Long before Elvis Presley and the Beatles, pop music already existed, and here Bob Stanley traces the genre back to the first recorded music, at the turn of the 20th century. Who were these earliest "pop stars?" Who was George Gershwin writing songs for? Why did swing music decline after World War II? Covering the technology that made it all possible and discussing such figures as Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra, this history also salutes the songwriters and arrangers behind some of our most enduring songs.