The Roaring Twenties Playlist

1918 the war to end all wars ended and the mood was great. Pop the champagne, dance to the music and enjoy life. That must have been the spirit. It is also noticeable in the music. There’s so much joy and yes, roar. I’ve tried to capture the spirit in this playlist.

Of course the 20s coincides with some great song writers, new technology to capture the music and this completely new and exciting genre called Jazz. An other important factor for the 20s being so special is the liberation of women in western countries.

Womens newfound freedom and the Charleston

After a long fight women got the right to vote. They had also started to shed their long skirts and corsets. So when the new dance craze, the Charleston, hit they could show their legs while doing it. Without the new fashion, music and liberated women, that dance would have gone nowhere.

The origin of the Charleston seems to have been something that happened in the black community in the south of USA. Probably developed among former slaves from Trinidad, Nigeria and Ghana who started doing it in the early 1900s. At the time it was more wild than the later, more polished style that we’re more familiar with.

The name of the dance supposedly derives the South Carolinian city, where one of those black communities lived and danced. It later showed up in stage shows before becoming a wide craze with the 1923 Broadway show, ”Running Wild”.

In many ways I thin the early 1900s remind me of today. It was very polarized, so at the same time as flappers where going wild and music was in a very creative phase there was prohibition and religious groups in America fighting for a more conservative world order. An example of their success is the Hays code from 1930, bringing about a more rigorous censorship on movies (actively from 1934).

Europe in the 20s

Europe also had an upswing after the first world war. A creative and free time, full of optimism and a focus on entertainment, art and modernity. It was called Années folles (the crazy years) in France, Det glada tjugotalet (The happy 20s) in Sweden and Goldene Zwanziger (the golden 20s) in Germany.

In France Josephine Baker made a stir with her erotic dancing, and Maurice Chevalier and Mistinguett became very successful singers.

1919 was the start for the Weimar republic in Germany and especially in Berlin this ment something brand new. Democracy, sexual freedom and a daring and very lively nightlife.

Much of the popular music from Germany had a more political message than in other countries of the same time. A good example is of course the Threepenny Opera, by Bertolt Brecht. It made a splash all over the world and its most famous song ”Die Moritat von Mackie Messer” (”Mack the Knife”) went on to become a standard.

This more political theme was related to the fact that many artists, architects, composers, moviemakers and playwrights where members of the Novembergruppe (the November group). Its members had fought for the republic after World War I and they wanted to continue pushing the envelope with their modern, radical and Avant Garde approach to society.

Here’s a short recap about movies from the Weimar republic, to capture the mood in Germanys cultural life at the time.

The Roaring Twenties playlist

Based on all of this I tried to make a playlist with music from the roaring twenties. It is mostly jolly and jazzy but I also added a few more bluesy and melancholic songs. Since they also played a part.

It also includes some artist and composers that simply must be included in a playlist such as this. It is of course Louis Armstrong, Sophie Tucker, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Cole Porter, the Gershwin brothers and the other usual suspects.

I’ve made an effort to try to include versions actually recorded in the 20s, since that’s the point. But feel free to let me know if I slipped up somewhere.

Also, feel free to let me know if there is a song you miss on the playlist. Just leave a comment and I just might include it on the playlist.

I hope you enjoy the playlist and have a great day!

1918 the war to end all wars ended and the mood was great. Pop the champagne, dance to the music and enjoy life. That must have been the spirit. It is also noticeable in the music. There’s so much joy and yes, roar. I’ve tried to capture the spirit in this playlist. Of course the…

1918 the war to end all wars ended and the mood was great. Pop the champagne, dance to the music and enjoy life. That must have been the spirit. It is also noticeable in the music. There’s so much joy and yes, roar. I’ve tried to capture the spirit in this playlist. Of course the…