The Show Must Go On! Popular Song in Britain During the First World War

Using a collection of over one thousand popular songs from the war years, as well as around 150 soldiers' songs, John Mullen provides a fascinating insight into the world of popular entertainment during the First World War. He considers the position of songs of this time within the history of popular music, and the needs, tastes and experiences of their working-class audiences. He assesses the different genres of musical entertainment which were common in the war years and presents a subtle and nuanced approach to the nature of popular song, the ways in which audiences related to the music and the effects of the competing pressures of commerce, propaganda, patriotism, social attitudes and the progress of the war.

Introduction; Chapter 1 Portrait of an Industry; Chapter 101 A Star in Focus 1; Chapter 2 A Patchwork of Genres; Chapter 102 A Star in Focus 2; Chapter 3 The Songs and Their Content; Chapter 103 A Star in Focus 3; Chapter 4 'If you were the only girl in the world'; Chapter 104 A Star in Focus 4; Chapter 5 Songs about the War; Chapter 6 'I want to go home'; Chapter 105 Conclusions;