Grease Essay

Rock and Roll was the start of a new revolution in America. It introduced the world to many of the famous artists that continue to be a part of our lives today. "Artists who became popular in the 1950s such as Elvis, began to pave the way for others such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly" (The History of Rock 'n' Roll until 1960). With the introduction of rock 'n' roll, there came many new changes to the lives of many Americans. Rock and Roll was a major contributor for the change in teens' behavior in the 1950s because it encouraged new freedoms for teenagers, encouraged new fads among teenagers, and caused a generation gap.

The social and political context of the 1950’s is crucial to any understanding of the birth of rock n roll.

Rock n Roll was everything the suburban 1950’s were not. While parents of the decade were listening to Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, and the Big Bands. Their children were moving on to a new beat.” (U.S. History) Teenagers started to like this new type of music called rock and roll. It became very popular and artists started to experiment with it which influenced the development of rock n roll throughout the 50’s and 60’s. The experimentation with rock n roll changed music forever and greatly influenced our music today. Rock n roll was mixed with country, rhythm, and blues when this combination happened rock n roll kept developing through the fifties and sixties.

Rock ‘n’ roll music has widely influenced music and society and continues to do so today. Rock ‘n’ roll emerged in the 1950’s a time where whites and blacks were heavily segregated. Rock and roll music not only changed the nation’s current musical norms, but indicated the joy of the emerging youth culture of the generation. It influenced artists whether black or white to come into the mainstream music. Famous artists still remembered today also influenced rock and roll. Those pioneers helped change the musical norms and the overall history of music. White rock ‘n’ rollers helped build a ladder for black artists to come into the scene. It was certain that rock ‘n’ roll made it possible for greater acceptance, appreciation and a wider

1960s cinema reflected the tremendous social changes, transitional cultural values, fun, fashion, and rock ‘n’ roll of the

Teenage Rebellion is a major influence on the popularity of rock and roll in the 60’s. Society as a whole was well reserved and private about their personal and sexual lives. A struggling economy left most families spending the majority of income on basic living needs. Few households had disposable income.

Rock ‘N’ Roll’s birth came after the Great Depression and World War II. It was in the 50’s called the baby boomers that started it all. It expanded the teenage population with 3.4 million babies born. The 1950’s scrap the ideology of a conservative family, where the father is the bread winner and the mother was a stay home mother. The young adults found an escape and enjoyment in Rock ‘N’ Roll.

Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock 'n ' roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States. The music we know as rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the mid 1950s, even though a form of it had been on the horizon for at least a decade or so. A quarter of the American population moved during World War II, and that is what brought southern, rural, sacred and secular traditions into contact with urban-based music and its audiences. Rock and roll drew on many different styles. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which it developed from earlier blues, boogie-woogie, jazz and swing music. It was also influenced by gospel, country, western, and traditional folk music. With the combinations of all of these genres of music, that help to create this new style of music excited a worldwide generation of young listeners. Even though it had the attention of young listeners it started to upset the already established social, cultural and musical authorities. With this new music style coming into full affect along with new dances and people having voicing out their own opinion caused a lot of turmoil. Many people began to question this new genre of music and labeled it as the devil music while other loved it and couldn’t help but dance

Rock ‘n’ roll has played a major role in some known historical developments post World War 2. Music plays a significant part in America 's Cold War culture. Music gave us a sense of new technologies and helped the world to prosper. It also is linked with African Americans living in the South. Music was known for shaping the lives of the people during the 1950s and 1960s. Music was geared towards the youth, race, ethnicity, gender and class. “All Shook Up: How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America” by Altschuler, Glenn C, tells us the story of the birth of rock and roll during the concrete years of 1955 to 1965. Altschuler gives us a overview of how rock ‘n’ roll has an historical context. “ For two years the Times printed dozens of

drug taking, in songs like " Lucy in the sky with diamonds " which the

Grease is a classic American film that takes place in the 1950s and explores ideas of gender and sexuality. The film was produced in 1978 by Robert Stigwood and Allen Carr and was directed by Rundel Kleiser. The film was not set in the 1970s because it would have to tell a different story; in the 1970s there was birth control and an abundance of sexual liberation, unlike the 1950s. The producers were able to connect the concepts of events from the 1950s into the film. Grease explores the ideas of gender and sexuality through specific gender roles. On one hand, there are characters in the film who are sexually good and are innocent, they are pure. On the other hand, there are characters who are sexually bad and have a tendency to sin,

“Rock and roll is a type of popular dance music originating in the 1950s, characterized by a heavy beat and simple melodies. Rock and roll was an amalgam of black rhythm and blues and white country music, usually based on a twelve-bar structure and an instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums.” (Kamien, 2015, p.378) The popular music was first called rock and then rock and roll then back to simply rock. Rock and roll music contains many diverse styles. Genres that influenced rock and roll music included jazz, gospel, blues, country and western, classical music, and folk music. Rock and roll music has a raw sound that gets the crowd hyped in a special way. The most important instrument used in rock and roll music is the electric guitar. The electric guitar is the reason for the amplified sound in rock and roll music. “Rock-and-roll guitarist Chuck Berry established a style of

Many artists created a new form of music through the influence of the black artists. The first signs of this influence appeared in the music of Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. It carried on to artists like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and various other musicians.4 A new form of music emerged, rock and roll. This new style of music was fueled by emotion. One of the first stages in the development of rock and roll was sacrificing musical complexity for the sake of capturing an audience. The jazz and blues songs that were popular before rock and roll emerged, consisted of several chords and elaborate rhythms, while rock and roll songs are comprised of only three or four chords and very simple rhythms.5 More direct expressions of emotions were used, and lyrics of personal and political significance were brought into the mix. The relationship between artists and their audiences changed. Fans related to the musicians’ opinions rather than simply the style of the music. As a result of the bold lyrics, a general respect for musicians

What factors lay behind the "upscaling" of Hollywood film genres during the 1950s? Identify the significant genres of the postwar period, and explain how each was affected by enhanced production values and increased thematic complexity.

The 1950s was a big era with poodle skirts, leather jackets, rock and roll music, polka dots, hot rods, and rebellious teens. Although there were a lot of small subcultures like there is today, the one major subculture that stood out the most was the greasers. Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Marlon Brando and James Dean to name a few were some of the more memorable icons of this subculture. Many subcultures began to evolve with the end of World War II of which the greaser subculture was iconic.