The Golden Age of popular music began prior to World War I with composers and lyricists writing hit songs for Tin Pan Alley, for musical plays, for Vaudeville, and for radio. It blossomed from the 1920s through the early 1950s, defined by a mood and style filled with rhythm and romance and with memorable, melodic, literate music. Although this book focuses on hit songs by major song writers such as Berlin and Gershwin, Kern and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Porter, major collaborators are included as well. Contemporary songwriters, continuing with the style of the Golden Age include Marvin Hamlisch, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Burt Bacharach, and Stevie Wonder. A separate chapter concentrates on celebrities and women of song.

A preface outlining a brief history of American song provides an historical perspective in which to examine the Golden Age of music. Organized alphabetically within chronological periods, this guide to popular music will appeal to scholars and general enthusiasts alike. More than eleven hundred composers and lyricists are included along with the thousands of musical hits they have written spanning from Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and Hollywood musicals, and through the Big Band era.