Swingtime chronicles the swing music scene through the end of World War II and into post-war America at its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 18, at 1 p.m. in the Community Center.

By the end of 1943, the tide of the war was turning in favor of the allies and, in the United States, the strike against the recording industry ended. While swing still maintained its popularity, the music world was in a state of transition as vocalists and sentimental ballads were gaining favor with the public.

In 1944, Captain Glenn Miller and his Army Air Force Band were still rated as the country’s top swing band. With the success of the D-Day invasion on June 6, Miller and his band were transferred to England to entertain the troops at camps and hospitals.

They also performed short-wave propaganda broadcasts for the BBC. The world was stunned in December of 1944 when Miller went missing over the English Channel.

Meanwhile, Harry James and his band ran a very close second to Glenn Miller as the favorite swing band in the country. In 1944, James added a new singer to his band, Kitty Kallen, and recorded one of the all-time great return-from-the-war songs of World War II.

Membership in the Community Center is required to attend Swingtime meetings. For more information, contact Bill Whittaker at 480-837-7961 or the Community Center at 480-816-5200.

A spin-off of the Golden Age of Radio, Swingtime plays vintage recordings from that magical era when swing was king. Listen to the big bands and small ensembles, the crooners and singing groups. Remember the grand ballrooms, the dance crazes and dance contests. While not all the music of the time was swing, the term itself defines that period from the depression years through World War II.