30 Days of The Fade Out: Sentimental Journeys.

The pop-culture references in The Fade Out seem to fade into the background as the plot gains steam, and perhaps the last major references are in the calm before the storm in issue #7, as Charlie and Maya enjoy their love affair -- and an escape from the Hollywood machine -- at a Malibu hideaway.

"Saturday night she cooked them dinner, and afterward Charlie put on the radio...

"Glenn Miller... Lena Moore... The Andrews Sisters...

"They laughed and danced...

"Until he couldn't stand it anymore..."

As we recounted earlier this week, Glenn Miller died in military service in 1944, but RCA Victor released two compilation albums in 1945 and 1947, both hitting number one for multiple weeks on the new Billboard album charts.  The most romantic song in the two collections -- and a personal favorite of mine -- is the gorgeous "Moonlight Serenade."


Lena Horne performed the driving, tropical number "Love" in the 1946 movie Ziegfeld Follies, but she is perhaps best known for "Stormy Weather," which she recorded multiple times, including in 1941 and in 1943, the latter of which for a movie of the same name.


The Andrews Sisters' harmonies are synonymous with wartime music, but they enjoyed a lengthy career, and in 1947 they reached number two on the Billboard chart with the infectious "Near You."


With the music that was playing on the radio toward the end of the 1940's, it probably wasn't easy to escape the long shadow of World War II, but it was probably quite easy to fall in love.