Like many Hollywood films of the early 1940s, music provided an escape for the American public. Throughout the nation youth crowded dance halls and nightclubs to do dances called the jitterbug and the lindy. Bandleaders were in abundance and became music industry superstars. The list of the most famous always included Jimmy Dorsey (1904–1957). He formed the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra in 1935 and kept up its high standards. By the end of World War II (1939–45), it had surpassed most other bands in both popularity and in musicianship.

The Big Bands provided an important morale boost to Americans across the home front and especially to those in uniform. The war gave meteoric fame to the bands but many soon found their members swallowed up by enlistment or by the draft. The enlistment of some top stars began as early as the summer of 1942, and many bands floundered...