Rock The and Roll Revolution Brian Weis
Is anybody out there? Just nod if you can hear me. I am writing to rock and roll
enthusiasts out there everywhere. In the 1950s rock and roll came onto the scene. It made an impact on the culture of their era that we still see today. Before this watershed point in music, everyone was expected to act very proper. Not only did this revolution mark a turning point in music, but in society as a whole. Gone were the days of crooners like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Bing Crosby. In with the King and the Fab Four. Before rock and roll was ushered in by artists like Elvis and Chuck Berry, the most risqu thing one would see in the music scene was swing dancing. This revolved around big band music. The very term rock and roll contains a sexual meaning behind it. Rock and roll was originally a slang term that was used for either dancing or having sex. When artists like Elvis and The Beatles became sex symbols among female teenagers of the time, the generation that came before them was outraged. Paranoia ran amongst parents and teachers who were afraid that their children would end up being corrupted by their music. There were several instances relating to Elvis Presley in particular. In society during the 1950s it was considered obscene to wiggle ones hips or just shake body parts in general. At one point a judge in Jacksonville, Florida threatened to arrest Presley if he partook in his shaking of the body that normally accompanied his shows. Television stations would go as far as to avoid shooting him below the waist so that the home audience would not be able to see him shaking his hips. When youths see this disapproval from their parents, their natural reaction is to follow the trend even stronger. They see a chance to rebel against an authority figure and take it. Odds are if there was not such a large outcry against how Elvis moved his hips when he was in concert, he would not have gained such enormous popularity. The very fact that kids know that they
are not supposed to be doing something makes the want to do it even more. Following Elvis came the British Invasion. This brought to the United States one of the most influential rock bands of all time, The Beatles. While their later music is generally believed to have more depth and creativity in it, their early hits are what The made Beatles huge in America. When teenagers heard "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on the radio, Beatlemania had begun. Thousands of kids went to see The Beatles as they got off of their plane upon entering the United States just to get a glimpse of this new sensation that was sweeping the country. Elvis himself had credited The Beatles as being the reason why young people were quickly becoming wild and rebellious. As they moved forward they started breaking away from the mainstream in different ways. The Beatles were also influencing the youth in society to protest the Vietnam War. Before then, it was considered unpatriotic to ever question our president during wartime. One more thing that set people off was their usage of drugs. It was no secret that the members of The Beatles used mind-altering drugs and this alone was more than enough to frighten parents. Obviously drugs are still illegal in the United States, but without a doubt since that era, it has become much more acceptable in society. Even the likes of Elvis disapproved of the message they sent to teenagers. When a former miscreant of society is appalled by someone or something, it becomes clear that limits are not only being pushed, but completely blown away. At one point Presley asked Richard Nixon to ban The Beatles from entering the United States. However, The Beatles did more than just use drugs and create rebellion. They taught us to open our minds to new ideas. They helped create an ultraliberal attitude that made people constantly question society. It was not their goal to make us riot on the streets during the Vietnam War but rather to
right a wrong in the world. People started thinking in a different way because of The Beatles. When we look we look at society now, we can see how far we have come. On television and in movies we see all sorts of things that would not only be considered obscene, but would be illegal to show us back in the '50s. People today are also much more politically active than they were in the past. Especially on college campuses like Berkley and Boulder, we saw a rise of political activism. This can be linked to the rebellious nature of The Beatles and Elvis. The rock and roll revolution started the downfall of our conservative views of the past and the rise of the liberal views that so many of us hold now.