In which decade did boogie woogie appear on the popular radar?

• A. 1910s
• B. 1920s
• C. 1930s
• D. 1940s

Answer: (B)

Boogie-woogie emerged as a recognizable, popular sound during the Jazz Age in the 1920s. It grew out of piano-based blues in the Mississippi Delta and urban centers, but it didn’t become widely known until late in the decade when recordings and dance halls brought it to a national audience. A pivotal moment is the 1928 recording of Pinetop Smith’s “Boogie Woogie,” which helped the style catch the public ear and sparked a wave of similar piano blues pieces. After that breakthrough, other pianists like Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons carried the sound into broader popularity as the decade ended and into the 1930s. So, the decade when boogie-woogie first appeared on the popular radar is the 1920s.