Glenn Miller’s 100th birthday was on March 1st, 2004. It’s hard to believe that this divinely gifted musician would meanwhile have been over 100 years old–he’s still part of the contemporary scene for all music-lovers, for fans of swing and Big Band music. Glenn Miller is and remains a genuine, living legend.
The fact that after some initial years of hard ship, Glenn Miller ultimately enjoyed a dream career, tragically cut short, is without a doubt attributed to the situation on America’s music market. Back then it was much the same as now. Over here in Europe, we occasionally wonder why for show business is mostly dominated by Americans. Well, the supply of up-and-coming talent is so much greater that only the really good ones get to the top. One example is the numerous music bars and clubs, plus of course the theatres, in American cities outside New York, which provide an almost unnoticed showcase for talents who over here in Europe would already be enjoying the spotlight of prestigious venues. So when they arrive in New York, it initially means competing again with many talented rivals in small off-Broadway theatres and clubs. If you then succeed, you’re one of the truly great. Glenn Miller’s career took a similar course. He had a tough struggle to establish himself as one of his era’s top-ranking musicians. This struggle was made no easier by the particularly harsh economic conditions at the time of Glenn Miller’s rise to fame. Not to mention the looming threat of the Second World War.