The Masses, Not the Classes – Irving Berlin

Things were different 100 years ago. No one listened to music in the car. No one (or almost no one) listened to recorded music at all. A "hit" was a song that a lot of people bought the sheet music for, so they could play it at home.

If you wanted music, you either made it yourself, or you went someplace where other people made it. And not only was rock 'n' roll not invented yet, neither was jazz. Or swing. Or bebop.

Richard Rodgers had the kind of moment most creators can only dream of, when Oklahoma had just opened on Broadway, and the very next morning he heard someone on the street singing Oh, What a Beautiful Morning. It wasn't on the radio; that person had to have heard it live.