Give Me Some Skin
Give Me Some Skin
Novelty Songs and Ballads
This chapter looks at publisher demand for the potentially quick-selling, if usually short-lived, “novelty song” compositions that permeated the Swing Era market. Period novelty songs typically present a simple or familiar melody, a standard thirty-two-bar form with few excursions from the tonic key (chord progressions are rarely more complex than “I Got Rhythm”), and—most importantly—lyrics featuring a phrase linked to contemporary popular culture. Within these basic parameters, however, the genre reflected a range of strategies. This chapter shows how, along with ballad love songs, novelties represented an important artistic as well as commercial component of Swing Era big band music.
Keywords: novelty songs, ballad love songs, big band music, ballads, popular culture, Swing Era
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