rock&roll and its impact on people
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The Impact of Rock and Roll in the United States
Context
Music is and has always been a reflection of the
society and culture from which it originates. It
would be fair to say that while music has a huge
social influence and helps shapes society, society
in turn shapes and influences the music. Indeed,
they are reflections of one another.
Wars
Cold War:
-Korean War (1950-1953)
-Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
Economy Capitalism and Consumerism
-Unemployment and Inflation low
-Wages high
-Middle-class
SocietyPost-war Booms
-Baby Boom
-Moving to the Suburbs
-Juvenile Delinquency
Civil Rights Movement -Brown v. Board of Education case (1954)
-Rosa Parks (1955)
Technology
-Television set
-Transistor Radios and Car Radios
-Phonographs
-Singles
-
Jukebox
-Electric Guitar
Fashion
1950s – Teenagers were the driving force behind fashion
Before 1950s – fashion houses catered to the adult market
Cinema, TV, Rock and Roll – ‘style of the stars’
Teenagers increased the buying power
Women’s fashion in the 1950sFull skirts in bright colours
Skirts and pants
Tight-fitting
blouses
Poodle skirts Accesorie
s
Men’s fashion in the 1950s
Leather boots
White t-shirt
Jeans
Teddy Boy style
Winklepickers
Slicked back
'duck tail' hair style
Long sideburns
Dance styles
After WWII from dance bands to concerts in night clubs
Teens – didn't want to dance like their parents they invented a wide range of steps
Elvis Presley – hip-swinging
TV – local stations hired radio DJs
Bandstand (1952) – new dances appear: The Stroll, The Bop, The Hand Jive, The Jitterbug.
Racial Equality
Segregation between blacks and whites – a given in the US
After WWII - Americans – more open to change in response to the violence and tension during the war Rock & Roll – music reflected the environment of integration
Elvis Presley Whiteification
“How better to understand what is unknown to you than by
appreciation for the emotional experiences of other people? And
how better are these emotions portrayed than by music?”
Bertrand, Michael T. Race, Rock, and Elvis. University of Illinois Press (2000)
Freedom of expression and
sexuality
• R&R became one of the most influential and popular forms of
music in American history.
• Affected the youth’s actions and words.
• Rise of a rebellious youth culture.
Elvis and his pelvis
• Sexuality openly expressed
• Public view of women
• Playboy Magazine
• Delinquency (Rebel without a cause, 1955)
American youth situation
Significant singers
Adulthood vs. Youth
• Adults Frank Sinatra, Perri Como• Young people wanted something new• R&R marked the difference between
adults and teens.• Horrified adults and parents noise
that had a negative influence teens. “Satanic”
• For the 1st time, adolescents had their own music
Radio Stations
• “Black" radio stationsRhythm and Blues (R&B), new for white teens
• To keep the white audience they needed to broadcast and promote something like R&B
RESULT
simple, blues-based structure, fast, sexy, catchy and easily danced
and with excitement
• Prosperity of the era gave teens money to spend on records and
phonographs
• Radio in cars
• Different radio stations for different
audiences
• R&R defined the difference between
youth and adulthood
Rock and roll is the most brutal, ugly, degenerate, vicious form of expression — lewd, sly, in plain fact, dirty — a rancid-
smelling aphrodisiac and the martial music of every side-burned delinquent on
the face of the earth.
– Frank Sinatra (1957)
Rock ‘n’ Roll was here to stay