Essay on Rock And Roll

Punk rock music has been used for decades to express dissatisfaction with society, government, or any idea common in mainstream media. Yet punk rock is not simply a tangent of the mainstream, it is a dynamic and fluid genre with many distinct songs. Don Letts, a mainstay in the London punk scene during the 70’s and 80’s, went as far to say that hip-hop was essentially “black” punk. While punk and hip-hop music are stylistically different, the fundamental tone of the two genres is the same. Even throughout the decades, hip-hop has sang the same issues as punk, including the plight of the lower class, police brutality, and gang violence.

The main innovation in rock was the electric guitar. It brought a loud and free-spirited feeling that came with rocking out. It loosened up the music which brought many different styles and genres within rock. It broadened the horizons to rock and roll letting people express themselves through their music. This rock craze spilled overseas into Britain where many great artists were born. The British Invasion happened in the mid 1960’s when bands moved from the United Kingdom to perform in America. The two main bands coming out of this time period were the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Both left lasting impressions on American music. Led Zeppelin, The Who, and The Animals were also a part of this important time period in rock and roll history. In this era most of America’s top music charts all topped out with rock and roll songs coming from Britain. Some notable songs are “House of the Rising Sun,” by The Animals, “Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles, and many others. Even though the British Invasion took the United States by storm, it was just the beginning.

Another area that new music was beginning to develop was in the slums of San Francisco. The Haight-Ashbury district would spawn acts such as Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and the Grateful Dead. San Francisco had developed a consciousness about rock. Janis Joplin left in 1967 and traveled to Texas where she found her claim to fame. Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead stayed in Sna Francisco playing in small theatres and venues. The most famous of these was the Filmore West. The combination of this improvisational rock bands and psychedelic drugs produced a subculture never seen before. The hippies had invaded the United States. Jimi Hendrix helped pave this new style of music. "He challenged people with his extensions of the guitar into all sorts of realms that had been overlooked, ignored, or undiscovered." The improvisational rock was strongly supported by an underground force that helped the band in many ways. They gained the band popularity by spreading the word, they kept the venues packed by

In order to understand why punk came about the preceding periods will be considered. The baby boom after the war had resulted in a large amount of people being born at the same time. A knock on effect later down the line resulted in mass unemployment for young people. The punk era showed angry,

The attitude common in the subculture is the resistance to selling out, which means abandoning one’s values and changing in musical style toward pop to embrace anything that’s mainstream capitalist culture in the exchange for money, status, or power. Punk rocks’ common thinking wasn’t only anti-authoritarism, and not selling out but also non-conformity, direct action, and a DIY ethic. The DIY attitude was pointed towards stepping forward and speaking without any restraint. To fight with warrior qualities to achieve what you were striving for. The kind of thinking and motives for punk rock subjects was to not settle for what society made acceptable and standard but to think and work outside of the box that was holding them in.

In the late 1970s, the demand of relaxing music and multiracial made disco popular, and the embody of rebellion and aggression led punk rise. Disco rooted in the late 1960s, and peaked in the late 1970s when the demand of entertainment kept increasing. On the other hand, after age of hippy, many young musicians in the late 1970s tried to reject the older generation and accept anti-establishment mentality, which was closely connected to punk.

“He [Pearson’s father] would freak out when he read the song titles to the cassettes that my friends and I would shoplift from the mall…He was certain that I’d become a Junkie if I listened to that kind of music. But with an alcoholic wife-beater father who didn’t give a shit about his son I was bound to avoid the cliched, nihilist aspects of punk culture” (Pearson 12).

