The Death Of Rock 'n' Roll
|
Listen To The Rolling Stones 
|
|
RM Radio Coming Soon 
|
By 1960, Rock n Roll as a radical new form of music that challenged the social status
quo in the US was generally considered to be dead! So what had happened to the social
radicalism of Rock n Roll in the US by 1960?
Quite simply – it had been turned to ‘Schlock’ by the backlash of a conservative US
political and social system combined with other major events.
What Is Schlock Rock?
OK – what was and is Schlock Rock? Quite simply it was mainstream white, middle
class Rock n Roll fabricated by the mainstream Popular Music industry. Schlock Rock
was/is sanitised and devoid of political and racial content. Let’s demonstrate by seeing a
comparison of two quite 'cute' examples.
quo in the US was generally considered to be dead! So what had happened to the social
radicalism of Rock n Roll in the US by 1960?
Quite simply – it had been turned to ‘Schlock’ by the backlash of a conservative US
political and social system combined with other major events.
What Is Schlock Rock?
OK – what was and is Schlock Rock? Quite simply it was mainstream white, middle
class Rock n Roll fabricated by the mainstream Popular Music industry. Schlock Rock
was/is sanitised and devoid of political and racial content. Let’s demonstrate by seeing a
comparison of two quite 'cute' examples.
Rock - performed by Elvis PresleyElvis Presley - Hound Dog
|
Schlock - performed by Bobby VeeBobby Vee - The Night Has A Thousand Eyes
|
Because of the emergence of Schlock Rock there was a significantly bland political
period within music between the late 1950s and 1963, the result to a considerable
extent of the calculated generation of sanitised and standardised Rock Music products
which replaced the excitement of late 1950s Rock n Roll.. This was spearheaded by
such artists as Fabian, Bobby Ridell, and Pat Boone in the US, and Cliff Richard in the
UK, among others.
period within music between the late 1950s and 1963, the result to a considerable
extent of the calculated generation of sanitised and standardised Rock Music products
which replaced the excitement of late 1950s Rock n Roll.. This was spearheaded by
such artists as Fabian, Bobby Ridell, and Pat Boone in the US, and Cliff Richard in the
UK, among others.
Bobby Vee Bobby Rydell Cliff Richard Fabian Pat Boone
In other words, Rock n Roll died an early death in the US, only to be resurrected
later.
What Produced Schlock Rock? - A Conservative U.S. Backlash!
Why do we say Rock n Roll was dead, and what was the Schlock Rock that replaced
it?
Basically, the Rock n Roll of the Elvis era was dead by 1960. Why? Because of the
right wing backlash by the loose alliance of the majors of the Popular Music industry,
the US government, and right wing fundamentalist religious groups and others.
Why the backlash? It was because in Cold War conservative America, a superpower
on the brink of a possible new world war, any challenges to the conservative status quo,
racial, class, ideological or otherwise, was seen as politically 'left wing' inspired and
therefore needing to be crushed.
And Rock n Roll was seen as just that - a dangerous social 'influence' that had to be
combated . It was bringing race and class relations into the main stream political world
and championing the cause of the downtrodden to some extent. And as such it became
a target of attack by those who feared the changes the music signaled. Behind every
attack – from cover records to government investigations – there was an attempt to
reclaim and absorb mainstream cultural space for white middle class values, themes and
images.
As one expert says, 'And this attack was successful for the characteristics of Rock n
Roll, its strong regional accents, hot instrumental solos, and suggestive lyrics – soon
disappeared.'
Prior to 1959, Rock n Roll had created immense overlap between the mainstream Pop
charts and the R & B charts, in other words black American artists. Not only did black
artists gain an unprecedented access to the popular market through RnR, but white
artists had sold to the black record buying public in record numbers.
So whatever else may be said about Rock n Roll in the early 1950s, the appearance in
the mainstream market of African-American artists recording Rhythm and Blues for
independent labels had over turned all the rules of the music industry. Prior to this,
there had been strict divisions – insulating these sub cultures, with mainstream Popular
Music for the national market, Country and Western for the regional, and R & B for the
African American market.
|
Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
|
Doris Day - Teacher's Pet
|
As a consequence, domestic conservative political forces during the Eisenhower years
saw RnR as spreading coloured and dangerous left-wing working class values into the
mainstream. Therefore Rock n Roll had to be stopped!
It was dangerous because it was sexual and black music, it encouraged a tilt to
Afro-American sensibilities and working class styles. It challenged the boredom of the
Post War years and its conservatism and Protestantism. Rock n Roll also represented
hedonist consumerism – thus both were at odds.
