie Holiday Inn (1942) "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" - Andrews Sisters (1941)" "Comin' In on a Wing and a Prayer" - The Song Spinners "Der Fuehrer's Face" - Spike Jones and his City Slickers (1943) "Remember Pearl Harbor" - Sammy Kaye (1942) "Don't Fence Me In" - Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters (Cover) "Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Never No Lament)" - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)" - Composer: Lew Brown, Sam H. Stept, and Charlie Tobias (1942) "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" - Composer: Cole Porter - From: musical Seven Lively Arts (1944) "G.I. Jive" - Johnny Mercer "I Don't Want To Walk Without You" - Harry James & His Orchestra Composer: Frank Loesser and Jule Styne - From: Movie Sweater Girl (1942), performed by Betty Jane Rhodes "I Wonder" - Louis Armstrong I'll Be Seeing You - The Ink Spots/Bing Crosby Words by Irving Kahal, music by Sammy Fain "I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)" - Ink Spots "I'll Walk Alone" - Martha Tilton "It's Been A Long, Long Time" - Harry James & His Orchestra "Long Ago (And Far Away)" - Jo Stafford Composer: Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern - From: musical Cover Girl (1944) "Kiss the Boys Goodbye" - Composer: Frank Loesser and Victor Schertzinger - From: movie Kiss the Boys Goodbye (1941) "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" - Composer: Frank Loesser (1942) "Sentimental Journey" - Les Brown & His Orchestra; Composer: Bud Green, Les Brown, and Ben Homer – (1944) "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover" - Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra (1942) "Till Then" - Mills Brothers "Waitin' For The Train To Come In" - Peggy Lee "What a Diff'rence a Day Made" - Andy Russell with Paul Weston & His Orchestra (1944) "When The Lights Go On Again (All Over The World)" - Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra (1943) You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To - Composer: Cole Porter - From: musical Something to Shout About – (1943) "Yours" - Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra
In a nod to the special services and sacrifices the troops were making both overseas as well as domestically, many of these songs were specially re-recorded by their original artists for a Department of Defense musical and morale mission entitled V-Discs for the exclusive consumption by military personnel, similar to Armed Forces Radio.
As the United States was able to utilize the exponential growth of the technological age to compose music, in Sounds of War: Music in the United States during World War II, it is made clear that music had various purposes, but more importantly, it mentions the tension that grew between institutions in order to find the right way to use music for U.S. overall interest. Examples can be seen throughout the different types of songs being produced and publicized during this time. Songs like I'll Be Seeing You (1938) and Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition (1942) were songs that kept the citizens back in the U.S. calm and hopeful for the return of their loved ones. On the other hand, these songs had other effects on the soldiers fighting abroad. For them, songs like these brought nostalgia and homesickness.
With the war continuing through the 1940s, other initiatives to muster morale arose. With drafting numbers reaching close to 500,000, the Defense institutions began to make military bands on the home front, to support patriotism and nationalism. The first patriotic war song of WWII in the U.S. was "God Bless America," written by Irving Berlin for a World War I wartime revue, but it was withheld and later revised and used in World War II. There were many other patriotic wartime songs during this time such as, "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" by Glenn Miller and "Arms for the Love of America" by Irving Berlin in 1941.
After the successful incorporation of music into the war efforts, more was needed in order to keep hopes alive and stable in the U.S. and on the front. At various times music was used as a tool for war, whether it was to entertain or to recuperate soldiers. Furthermore, consideration must be given to the impact that music had on people then and the effect that it continues to have now. Sounds of War: Music in the United States during World War II argues that music composed during the 1940s was unlike any other era of music because of its emphasis on making the listener feel like they are part of the war or if they are somewhere else. It adds that songs from World War II continue to be used today in order to remember those harsh times of war and to remind everyone of the costs of liberty and freedom. Some examples of this would include Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" (1942) and "Lincoln Portrait" (1942). These are still played for presidential inaugurations and continue to have the effect of "loss for freedom".
During the 1940s the United States State Department also encouraged the mutual exchange of music on the radio with the neutral countries of Latin America in order to promote President Franklin Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy and Pan-Americanism."84 - Executive Order 8840 Establishing the Office of Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, July 30, 1941", The American Presidency Project Through the establishment of the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OIAA), President Roosevelt utilized music as a form of cultural diplomacy in order to improve international relations with Latin America and forestall the spread of military hostilities throughout the Americas.Media Sound & Culture in Latin America. Editors: Bronfman, Alejanda & Wood, Andrew Grant. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 2012, Pgs. 41-54 books.google.com See Pgs. 41-54Dissonant Divas in Chicana Music: The Limits of La Onda Deborah R. Vargas. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2012 p. 152-158 FDR's Good Neighbor Policy, CBS, Viva America and Eva Garza on google.books.com Professional musicians and composers from both North and South America were invited to concertize together on radio shows such as Viva América to support these efforts.The Directory of the Armed Forces Radio Service Series Mackenzie, Harry. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport CT, 1999 p. 21 Viva America and Armed Forces Radio Services on books.google.com Included among these musicians were: Alfredo Antonini, Juan Arvizu, Nestor Mesta Chayres, Eva Garza, Elsa Miranda, Miguel Sandoval, John Serry Sr. and Terig Tucci.Media Sound & Culture in Latin America & the Caribbean. Editors - Bronfman, Alejandra & Wood, Andrew Grant. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 2012 p. 47- 49 Viva America, Alfredo Antonini, Nestor Mesta Chayres, Juan Arvizu, Elsa Miranda, Terig Tucci on Books.Google.Com See Pg. 49Dissonant Divas in Chicana Music: The Limits of La Onda Deborah R. Vargas. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2012 p. 152-158 CBS, Viva America and Eva Garza on google.books.comThe Strachwitz Frontera collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings- Eva Garza Biography and CBS's Viva America on frontera.library.ucla.edu (John Serry & Juan Arvizu & Alfredo Antonini in photograph of CBS Pan American Orchestra)
In the years immediately after World War II, the United States Army continued to utilize music as a form of cultural diplomacy amidst the ruins of western Europe. In 1952, the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra was established under the musical direction of the composer Samuel Adler in an effort to demonstrate the shared musical heritage of the United States and Europe. Through a series of live musical performances and broadcasts over the Armed Forces Radio Services network, the orchestra successfully promoted mutual understanding and peace between the German and American people for a decade until 1962.A Dictionary for the Modern Composer, Emily Freeman Brown, Scarecrow Press, Oxford, 2015, p. 311 Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra founded by Samuel Adler in 1952 on https://books.google.comNew Music New Allies Amy C. Beal, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2006, P. 49, "Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra (1952–1962) performing works by Roy Harris, Morton Gould and Leroy Anderson" on https://books.google.comUncle Sam's Orchestra: Memories of the Seventh Army Orchestra John Canarina, University of Rochester Press 1998 194 Seventh Army Symphony on https://books.google.com"7th Army Symphony Draws Praise" Samuel Adler and Army Commendtion Ribbon with Metal Pendant" on 7aso.orgThe Directory of the Armed Forces Radio Service Series Harry MacKenzie, Greeenwood Press, CT. 1999, p. 198 "Seventh Army Symphony on Armed Forces Radio in 1961 performing works by Vivaldi and Dvorak" on https://books.google.com
The role of music not only had effects in the international sphere but in the domestic society of the United States as well, since the prolific number of war songs caused the number of concerts performed to greatly increase, along with the incorporation of women and African American musicians into military bands and groups.
Japanese music
(A jazz song despite its title. Performed by Tadaharu Nakano and the Nakano Columbia Rhythm Boys.)
British popular music and the BBC