Music has been a long standing form of expression for hundreds of years. More recently however, it has become a way for artists to make social commentaries on the society they live in. During the 1970s, Punk bands and Ska bands emerged in England and rose to become a major source of social commentary through their upbeat music. Specifically looking at music from The Stranglers, The Specials, and The Clash, it is clear that lyrics clouded with anger and passion can be best communicated through upbeat sounds and melodies. Each of these groups communicates a need for radical change in society; but each one goes about this in a different way. Through the songs, “I feel like a Wog,” by The Stranglers, “A Message to you Rudy,” by The Specials, and “White Riot,” by The Clash, these bands point out that there is a common enemy in Society. They are forcing the mainstream to realize unpleasant truths about the culture that they inhabit. The future of England was unknown, and these songs were written during a time where people were worried about their place in the world. Faith in the system was dying and these bands gave way to a future generation to improve upon society that will present a more positive and equal multicultural Britain. Through the music it is clear that multicultural Britain was complicated; there were tumultuous times that these bands were commenting on, which pitted races against each other but also brought them together in fighting back against suppressive societal

Introduction The 1950s rock ‘n’ roll movement was rooted from a style of music created by black people and their descendants (Scaruffi, 2005). The lives of Americans were changed, as the older generation looked down upon this genre and life style, while the young generation fell in love with it (“America,” 2008). Artist of the 1950s played a huge roll in the ideas that influenced every aspect of it such as legends Buddy Holly and Little Richard. From moral changes to political changes rock ‘n’ roll arrived to America ready to make an everlasting impact (Stewart, 2008).

The mid to late 1970s brought about a slow but steady change in punk rock. With the advent of heavy metal and punk rock bands an explosion of new rock genres emerged. The change was started by three bands from New York. The New York Dolls, the Dictators and the Ramones started a new trend that quickly spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world. It slowly caught on in the US and when it finally did the hardcore form of punk rock became a national expression for millions of teens and young adults for the next two decades.

Question 1: Rock and Roll was originated in Cleveland during the early 1950s, and it’s popularity rose due to many changes in the United States. One of the reasons why Rock and roll became such a big hit was because of the promoter, Alan Freed. He broadcasted R&B records on his station in Cleveland. And ever since he marketed Rock and Roll, there were more rock-and-roll concerts organized in Cleveland.

Mike Ness is the lead singer and has seen how the “punk rock style” changed from being looked down upon and then slowly became culturally accepted. The “punk rock style” in 2014 is very criticized and looked down upon within our society. In my experiement culture shcok was probably the most prevalent sociological

Most of the original rebellion was directed towards the British class structure. They wanted to express their disapproval of the structure that governed their country. In The Jam’s “Eton Rifles”, the band sarcastically attacks the upper class, calling them arrogant and preaching to them that rugby is the only thing making them strong (Punk 68). The Sex Pistols’ album “God Save The Queen” portrays the Queen of England with a safety pin through her nose on their cover. The reaction to this outburst of shocking rebellion from the mainstream society was a strong, displeased one. American writer Greil Marcus defined punk as, “…refusing the future society has planned for you.” Thousands of social misfits attempted just that. Through the many causes for this rebellious political expression: communism, anarchy, feminism, etc., the punks of England had a focus and a reason. It was this that made the “punk” a valid, yet undesired member of society, and the British public got to see this sociological change first hand (Chamberlain par.8). Although this movement was short lived, its impact was a phenomenon, and its effects were long- lasting, which distinguished this group from previous generations.

Neil Young once said, “Rock and roll is here to stay”. In the mid-1950s, rock and roll began emerging in the United States. In the early stages, rock and roll created many controversies and did not gain large popularity quickly. However, rock and roll continued to push forward, develop, and overcome many of the controversies against it. Like Young said, “Rock and roll is here to stay” and it was not going to go away quietly. Censorship is “the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security” (Oxford). During the rock and roll era, examples of censorship were easy to find. It all started with Elvis Presley and his dances moves, then moving on to the increase of suggestive songs.

Throughout Hanif Kureishi’s novel, The Buddha of Suburbia, there is a focus on the emergence of the punk scene in London during the 1970s. The first obvious encounter we have with punk in the novel appears on page 129, when Karim and Charlie go to the Nashville and see their first punk band. The Nashville is a popular venue where many punk bands got their start, and a lot of famous bands, such as the Sex Pistols, performed. Karim describes the scene that they come upon with a great detailed description of the outlandish appearances of both the audience and the band members. He also describes the unusual way they are acting, the aggressive way they are dancing and the abuse between the band and audience. Though his attention is mainly on the emergence of the