MEGATON CAFE RADIO
A Blast... From the Past!
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GRAMOPHONE
THE STYLES WE PLAY!
In Music: the Atomic Age, also known as the Atomic Era, is the
period of history following the detonation of the first nuclear
atomic bomb, on July 16, 1945 during World War II.
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Although the Atomic Era truly began during the 1940s, many
movies, video games and such used a wide variety of styles to depict or re-create that period, enhancing the mood of viewers and players while also mixing many other music styles from different eras.
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Megaton Cafe Radio plays the best music ranging from the roaring 1920s, 1930s Swing, Ballroom, Jazz Bands and RnB of the 1940s up to the crazy Rock and amazing Crooners and Sirens of the 1950s always keeping in mind the mood and emotions, pre & post Atomic Era. Enjoy!
Roaring 1920s
POST WW1 ERA: 1918-1929
The period from the end of the First World War untill the start of the Depression in 1929 is known as: "The Jazz Age" Jazz had become popular music in America, although older generations considered the music immoral and threatening to old cultural values. Dances such as the Charleston & Black Bottom were very popular during that period and Jazz bands tipycally consisted of seven to twelve musicians.
1930s & Swing
START OF WW2 ERA: 1939
In the 1930s, Swing began as a dominant form in which some virtuoso soloists became as famous as the band
leaders. Swing was also dance music. It was broadcast on the radio 'live' nightly across America for many years
especially by Hines and his Grand Terrace Cafe Orchestra broadcasting coast-to-coastfrom Chicago. Outside of the
United States it was the beginnings of a distinct European style from Gypsy Jazz to Folk with a languid, seductive feel
and also French Musette, all very popular.
1940s Jazz Bands
END OF WW2 ERA: 1945
In the early 1940s, Bebop emerged. It helped to shift jazz from danceable popular music towards a more challenging
"musician's music". Differing greatly from swing of the 30s, early Bebop divorced itself from dance music, establishing
itself more as an art form but lessening its potential popular and commercial value. Since bebop was meant to be
listened to, not danced to, it used faster tempos. The 40s also saw the appearance of the 1st real Crooners and Sirens.
Big Bands were top on the charts during WW2 as well as Grand Orchestras
CrimeJazz / Film Noir
START OF COLD WAR ERA: 1947
The golden age of Film Noir is basically 1940 to 1959. In the late 40s, early '50s, a new style of musical score was
introduced to movie soundtracks: Jazz. Called CrimeJazz in Pop Culture it was mostly associated with "Spy" or
"Detective" Film Noir. While not exactly on the same level of artistic expression as the leading jazz artists of their
respective times, these compositions nevertheless convey the emotions demanded by the shows they backed. Slow and
Modernistic, considered ahead of its time by many, CrimeJazz from Noir series was a unique style.
1950s Atomic Age
THE ATOMIC AGE: 1947-1963
Popular music dominated the charts for the first half of the decade. Vocal driven classic pop replaced big band/swing
at the end of World War II, although it often used orchestras to back the vocalists. 1940s style Crooners vied with a new
generation of big voiced singers. Post-war/early 50s Pre-Rock & Roll also focused on the song’s story and the emotion
being expressed with such styles as Atomic Rock, Doo Wop, Jukebox Pop, Rockabilly and RnB.
