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Tin Pan Alley
TIN PAN ALLEYTIN PAN ALLEY, a phrase probably coined early in the 1900s, described the theatrical section of Broadway in New York City that housed most publishers of popular songs. As the music-publishing industry moved from the area around Twenty-eighth Street and Sixth Avenue to Thirty-second Street and then to the area between Forty-second and Fiftieth streets, the name "Tin Pan Alley" moved with it. The term suggests the tinny quality of the cheap, overabused pianos in the song publishers' offices. As the songwriting and music-publishing industry moved to other parts of the city, and to other cities as well, Tin Pan Alley became a term applied to the industry as a whole. BIBLIOGRAPHYFuria, Philip. The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America's Great Lyricists. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Jasen, David. Tin Pan Alley: The Composers, the Songs, the Performers and their Times: The Golden Age of American Popular Music from 1886–1956. New York: D. I. Fine, 1988. Tawa, Nicholas. The Way to Tin Pan Alley: American Popular Song, 1866–1910. New York: Schirmer Books, 1990. Stanley R.Pillsbury/h. r. s. See alsoBroadway ; Music Industry . |
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"Tin Pan Alley." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Tin Pan Alley." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401804206.html "Tin Pan Alley." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401804206.html |
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Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley, name applied to the New York City district engaged in the composing and publishing of popular dance music and ballads, and more generally to the industry as a whole. The distinctive name and the conception of such an industry is credited to the songwriter and publisher Charles K. Harris (1865–1930), author of After the Ball Is Over (1892). Tin Pan Alley had its inception in the 14th Street area of New York, gradually moving uptown with the theater and amusement district, and later, because of its combination with the motion‐picture industry and radio, became a general term applied to all its ramifications, whether in Hollywood or New York. Famous Tin Pan Alley composers include George M. Cohan, Irving Berlin, W.C. Handy, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Rudolph Friml, and Sigmund Romberg. The commercialism and superficiality of Tin Pan Alley have been frequently satirized, as in Beggar on Horseback by Marc Connelly and George S. Kaufman, and June Moon by Kaufman and Ring Lardner.
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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Tin Pan Alley." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Tin Pan Alley." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-TinPanAlley.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Tin Pan Alley." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-TinPanAlley.html |
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Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley This term, said to have been coined by composer Monroe H. Rosenfeld, described the cluster of publishing houses on two blocks of 28th Street between Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and Sixth Avenue. Many younger composers, who later became important to the American musical theatre, received their start there, often as song pluggers. Soon the term referred to the music business in general. A not‐too‐subtle distinction developed between a “Tin Pan Alley composer” and a “Broadway composer.” The former largely wrote songs published separately or designed for vaudeville singers, while the latter offered whole scores for musicals. The term Tin Pan Alley remained with music publishing for decades after the center of activity shifted from 28th Street to the Brill Building on upper Broadway.
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Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Tin Pan Alley." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Tin Pan Alley." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-TinPanAlley.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Tin Pan Alley." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-TinPanAlley.html |
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Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Al·ley the name given to a district in New York City (not associated with any particular street, but with the area around 28th Street, between 5th Avenue and Broadway) where many songwriters, arrangers, and music publishers were formerly based. ∎ [as n.] [usu. as adj.] the world of composers and publishers of popular music, particularly with reference to the works of such composers as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers. |
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Cite this article
"Tin Pan Alley." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Tin Pan Alley." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-tinpanalley.html "Tin Pan Alley." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-tinpanalley.html |
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