Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally, it referred to a specific location on West 28th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the Flower District of Manhattan, as commemorated by a plaque on 28th Street between Broadway and Sixth. Several buildings on Tin Pan Alley are protected as New York City designated landmarks, and the section of 28th Street from Fifth to Sixth Avenue is also officially co-named Tin Pan Alley.

The start of Tin Pan Alley is usually dated to about 1885, when a number of music publishers set up shop in the same district of Manhattan. The end of Tin Pan Alley is less clear cut. Some date it to the start of the Great Depression in the 1930s when the phonograph, radio, and motion pictures supplanted sheet music as the driving force of American popular music, while others consider Tin Pan Alley to have continued into the 1950s when earlier styles of music were upstaged by the rise of rock and roll, which was centered on the Brill Building. Brill Building songwriter Neil Sedaka described his employer as being a natural outgrowth of Tin Pan Alley, in that the older songwriters were still employed in Tin Pan Alley firms while younger songwriters such as Sedaka found work at the Brill Building.

Origin of the name

thumb|left|upright=0.7|These buildings (47–55 West 28th Street) and others on [[28th Street (Manhattan)|West 28th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway in Manhattan housed the sheet-music publishers that were the center of American popular music in the early 20th century. The buildings shown were designated as historic landmarks in 2019. Taken in 2011.]]

There are conflicting explanations regarding the origins of the term "Tin Pan Alley". The most popular account holds that it was originally a derogatory reference made by Monroe H. Rosenfeld in the New York Herald to the collective sound made by many "cheap upright pianos" all playing different tunes being reminiscent of the banging of tin pans in an alleyway. The Grove Dictionary of American Music also cites Rosenfeld as originator of the term, dating its first use from 1903. However, while an article on Tin Pan Alley can be found in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from May of that year, this is unattributed and no piece by Rosenfeld that employs the phrase has been discovered.

Simon Napier-Bell quotes an account of the origin of the name published in a 1930 book about the music business. In this version, popular songwriter Harry von Tilzer was being interviewed about the area around 28th Street and Fifth Avenue, where many music publishers had offices. Von Tilzer had modified his expensive Kindler & Collins piano by placing strips of paper down the strings to give the instrument a more percussive sound. The journalist told von Tilzer, "Your Kindler & Collins sounds exactly like a tin can. I'll call the article 'Tin Pan Alley'." In any case, the name was firmly attached by the fall of 1905, when The Evening World published an article titled "The Song Claque Nuisance" about 28th Street.

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, "tin pan" was slang for "a decrepit piano" (1882), and the term came to mean a "hit song writing business" by 1907.

With time, the nickname came to describe the American music publishing industry in general. The term then spread to the United Kingdom, where "Tin Pan Alley" was also used to describe Denmark Street in London's West End. In the 1920s the street became known as "Britain's Tin Pan Alley" because of its large number of music shops.

Origin of song publishing in New York City

In the mid-19th century, copyright control of melodies was not as strict, and publishers would often print their own versions of the songs popular at the time. With stronger copyright protection laws late in the century, songwriters, composers, lyricists, and publishers started working together for their mutual financial benefit.

The commercial center of the popular music publishing industry changed during the course of the 19th century, starting in Boston and moving to Philadelphia, Chicago and Cincinnati before settling in New York City under the influence of new and vigorous publishers which concentrated on vocal music. The two most enterprising New York publishers were Willis Woodard and T.B. Harms, the first companies to specialize in popular songs rather than hymns or classical music.

Beginning in the early 1860s, the pianist and composer J.N. Pattison (active 1862-1890) published sheet music out of a piano and organ salesroom in Union Square in downtown Manhattan. He was one of the few musicians or composers to publish his own sheet music, capitalizing on the boom in that medium as America emerged out of the Civil War, and urban middle classes grew. Piano ownership was widespread in middle-class families, and if one wanted to hear a popular new song or melody, one would buy the sheet music and then perform the piece at home.

In its prime

The song publishers who created Tin Pan Alley frequently had backgrounds as salesmen. Isadore Witmark previously sold water filters and Leo Feist had sold corsets. Joe Stern and Edward B. Marks had sold neckties and buttons, respectively. The music houses in lower Manhattan were lively places, with a steady stream of songwriters, vaudeville and Broadway performers, musicians, and "song pluggers" coming and going.

Aspiring songwriters came to demonstrate tunes they hoped to sell. When tunes were purchased from unknowns with no previous hits, the name of someone with the firm was often added as co-composer (in order to keep a higher percentage of royalties within the firm), or all rights to the song were purchased outright for a flat fee (including rights to put someone else's name on the sheet music as the composer). Many Jewish immigrants became music publishers and songwriters on Tin Pan Alley. Among the songwriters who frequented Tin Pan Alley were Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, Dorothy Fields, Scott Joplin, and Fats Waller. Songwriters who became established producers of successful songs were hired to be on the staff of the music houses.

