Chart beat

MUSIC LIFTED MOOD HOME & ABROAD

- by SANJEETA BAINS

BOOSTING spirits at home and abroad, music rallied war-time morale.

The emotional melodies of many Second World War songs contrasted distinctly with the jingoistic hits of the First World War. Music historian Dr Leah Broad says:

"The tone of popular songs reflects the sadness of the country finding itself at the centre of another brutal conflict." The BBC announced a crooner ban, to try to lift the musical mood, but it didn't last long. In 1942, the Beeb formed a Dance Music Policy Committee, known as the "anti-slush" committee, to review its music output. But Leah says: "It was misjudging the mood of the nation." Here we look at the Top 10 musical highlights of the war.

AS TIME GOES BY, DOOLEY WILSON, 1942

Casablanca - starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman - made this song, written in 1931, a hit. "Its message about love enduring through hardship made it a wartime favourite," Leah says.

WE'RE GOING TO HANG OUT THE WASHING ON THE SIEGFRIED LINE, FLANAGAN & ALLEN, 1939