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Do The University Course
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Click On Guitar To Go To The Actual University Course


Welcome To: 


RM's Educational 


Dimension Known 


As 


'Rocking The World'.



RM Radio 

Coming Soon
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Come and explore Pop Music's history, evolution, and politics. Also see the social,

cultural and political impact Western Pop has had not just on Western, but also Global

Society. You will find it absolutely stunning. See below for a summary of what lies

within (to gain access to RM's academic course based on this section,  you need to

Join the RM Club.) 

Status Quo - Rocking The World


Rocking The World - Part One:

Segment One:
 Popular Music as History, Power and Politics


In this first segment, we
 
investigate the notion 

that music as a form of 

communication  has 

inherent power; and in
 
having power music 

itself can function as a

political tool. We also

overview how certain 

forms of music in the 

West, via the onset of 

industrial capitalism and

the market economy,


Let's set the scene by listening to Cream and 'Politician'
Cream - Politician
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Go To Segment One
became an actual object of 'commodification'. In other words, music itself became a

commodity to be marketed in a mass industry that saw the birth of Western Popular

Music and the emergence of `Rock n Roll’.



Segment Two: The Politics Within - The Politics Without: The
 
Commodification And Evolution Of Popular Music.



Western Popular Music 

has proven a powerful 

force spreading `Western 

Cultural imperialism’ or

Western values globally. It

has been a powerful

political tool socialising 

political cultures. The most

powerful Popular Music

since the 1950s, arguably, 

has been Rock n Roll. 
Elvis - I Got A Woman
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Go To Segment Two
In this segment the political nature of popular music in terms of its ‘commodification’, 

and emergence, as both an explicit and implicit form of political process and thus tool 

of political, cultural and social change is investigated. Through its commodification,

Popular Music by its very existence reflects Western culture and as such has power

(cultural imperialism). It also acts as a subliminal tool for Westernisation / globalisation 

ie. music acts to `sell’ the West to the rest of the world. It has also been a tool of 

explicit political action where various artists have pursued their own political agendas 

and attempted to influence change and in some cases succeeded in doing so. In both 

Popular Music’s explicit and implicit political forms,  it is possible to identify various

themes many of which we overview.


In this particular segment we overview the commodification and political processes 

inherent in the evolution of Popular music up until the 1950s, when `Pop music’ - i.e. 

modern Pop Music, in the form of Rock `n’ Roll, emerged and where the Rock n Roll 

artists themselves acquired more power.



Segment Three: The Implicit Politics of Rock N Roll In The
 
1950s - Conservative or Counter-Generational?


In Segment Three we 
 
examine the emergence

of Rock and Roll in the

1950s. It was a major 

form of popular music

and a challenge to both

the music and value

systems that went 

before it. The 1950s
 
were in fact a 

watershed in the 

evolution of popular 

music in the West.
Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
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Senator Eugene McCarthy
Go To Segment Three

Rock produced somewhat of a social youth revolution in Western society, and elements

and variants of Rock remained dominant in Western music right up until the 1990s. But 

what was Rock saying- what was its emergence reflecting about Western Society? 

Exactly what was it challenging - was it challenging a  generation or the system itself? 

Indeed, was Rock in the 1950s - politically  conservative or radical?



Segment Four: The Sixties - Progressive Rock - Cold War -

Hot Music!

The Beatles - Revolution
In the 1960s there was a 

broad change in the nature 

of western mainstream 

popular music. There was a 

transformation of early Rock 

n Roll to what became

known simply as Rock –  or

'Progressive Rock’.  The

Beatles were a major force 

behind  this change.
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As such the 1960s represented a tumultuous era in the evolution of popular music. It 

was also a tumultuous era in the international politics and domestic politics of the

major Western powers. We shall look at the emergence of Progressive Rock and try 

and draw out some political connections with this form of music.



Segment Five: Rock Revolution - Political Revolution, From

Woodstock To Watergate



1968 was a watershed 

year in the West. It

heralded both political

revolution and one could

argue a rock revolution.

In 1968, the US position

in Vietnam began to

collapse and it began to

retreat from Asia.

America was torn by 

social upheaval and 
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Woodstock
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Go To Segment Five
international condemnation as, to a lesser extent, was Australia.  Western political and 

social culture was challenged by the growth of a radical youth counterculture spurred

on by and reflected in popular music at the time and the emergence of the hippie 

movement. In this segment we examine the `Woodstock Generation’ from 1968 to 

1974, the political and social implications of the music, and the musical implications

from the politics and changing culture.



Segment Six:
 The 1970s - Glam Rock-Punk Rock: The West

Falters  - Living the Nightmare!



The 1970s saw the 

Western world in 'retreat'.

The US was defeated in

Vietnam and shaken by

Watergate. The Soviet

Union continued to spread

its influence and the Third

World was swept by a  

wave of revolutions. The

counterculture had lost its

way. 

T Rex - Children Of The Revolution
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John Lennon assassinated
Go To Segment Six
An entire generation was disillusioned. The coup de grace was the assassination of 

John Lennon at the end of the decade- many would argue the conscience of 

Western youth expressed in popular music. The nature of mainstream popular music 

also changed quite dramatically during this time as well with the evolution of `Glam - 

Rock’  and then its backlash with the emergence of `Punk Rock’. In this segment we 

explore the changes in popular music and try and identify the links between its  implicit 

political messages and the overt politics of the era both domestically and 

internationally. 



Segment Seven: The 1980s - 2000- > : The Triumph Of The

West - But the Death of Rock?



The 1980s through to the 

21st Century was an 

era of massive global

political change. Most 

prominently the Cold 

War ended and the Soviet

Union collapsed. In short

the West triumphed. But

what sort of West was it? 

Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire

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Go To Segment Seven
Was it a West where social consciousness diluted  in  the face of an onslaught of cold 

economic rationalism and the cynical pursuit of individualism? And what about 

Western popular music? How did it change during this era? Did the new forms that

emerged - grunge, rap, techno, etc, reflect a society and culture in triumph, or did they 

reflect class, ethnicity and other forms of mass  protest? Was there a harking back to 

other eras? And what about Rock - was is it finally in its  death throes?  At the time of

writing - is it now officially dead - replaced by mass  produced, sanitized, commodified,

commercialised 'Muzac' - the music of  the mass capitalist machine? In this segment we
 
investigate these questions.



Rocking The World - Part Two:


Political Themes In Popular Music


In Part Two of Rocking The World we explore 

a number of important political themes

prevalent in Modern Western Popular Music. 

These themes include Peace & Anti-War, 

Drugs & Sexuality, the Environment, and 

Human Rights & Class.





Go To Rocking The World - 

Part Two: Political Themes

 In Popular Music
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Rocking The World: Political Themes In Popular Music


Go To 

Segment One
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Go To 

Segment Two
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Go To 

Segment Three
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Go To 

Segment Four
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Go To 

Segment Five
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Go To 

Segment Six
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Go To 

Segment Seven 
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Go To 

Part Two:
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Copyright © Politics International Pty Limited 2012. Contact Rock Mountain via email: secretary@rock-mountain.org