Let's Do It

Let's Do It is the definitive history of the birth of Pop, from 1900 to the mid-fifties.

The story begins in 1898 with the first 78 record—the first recorded pop music and mass-produced sheet music. It starts with London (and to a degree Vienna) as the heart of popular music—there is no confidence in the American voice.

This begins to change with Ragtime, is exacerbated by Europe tearing itself to bits in WW1, and by the turn of the 1920s, America dominates popular culture.

The book features early blues stars Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington and the birth of Jazz, Broadway, Race Records and the parallel worlds of white and black music, Radio, Talking Pictures, Crooners such as Bing Crosby who was the first person to develop a new way of singing with a microphone, the dominance of Frank Sinatra, the man who signed both Billie Holliday and Bob Dylan, and more.

At the end of the book, the circle has turned and—just for a moment—London again has the pop pulse.