Many believe the US wartime generation in the late 1950s had needed relaxation and
escape in quiet conservatism, while the youth sought relief from school and
authoritarian parents and they found it in Rock n Roll – which provided a major point
of entry to an alternative world. Thus Rock n Roll became a target for repression and
from this reaction came Schlock Rock!
|
To quote one expert – Garofolo’ – ‘Such a musical development may have been inevitable – meaning Schlock Rock – but it still served the purposes of those who were terrified by the cultural implications of Rock n Roll. The energy of early Rock n Roll had crossed lines of age, class, race and culture in a country that seldom takes kindly to social upheaval and certainly did not during the conservative 1950s. As soon as rock n Roll captured the hearts, |
Bill Haley - Rock Around The Clock
|
minds and bodies of teenagers across all demographic categories, it was linked by some
with every perceived social ill from juvenile delinquency and miscegenation to atheism
and communism. As put by one conservative at the time in 1956: ‘the obscenity and
vulgarity in the Rock n Roll music is obviously means by which the white man and
his children can be driven to the level with a ‘nigra’ ... if we choose to call it the
Communist ideology, I think we hit it fairly on the head’. (sources)
with every perceived social ill from juvenile delinquency and miscegenation to atheism
and communism. As put by one conservative at the time in 1956: ‘the obscenity and
vulgarity in the Rock n Roll music is obviously means by which the white man and
his children can be driven to the level with a ‘nigra’ ... if we choose to call it the
Communist ideology, I think we hit it fairly on the head’. (sources)
While extreme – this view certainly panicked many white middle class parents
throughout the United States. Again to quote Garofolo: ‘If some variant of Rock n Roll
was 'here to stay’ as prophesied in 1958, nowhere was it written that social pressures
could not alter its character. The Rock n Roll face-lift of the late 1950s was but the
most visible manifestation of a much broader reaction to the music.'
The Answer
So the answer was to turn Rock n Roll into mainstream white, middle class music – and
that’s what they did with the advent of Schlock Rock and 'Covers'. And this saw from
1950 onwards – bland white artists like Fabian, Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell,
mass marketed as Rock n Rollers.
And Schlock Meant The Death Of What Conservatives
Argued Was Evil, Sexual, 'Commie' Rock Music!
Argued Was Evil, Sexual, 'Commie' Rock Music!
|
Fabian - This Friendly World
|
|
But although such 'ersatz' rockers as those listed above did achieve considerable
success, their styles were inappropriate for Rhythm & Blues radio. As a result, the
penetration of white artists into the R&B market declined sharply and we saw racial
lines and divisions coming back into music in America. For example black radio
returned to a policy of programming more black artists than white.
Again Garafolo stated: 'Somewhat paradoxically, the separation of Rock n Roll and
R&B contributed to a resurgence of R&B as a separate style with cross over
potential....The percentage of black artists crossing over into the popular market
remained uncommonly high until the onslaught of British performers in 1964. Seen in
this light, not even the Beatles – the very musicians who breathed new life into this
music – can be considered apart from the racist attacks on Rock n Roll. It is in fact
impossible to understand the magnitude and immediacy of their acceptance in the US
without some reference to this theme.'
|
The Beatles - I Want to Hold Your Hand
|
But How Was The Conservative Attack Actually Carried Out?
How Was Rock n Roll Crushed?
It was carried out by what many would call 'The Establishment' which included the
mainstream industry itself, by right wing fundamentalist groups and others, by the
Catholic Church, and of course by the government through censorship and review
boards, local councils and others. The mainstream industry included the music
publishing houses, mainstream major record companies and even by established singers
like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby (both moulded by Tin Pan Alley) all of which
jumped on the bandwagon to crush Rock n Roll, and especially its lyrics which were
censored as much as possible.
And as Garofolo writes: ‘Beneath all the high-toned rhetoric lay a massive
accumulation of ignorance and racism and a fair amount of unabashed economic and
political self-interest.’
But Don't Overlook The Role Of The Radical Right In The U.S.
'Radical Right' burning Beatle Records
The role of the 'radical right' (RR), for want of a better term, in
the US should also neither be overlooked nor underestimated.
We define the Radical Right here as a conservative and
reactionary political interests.
The politically active radical right in the U.S. has long affected
what the recording industry did and do. For example the radical
right has long campaigned against specific artists and
recordings, and at times protested to Congress, and boycotted
this and that (the Federal Communications Commission - FCC) and even waged rallies
against stations and had record-burning rallies.
