When I was young, I used to hear about the Roaring 20s which involved flappers, prohibition, gangsters, the Great Gatsby, and even Babe Ruth among other matters including the beginning of the Great Depression. I don’t know if everyone has noticed but we are fast approaching what will be our Roaring 20s. How the new 20s will roar is anybody’s guess, but it will most likely be another remembered decade. How it is remembered probably deserves some contemplation. However, whether we want to or not, we will hear lots of election material, so it is preferable to acknowledge that politics will be a big part of our 20s as it was with the earlier decade, and just look at some of the other differences in life between the two 20s.
The 1920s were noted for its music which apparently went pretty well with prohibition and Al Capone and other gangsters. Some of the popular tunes were “My Blue Heaven” by Gene Austin who was apparently an early crooner. There was also “Sonny Boy” by Al Jolson and “In the Jail House” by Jimmie Rodgers. We must also not forget when “My Baby Smiles at Me” by Ted Lewis and his band.
I doubt very much that the 2020’s will have songs like that. Even if they did no one would know the words as the singer would be drowned out by the loud music. I have asked some folks who sing today how they feel about singing when the audience cannot even hear them because of the loudness of the music. I have asked some of the musicians as well, but I never get a clear answer.
Lord knows what today’s bands would do with the “Charleston”. It would not be pretty and most likely no one would hear what words were being shouted so that no one would understand that it was the “Charleston”. Now Jazz was very popular in the 1920’s and it was pretty loud, but you could still understand and appreciate the music. I guess that I have made by point on the loudness of today’s music. However, the 1920’s song that would really cause a problem with today’s musician would be to play “Whispering” as Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra did. There would probably be some heart attacks.
Then there are books. People still recall “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and perhaps “Ulysses” by James Joyce. However, I prefer some of the detective stories by writers like Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, and a host of others. Back then the detectives looked for “clews” in order to find the bad guy/girl – mostly guys. Today the detectives do not look for clues as much as they do at the women who are in the story. I will admit that many of today’s authors use women detectives which they did not do much back in the 1920s although Miss Fisher and Miss Marple were around. However, the Lady detectives today are definitely different than those from the 1920s. I have it from a good source that they even like loud music!
We just need to recognize that the new 20s are coming. It will be interesting to find out what we do with the new decade! Your guess is as good as mine!
Barry Evans writes about Life in The Villages for Villages-News.com.
