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Listen to Playa Cofi Jukebox
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What Were The Implicit  Politics of
ROCK N ROLL -
And What Did They Represent?


RM Radio
Coming Soon
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      The Answer:  Rock n Roll Music Was Both A  Celebration Of  And Challenge To: 
Western  Society And Culture!



Music typifies or becomes symbolic or characteristic of generations or cultures. In the

West, it has been typical of subcultures within dominant forms of Western Society. In

this sense R n R represented a challenge to a generation. It has been said that the 

teenager was invented in this period (1950s). As such 'The Presley Generation' took on

a new style of its own with different modes of dress, talk, music and genre of films 

featuring exciting teen heroes and perceived rebels such as Marlon Brando, James

Dean and even Elvis himself. 



But Did It Challenge The Political System? 


No!!   In Fact It Championed The 'System'!
_
Rock and Roll it can be argued, was a 

celebration of the Western System. While 

on the surface it reflected the

rebelliousness of American youth, and a 

generation gap, it also reflected gross

materialism, freedom of expression and

overt opinion. In a Cold War world of 

totalitarian regimes and hardship, it 

reflected the US as a society of abundance

and freedom.

Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues
In essence 'R n R' was a cultural weapon of the West that the East saw as evil. In this 

sense, Rock n Roll subtly reflected the Western world's combat with the Communist

East. So much so that the East, the Russians and the Chinese, declared R n R to be

decadent and banned it. So R n R not only reflected  'intra' - national  (domestic)

conflict between subcultures within states, but also international rivalry and conflict.

As early as the 1950s, Pop music - specifically Rock and Roll became a tool of 

Cultural imperialism - a means of Westernization and Globalization - because as we 

have indicated, Pop music is inherently political - both implicitly and explicitly. 


Popular Music reflecting Cultures is inherently political - and a `Self - Initiating

Political Action'. Implicitly it projects the power of the culture and is an instrument of 

power - i.e. it represents the powerful Western Culture of Capitalism. Within its 

evolution it reflects Capitalist commodification, and as such has been a powerful tool

of Westernization and globalisation.


R n R Reflected Mainstream US Political Conservatism

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President Nixon and Elvis Presley

RnR,  at least early on, in fact represented US 

mainstream political conservatism. In fact, it championed 

and celebrated the US system. Elvis for example was

drafted but he didn't go to war, he went to the Army and

supported the US system and its objectives. Later on he 

even offered his services to President Nixon to use against

John Lennon whom Elvis regarded as a subversive. So in essence, Rock n Roll was

a conservative capitalist force feeding off the young and diverting systematical change 

into generational change - at least many argue.


But Rock n Roll Did Represent Beginnings Of Change Domestically! 
_
Having said all the above, Rock n Roll, however, did represent the beginnings of 

massive change. There was massive change within the industry itself of course. But 

more importantly there was massive change socially in the US for it can be argued that

R n R saw the beginnings of racial integration in America. With both whites and blacks 

appreciating white and black music, thereby breaking down some of the barriers

between black and white, etc. Rock and Roll therefore was itself essentially a political 

statement that proclaimed that in integrating Hillbilly and black music, it was the music

of integration between the white and black Americans in a newly emerging youth 

generation.

Rock n Roll

Bill Haley - Rip It Up




Elvis Presley, ‘the white boy who sang

colored’, hardly realised in the mid 1950s

that his music was helping pave the way

for American racial integration. It was the

black roots of much of Presley’s music, 

as well as his suggestive gyrations, that

made him such a controversial performer.

Whatever the fuss, white teenagers liked

the music, and it blazed a trail for many
black singers who became popular beyond the black community. A major black 

influence thus entered mainstream American culture. There also was a Hillbilly element

in early R n R, bringing the concerns and issues of poor rural whites - another 

oppressed, neglected minority - into the mainstream consciousness. As such Nashville

ceased to be an American cultural ghetto.


Conclusion


The emergence of Rock n Roll celebrated the Western system and the system was 

capitalist - unlike Folk which challenged all the ills of the system such as the domestic 

ills in racial and economic inequality, and international ills such as the Arms Race 

and the 'Bomb'.  However, it was not until the 1960s that Pop itself  began to take up

this challenge wherein such challenges to the system were actually reflected in much of 

the music and the subcultures that emerged from them. This era had another important 

development forged by Rock n Roll, however, it saw the  rise of the teenage market and

the true birth of the international music industry, the very beginnings of music driven 

globalisation.



But Original Rock n Roll Proved To Be Short-


Lived! In Fact It was largely Dead By 1960!



To Find Out Why, Go To Death Of 

Rock n Roll


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Death of Rock n Roll



Go To

Segment 4

Segment 4


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