Music of the Decade

Frank Sinatra: I'll Never Smile Again (1939): The swing era sees the development of the "big band", initially modelled on the classical orchestra, with its sheer weight of numbers and its snappy dress sense. It soon becomes obvious, though, that if instrumentalists are admired, singers - or crooners, as they were called - are adored. The son of a New Jersey fireman and professional boxer, Sinatra has a sweet baritone and idiosyncratic style that turn him into a vocal legend: he also turns out to be a talented actor, so perhaps he's to blame for all those rock stars of the future who wanna be in the movies!