Slow Burn - One Year: 1942 | 3. The Day the Music Stopped
One Year
Slate Podcasts
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 3 November 2022
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On Aug. 1, 1942, the nation’s recording studios went silent. Musicians were fed up with the new technologies threatening their livelihoods, so they refused to record until they got their fair share. This week, Evan Chung explores one of the most consequential labor actions of the 20th century, and how it coincided with an underground revolution in music led by artists like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
One Year is produced by Evan Chung, Sophie Summergrad, Sam Kim, and Josh Levin.
Derek John is senior supervising producer of narrative podcasts and Merritt Jacob is senior technical director.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, this is Josh Levine, the host of One Year. |
| 0:02.8 | I hope you're enjoying our season on 1942. |
| 0:05.7 | This week, we have a story from senior producer Evan Chung. |
| 0:10.6 | In the final days of July 1942, as American factories were ramping up production, |
| 0:16.3 | one industry was busier than ever. |
| 0:18.9 | Recording studios were booked solid for days and nights too. |
| 0:23.2 | Producers and performers were working around the clock, |
| 0:26.4 | turning out future hit after future hit. |
| 0:29.2 | Like this wartime classic recorded on July 28 by Spike Jones and his city slickers. |
| 0:43.0 | The next day, Connie Boswell was in the studio, |
| 0:45.9 | tracking a romantic ode to rationing. |
| 0:56.4 | Not every song made in this recording frenzy was propaganda. |
| 1:06.2 | The week began with sessions by Judy Garland and Jean Kelly. |
| 1:09.9 | There were recordings by Cab Callaway and Count Basie. |
| 1:14.2 | Benny Goodman was cutting records that week too, |
| 1:16.8 | so we're Bing Crosby and Dina Shore. |
| 1:19.4 | Ella Fitzgerald got in on the act on July 31, |
| 1:22.4 | along with Lester Young, Woody Herman, and Harry James. |
| 1:26.4 | And then on August 1st, |
| 1:30.5 | nothing. |
| 1:33.1 | Every recording studio in America went silent. |
| 1:37.0 | They stayed silent the next day and the next. |
... |
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