Tune Times magazine

The National Jazz Archive has made its unique collection of 'Tune Times' magazine available to view online, which you can access from the Journal pages of our Explore section.

Tune Times was a British magazine that started in September 1934 and claimed to be 'the leading musical monthly'. The run held by the Archive is a complete sequence up to May 1935.

In the first edition, it sets out its stall in a time of economic turmoil when theatres were closing in the UK as a consequence of the growing threat from 'talking pictures' and the 'wireless'. Its aim was to be a 'fearless and independent organ published in the interests of all students of modern music.'

The magazine's iconic front cover caricatures of well known bandleaders and musicians of the time were drawn by a number of illustrators including Nicolas Bentley, 'Baz' and Glan Williams. Regular articles include "Rambler's diary", "Chit chat from America" and "Town topics".

Often opinionated, Tune Times provides a fantastic record of popular British musical entertainment in the 1930s.