From the Book - First Pegasus Books cloth edition.
1900: Pop in the beginning
Elite syncopations: Scott Joplin and ragtime
Songs for sale: Tin Pan Alley
Doing what comes naturally: Irving Berlin
A culture of consolation: Music hall and musical theatre
On the other side of a big black cloud: World War I
A conversation of instruments: The birth of jazz
The greatest love of all: Louis Armstrong
The blab of the pave: Jerome Kern and Broadway
Let me entertain you: Al Jolson
I'm gonna do it if I like it: The jazz age
In a silent way: Race records
Invisible airwaves crackle with life: Radio
Trying hard to recreate what had yet to be created: Hillbilly
Black and tan fantasy: Duke Ellington and the Cotton Club
Learn to croon: Rudy Vallee and the dawn of the electric era
All Hollywood and all heaven: Talking pictures
Ten cents a dance: The Great Depression
Nothing but blue skies: Bing Crosby
Industrial light and music: The movie musical
Pardon my pups: The Boswell Sisters
Make those people sway: British dance bands
Fascinating rhythm: Fred Astaire and the dance-hall boom
Eighty-eight key smile: Fats Waller and friends
Tight like that: The age of swing
Serenade in blue: The great American songbook
The winds grow colder: Judy Garland and Billie Holiday
Be like the kettle and sing: Britain at war
Why don't you do right: America at war
Hot licks with vanilla: Glenn Miller
Someone to watch over me: Vocal refrains
We had to break up the band: Post-war jazz
Call me irresponsible: Frank Sinatra
Saturday night fish fry: Rhythm and blues
California suite: The long-player
It's Mitch Miller's world and we just live in it: The 45
Breaks a new heart every day: Peggy Lee
Almost like praying: Post-war Broadway
Experiments with mice: British big bands
Revival: Trad jazz and folk
In a restless world: Nat King Cole
Ports of pleasure: Exotica
Sharks in jets clothing: Rock 'n' Roll
The summit: Frank, Dino and Sammy
TV is the thing: The rise of television
I could go on singing: The next generation
The strength of strings: Film soundtracks
What kind of fool am I: Lionel Bart and Anthony Newly
Whipped cream and other delights: Adventures in Beatleland
The last waltz: Tom Jones and the new balladeers
Some kind rapprochementent: The 1970s.