Pop Culture Has Influenced The American Way

In the 1960s, Rock ‘n’ Roll was replaced in popularity by other branches of rock such as Acid Rock, Psychedelic Rock and Hard Rock as a hippie counter culture arose, mainly to protest against the Vietnam war. These new forms of rock provided social commentary on the wide range of assassinations and anti-civil rights actions that infested the country, and united those that wanted to end them. They too celebrated anti-authority actions, but now they were used to promote peace and drugs. Americans—mainly college students—were still rebelling against societal constraints, but instead of fighting against the conformity of white suburbia and their parents, they were uniting to fight against U.S. governmental authority. Rock in the 1960s still mainly appealed to the younger generations, but its influence was spreading. Folk Rock (Bob Dylan) was playing in protest, reminding the individuals there that they were fighting for peace, and Psychedelic Rock—which replicated or enhanced the mind altering experience of psychedelic drugs—created a soothing and new atmosphere in the U.S. Music festivals such as Woodstock in 1969 sprung up to promote peace, do drugs, listen to music, and enjoy being alive and young.6 However, this element of extreme partying and pleasure, eventually brought a few stars to early deaths, such as Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. In the

Television during this time greatly shaped American culture. Televisions were affordable and middle class America began to invest in them. The technology developed which allowed the networks- NBC, CBS and ABC, to broadcast TV in real time. The moment was realized during the 1952 presidential election. Broadcasters were able to show the Democratic and Republican conventions live. This was important because rural America was able to see in real time Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson running against each other.

The 1960s were a time of great protest, public opinion, freedom for music, invention, and racism. In America in 1960 the Civil Rights Movement was underway and the Vietnam War had already been going on for 5 years, where approximately 900 American troops were already serving. The 1960s produced some of the greatest musical artists seen in history, and one in particular was Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan is thought to be one of the greatest influence on popular culture in all time, and is one of the main and influential protest song artists of the 1960s. Dylan grew up in a time of great change, and he lived through many different significant events in American history such as World War Two, the development of the television, the increase of radio use

The Sixties were an exciting revolutionary period of time with great social and technological change. Some people called it the “decade of discontent” because of the race riots in Detroit and La, and the demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Other people called it the decade of “peace, love, and harmony”. It was called this because of the peace movement and the emergence of the flower children. (Britannica) The sixties were about assassination, unforgettable fashion, new styles of music, civil rights, gay and women’s liberation, Vietnam, Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, peace marches, sexual freedom, drug experimentation, and Woodstock. All of these components caused a revolutionary change in the world of popular Music.

One of the social changes in the 1950s was rock-n-roll music which led to teens rebelling against the social norms and being able to freely express themselves. In fact, much of the older generation looked down upon rock-n-roll because they considered it tasteless and music from the devil. While in the 1960s, music was considered a way to really express yourself and tell the world about how you really felt about the current situation. Much of the 60’s music was used to protest the Vietnam War and show the government that they did not want to go off to war to fight. The 1950s was a decade filled with change and prosperity while the 1960s were the years of rebellion and

There have been so many major developments in the evolution of mass media we now live in a day and age where we are constantly continuously connected. I have greatly always been fascinated by how much things have changed in just fifteen years. Fifteen years ago when I was sixteen and looking for a job. I would have to walk into an establishment and physically fill out a paper application and sometimes get an immediate interview. The other options were to use a news paper to look for jobs. Now just fifteen years later not even a century I can down load an application have my resume uploaded and apply for twenty jobs in a matter of minutes and receive call backs the same day it’s incredible. In the last century we have gone from the radio invention with just sound listening to movies, to black and white TV set, to color TV set to big flat screen TV that can go 3D.

The early 1960s was a time of extreme social issues such as the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement; everyone was looking for their own voice in this time of adversity. A young Bob Dylan arises to the spotlight and sings songs speaking of protest and originality, expressing societal dissatisfaction felt by not only himself but by his entire generation. In the 1960s Dylan wrote many protest songs that people of his generation found themselves connecting to, leading way to a counterculture aside from popular music which also paved a way for introspective song writing.

Born on January 19, 1943, Janis Joplin would begin her short, but memorable life in Port Arthur, Texas. As most do, Janis developed a love for music when she was the youngest she could remember. Her career really didn't take off until she joined the band, "Big Brother and the Holding Company" in 1966. ("Janis Joplin") Only two years after joining the band, she would get into an altercation after their album together released, and then leave the band to pursue more. In her life she would have went to a few places for education. She started out at Lamar State College but found herself in the end at University of Texas. ("Janis Joplin |

One of the hallmarks of 1960s lifestyle issues was the music. Music evolved considerably during the decade, as bands developed increasingly heavier sounds while the lyrics became more and more political. Starting with Bob Dylan and other singer-songwriters, the

Pop Culture 1960s The 1960s changed the pop culture forever. In the midst of a war where all hope seemed to be lost The Beach Boys and The Beatles gave Americans something to look forward too. Both bands gave listeners completely different listening experiences.

Of course, when anime first came over to America, it had to be edited to go over well with the popular audience. Television stations would go through and remove excessively violent scenes, alter translations, and even change whole plots just to make the shows more suitable for American audiences, (Ladd & Deneroff, 2009). Of course, it didn’t help that Americans viewed anime in general as children’s cartoons when it wasn’t created to be that way.

During the 1960s, America was going through many changes, civil rights was at a high, men were landing on the moon, and the Vietnam War was raging on. While all this was happening, four men from Liverpool, England were changing American culture more than any American had ever thought possible. These four men were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr; they were better known as The Beatles. As Diane Schomberg stated, “Nobody in America was doing things or making music like the Beatles” (Schomberg). The Beatles are an influential rock band because they changed fashion, television and movies, and music.

If one thing is for certain throughout the history of music it is that all genres and composers in the music industry had an impact on the American Popular Culture. Starting in the 1920s all the way up to today people are constantly being influenced by the lyrics in the songs that they hear. Many musicians compose music and write lyrics in order to give the majority of the population something to relate to. Each decade of new composers and genres brought into account a lot of political issues that were going on during the time. This paper will examine the most important and influential composers and songs throughout the decades and how that affected the American pop culture.

The 1960s was a time of unrest in the United States. The Cold War, especially Vietnam, had a negative connotation with pop culture. Artist like Bob Dylan, The Beates, and Edwin Starr all wrote popular songs about the war and being anti-war. Their songs would become historical in the culture of the time and be songs still heard

America in the 50’s and early 60’s was a conservative country having recently been involved in World War II and the Korean war, and now facing the rising tide of communism. Americans were missing that little bit of excitement in their lives and people were very inhibited. They needed an outlet to let their suppressed feelings out. Then came four lads from England that would soon shock the world, who called themselves the Beatles. The Beatles in the 1960’s positively impacted America by changing the music industry and American youth culture, so that young people became more politically involved, freethinking, and independent. The Beatles legacy continues to affect society today by giving the young people a voice to be heard and influencing the way they live and view society today.