"Song pluggers" were pianists and singers who represented the music publishers, making their living demonstrating songs to promote sales of sheet music. Most music stores had song pluggers on staff. Other pluggers were employed by the publishers to travel and familiarize the public with their new publications. Among the ranks of song pluggers were George Gershwin, Harry Warren, Vincent Youmans and Al Sherman. A more aggressive form of song plugging was known as "booming": it meant buying dozens of tickets for shows, infiltrating the audience and then singing the song to be plugged. At Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Louis Bernstein recalled taking his plugging crew to cycle races at Madison Square Garden: "They had 20,000 people there, we had a pianist and a singer with a large horn. We'd sing a song to them thirty times a night. They'd cheer and yell, and we kept pounding away at them. When people walked out, they'd be singing the song. They couldn't help it." Many of these new styles were used to help fuel the economy of Tin Pan Alley, allowing composers to be more creative, as well as have a continuous influx of innovative music.

Influence on law and business

thumb|left|Plaque commemorating Tin Pan Alley

A group of Tin Pan Alley music houses formed the Music Publishers Association of the United States on June 11, 1895, and unsuccessfully lobbied the federal government in favor of the Treloar Copyright Bill, which would have changed the term of copyright for published music from 24 to 40 years, renewable for an additional 20 instead of 14 years. The bill, if enacted, would also have included music among the subject matter covered by the Manufacturing clause of the International Copyright Act of 1891.

The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) was founded in 1914 to aid and protect the interests of established publishers and composers. New members were only admitted with sponsorship of existing members.

The term and established business methodologies associated with Tin Pan Alley persisted into the 1960s when artists like Bob Dylan helped establish new norms. Referring to the dominant conventions of music publishers of the early 20th century, "Tin Pan Alley is gone", Dylan proclaimed in 1985, "I put an end to it. People can record their own songs now."

Contributions to World War II

thumb|250px|Tin Pan Alley street sign, unveiled in April 2022

During the Second World War, Tin Pan Alley and the federal government teamed up to produce a war song that would inspire the American public to support the fight against the Axis, something they both "seemed to believe ... was vital to the war effort". The Office of War Information was in charge of this project, and believed that Tin Pan Alley contained "a reservoir of talent and competence capable of influencing people's feelings and opinions" that it "might be capable of even greater influence during wartime than that of George M. Cohan's 'Over There' during World War I." However, the proposal was contested by those who strongly believed that only those who provided more substantial contributions to the war effort should benefit from draft exemption. Jones, on the other hand, argues that "there is also strong documentary evidence that the output of American war-related songs during World War II was most probably unsurpassed in any other war".

  • Lou Singer
  • Ted Snyder
  • Kay Swift
  • Edward Teschemacher
  • Albert Von Tilzer
  • Harry Von Tilzer
  • Fats Waller
  • Harry Warren
  • Paul West
  • Richard A. Whiting
  • Harry M. Woods
  • Allie Wrubel
  • Jack Yellen
  • Vincent Youmans
  • Joe Young
  • Hy Zaret

Notable hit songs

Tin Pan Alley's biggest hits included:

  • "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" (1900) – written by Harry Von Tilzer
  • "After the Ball" (1892) – written by Charles K. Harris
  • "Ain't She Sweet" (1927) – written by Jack Yellen and Milton Ager
  • "Alabama Jubilee" (1915) – written by Jack Yellen and George L. Cobb
  • "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1911) – written by Irving Berlin
  • "All Alone" (1924) – written by Irving Berlin
  • "At a Georgia Campmeeting" (1897) – written by Kerry Mills
  • "Baby Face" (1926) – written by Benny Davis and Harry Akst
  • "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home" (1902) – written by Huey Cannon
  • "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" (1909) – written by Gus Edwards and Edward Madden
  • "Carolina in the Morning" (1922) – written by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson
  • "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine" (1910) – written by Fred Fisher and Alfred Bryan
  • "Down by the Old Mill Stream" (1910) – written by Tell Taylor
  • "Everybody Loves My Baby" (1924) – written by Spencer Williams
  • "For Sentimental Reasons" (1936) – written by Al Sherman, Abner Silver and Edward Heyman
  • "Give My Regards to Broadway" (1904) – written by George M. Cohan
  • "God Bless America" (1918; revised 1938) – written by Irving Berlin
  • "Happy Days Are Here Again" (1930) – written by Jack Yellen and Milton Ager
  • "Hearts and Flowers" (1899) – written by Theodore Moses Tobani
  • "Hello Ma Baby (Hello Ma Ragtime Gal)" (1899) – written by Emerson, Howard and Sterling
  • "Honeysuckle Rose" (1929) – written by Andy Razaf and Thomas "Fats" Waller
  • "I Cried for You" (1923) – written by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown
  • "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" (1919) – written by John Kellette
  • "In the Baggage Coach Ahead" (1896) – written by Gussie L. Davis
  • "In the Good Old Summer Time" (1902) – written by Ren Shields and George Evans
  • "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" (1905) – written by Harry Williams and Egbert van Alstyne
  • "K-K-K-Katy" (1918) – written by Geoffrey O'Hara
  • "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" (1910) – written by Beth Slater Whitson and Leo Friedman
  • "Lindbergh (The Eagle of the U.S.A.)" (1927) – written by Al Sherman and Howard Johnson
  • "Lovesick Blues" (1922) – written by Cliff Friend and Irving Mills
  • "Mighty Lak' a Rose" (1901) – written by Ethelbert Nevin and Frank L. Stanton
  • "Mister Johnson, Turn Me Loose" (1896) – written by Ben Harney
  • "My Blue Heaven" (1927) – written by Walter Donaldson and George Whiting
  • "Now's the Time to Fall in Love" (1931) – written by Al Sherman and Al Lewis
  • "Oh, Donna Clara" (1928) – written by Irving Caesar
  • "Oh by Jingo!" (1919) – written by Albert Von Tilzer
  • "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" (1897) – written by Paul Dresser
  • "Over There" (1917) – written by George M. Cohan
  • "Peg o' My Heart" (1913) – written by Fred Fisher and Alfred Bryan
  • "Shine Little Glow Worm" (1907) – written by Paul Lincke and Lilla Cayley Robinson
  • "Shine on Harvest Moon" (1908) – written by Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth
  • "Some of These Days" (1911) – written by Shelton Brooks
  • "Stardust" (1927) – written by Hoagy Carmichael and Mitchell Parish
  • "Swanee" (1919) – written by George Gershwin
  • "Sweet Georgia Brown" (1925) – written by Maceo Pinkard
  • "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (1908) – written by Albert Von Tilzer
  • "The Band Played On" (1895) – written by Charles B. Ward and John F. Palmer
  • "The Darktown Strutters' Ball" (1917) – written by Shelton Brooks
  • "The Little Lost Child" (1894) – written by Marks and Stern
  • "The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo" (1892) – written by Charles Coborn
  • "The Sidewalks of New York" (1894) – written by Lawlor and Blake
  • "The Japanese Sandman" (1920) – written by Richard A. Whiting and Raymond B. Egan
  • "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight" (1896) – written by Joe Hayden and Theodore Mertz
  • "Warmest Baby in the Bunch" (1896) – written by George M. Cohan
  • "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans" (1922) – written by Creamer and Turner Layton
  • "When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose" (1914) - written by Jack Mahoney and Percy Wenrich
  • "Whispering" (1920) – written by Malvin Schonberger and John Schonberger
  • "Yes, We Have No Bananas" (1923) – written by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn
  • "You Gotta Be a Football Hero" (1933) – written by Al Sherman, Buddy Fields and Al Lewis

Impact

Landmark designation and co-naming

In 2019, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission took up the question of preserving five buildings on the north side of the street as a Tin Pan Alley Historic District. The agency designated five buildings (47–55 West 28th Street) individual landmarks on December 10, 2019, after a concerted effort by the "Save Tin Pan Alley" initiative of the 29th Street Neighborhood Association. Following successful protection of these landmarks, project director George Calderaro and other proponents formed the Tin Pan Alley American Popular Music Project.

On April 2, 2022, 28th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue was officially co-named "Tin Pan Alley" by the City of New York.

  • The Bob Geddins blues song "Tin Pan Alley (AKA The Roughest Place in Town)", recorded by Jimmy Wilson, was a top 10 hit on the R&B chart in 1953 and became a popular song among West Coast blues performers. The song was a favourite of, and covered many times, by Stevie Ray Vaughan.
  • In the 1970s to early 1980s, a Times Square bar named Tin Pan Alley, its owners, Steve d'Agroso and Maggie Smith, and many of its patrons were the real-life inspiration for the HBO series The Deuce. The bar was renamed The Hi-Hat in the series.
  • The song "Who Are You" by The Who has the stanza "I stretched back and I hiccupped / And looked back on my busy day / Eleven hours in the Tin Pan / God, there's got to be another way", which references a long legal meeting with music publisher Allen Klein.
  • The last lines in the Dire Straits song "It Never Rains" on the album Love Over Gold, refers to a woman in the entertainment industry being taken advantage of in 'Vaudeville Valley' and Tin Pan Alley.

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Sanjek, Russell. From Print to Plastic: Publishing and Promoting America's Popular Music, 1900–1980. I.S.A.M. Monographs: Number 20. Brooklyn: Institute for Studies in American Music, Conservatory of Music, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, 1983.

Further reading

  • Scheurer, Timothy E., American Popular Music: The nineteenth century and Tin Pan Alley, Bowling Green State University, Popular Press, 1989 (Volume I)
  • Scheurer, Timothy E., American Popular Music: The age of rock, Bowling Green State University, Popular Press, 1989 (Volume II)
  • Tin Pan Alley American Popular Music Project
  • Parlor Songs: History of Tin Pan Alley