And What Effect Did The FCC And The RR Have, And Have Had, On
The Recording Industry?
Both influenced, depending on geography and political climate, the music environment
in America. Fear of these entities, for example, forced CBS to remove Dylan's 'Talking
John Birch Society Blues' from his second album and from the Ed Sullivan Show.
Pete Seeger, the American left-wing folk singer, was also blacklisted from commercial
radio and TV for nearly 17 years. Again, Ed Sullivan changed the title of the Rolling
Stones, 'Let's Spend The Night Together', to 'Let's Spend Some Time Together'. Barry
McGuir's 'Eve of Destruction' and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's 'Ohio' were also
blacklisted in many parts of the U.S.
|
Led Zepplin's 'Stairway to Heaven', also
copped it as well, as it was thought to refer to drugs and sex. Moralists have long objected to some lyrics and pressured record makers to change. Together they have constituted a powerful force outside the music industry and play a role in influencing just what becomes popular and what doesn't, mind you with mixed results, as not all music is censored. |
Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
|
There Has Also Been The Role Of Governments And Censorship
Governments have long influenced the whole Popular Music industry and its market.
Campaigns to ban records are nothing new. In the roaring 20s, some people saw Jazz
as morally loose. White racists in the 1950s called Bill Haley's Rock n Roll 'nigger
music'. War protest songs of the Vietnam period also made many Americans angry.
While attempts to censor records in the US have been rare, the FCC nevertheless
sometimes keeps recordings off the market for all sorts of reasons, that is before the
rise of the internet and websites like You Tube now allows almost anything to reach
the public. For example, the FCC can take a dim view of stations that air objectionable
music, ie - obscene language, drugs, etc., which guides broadcasters toward caution.
Stations do not want to risk their licenses. And because the recording industry is so
dependent on airplay, music that might offend found it difficult to make it to the market,
at least in the past, that was the case and certainly in the days of Rock n Roll, but in
these days of the world-web - it seems open slather.
Take an example during the Falklands War. During this conflict, the British Government
banned and censored a number of songs which might have made its soldiers home sick.
The US Government did the same during the Gulf War. Such government censorship
was thus a widespread practice - even in our Western democracies.
So Rock n Roll Was Up Against All These Forces And Influences!
But The Demise Of The High Profile Rock n Rollers Made The Backlash Easy
First it must be said – that making such a backlash easier of course, was the demise of
so many of Rock n Roll’s 'gods' in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
By The Early 1960s
By the early 60s, Elvis Presley was in the army in Europe,
and because of his ridiculous involvement in 'B' grade movies
most of his music became watered down family entertainment.
Some experts have also said he had been co-opted by RCA
and conservatively channeled.
|
Don McClean - The Day The Music Died
|
|
|
So How Was It Done? What Saw The Rise Of The 'Schlock' Or 'Ersatz
Rockers' In The Place Of The Originals?
The US Government and the established powers of the industry (the major record
companies and publishing houses) joined forces to suppress Rock n Roll music. This
was done in a number of ways.
Some of the majors tried to ignore it, while some tried to co-opt the singers. Others
however followed the widespread and what proved more effective practice of
‘covering’ records.
Covers (Covers = Ersatz Rock n Rollers)
Covering was the process of blunting the impact of what was known as ‘cross overs’
by making cover versions with sanitised stars – the most infamous of whom were Pat
Boone and others. Boone had the infamous reputation for most covers, which
it is argued prevented him from being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Boone routinely
sanitised Rock songs and built a career out of it.
|
Pat Boone - Tutti Frutti
|
Little Richard - Tutti Frutti
|
As on expert noted: 'While many teenagers eventually became better at distinguishing
covers from the originals and covers became less valuable to the majors as a strategy
for dealing with RnR, such a strategy, nevertheless was very successful for the time.'
By the late 1950s- early 1960s, Rock n Roll had become significantly commercialised
and sanitised with the majors promoting ersatz artists who occupied the mainstream and
stole the market. These artists included Connie Francis, Fabian, Frankie Avalon,
Tommy Sands, Tab Hunter, Bobby Rydell and Neil Sedaka. Rock n Roll was also up
against conservative forces in the industry, the government and within general US
society. Moreover, most of its 'champions' were either, dead, imprisoned or otherwise
distracted.
As Such: Rock n Roll Was Effectively
Dead By 1963!
Dead By 1963!
Go To
Segment Four
Segment Four
|
Return to Rocking The World 
Rocking The World
|
Return To Home 
RM Home
|
