Social effects of rock and roll
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The massive popularity and worldwide scope of rock and roll resulted in an unprecedented level of social impact. Far beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language in a way few other social developments have equalled. The social impact is so large that rock stars are worshipped worldwide and often performances of several artists in diverse arts and cultures are scaled to and appreciated as being close to that of a "rock star".
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[edit] Rock and rebellion
From its beginnings, rock and roll has been associated with youth, rebellion, and anti-establishment. The blend of black influences, suggestive lyrics, and wild response by the younger set made rock and roll appalling and threatening to the older generation. The ability to shock the elders in turn became part of the appeal of the music to young generations. Attempts to control the influence of rock often turned comical; after several previous television appearances became controversial, Elvis Presley was famously shown from the waist up (to avoid offending viewers with his suggestive hip swivels) on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. Hollywood was quick to capitalize on the trend, turning out a series of rock-and-roll themed exploitation films designed to thrill teenagers and horrify adults.
As the original generations of rock and roll fans matured, the music became an accepted and deeply interwoven thread in popular culture. Beginning in the early 1970s, rock songs and acts began to be used in a few television commercials; within a decade this practice became widespread. Starting in the 1980s rock music was often featured in film and television program soundtracks.
While mainstream rock music was no longer able to shock or offend, new forms of music, particularly punk rock in the late-1970s and rap and hip-hop in the late-1980s, emerged to fill this role; people who as youths delighted in the effect rock and roll had on their parents found themselves railing in a similar fashion against their children's music.
[edit] Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll
The rock and roll lifestyle was popularly known as being associated with sex and drugs. Many of rock and roll's early stars (as well as their jazz and blues counterparts) were known as hard-drinking, hard-living characters; during the 1960s a decadent rock lifestyle became more publicly known, aided by the growth of the underground rock press which documented such excesses, often in exploitative fashion. Musicians had always attracted attention from the opposite sex; Groupies, girls who followed, spent time with and often did sexual favors for band members, appeared in the 1960s. While some groups (notably most of the Beatles) eschewed such attention in favor of long-term relationships, other groups and artists did little to discourage it, and many tales (both true and exaggerated) of sexual escapades became part of rock music legacy during the heyday of the rock era.
Drugs were often a huge part of the rock music lifestyle. In the 1960s psychedelic music arose; some musicians encouraged and intended listeners of psychedelic music to be under the influence of LSD or other hallucinogenic drugs as enhancements to the listening experience. Jerry Garcia of the rock band Grateful Dead said "For some people, taking LSD and going to Grateful Dead show functions like a rite of passage.... we don't have a product to sell; but we do have a mechanism that works."
The popularity and promotion of experimentation with drugs by musicians may have influenced use of drugs and the perception of acceptability of drug use among the youth of the period. When the Beatles, once marketed as clean-cut youths, started publicly acknowledging using Cannabis, many fans followed. Journalist Al Aronowitz wrote "...whatever the Beatles did was acceptable, especially for young people. Pretty soon everybody was smoking it, and it seemed to be all right." The relationship of rock music to the hippie and counterculture movements, which espoused use of marijuana and other drugs, is complex and intertwined, and it is not always clear in which direction influence flowed. What is clear is that by the end of the 1960s drugs and rock music were part of a common youth scene and that both some rock musicians and some rock fans were experimenting with many types of drugs.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s however, much of the rock and roll cachet associated with drug use dissipated as rock music suffered a series of drug-related deaths, including those of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison. Although some amount of drug use remained common among rock musicians, a greater respect for the dangers of drug consumption was observed, and many anti-drug songs became part of the rock lexicon, notably "The Needle and the Damage Done" by Neil Young (1972).
Many rock musicians, including Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Steven Tyler, Scott Weiland and others, have acknowledged battling addictions to many substances including cocaine and heroin; many of these have successfully undergone drug rehabilitation programs, but others have died. In the early 1980s, along with the rise of the band Minor Threat, the straight edge lifestyle became popular, especially with young adults. The straight edge philosophy of abstinence from recreational drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and sex became associated with hardcore punk music through the years, and both remain popular with youth today.
The lessons of the excesses of the earlier eras were not always learned; some early punk rock was vociferous about promoting the abuse of drugs. Late 1970s acts such as The Stranglers, The Psychedelic Furs, and The Only Ones reflected their use of heroin in their lyrics in a fashion that sometimes seemed to cross over into advocacy. Later bands such as Guns N' Roses, Jane's Addiction, Primal Scream, Ministry and the subsequent Grunge rock movement of the 1980s were associated with a resurgence in abuse of heroin and other hard drugs. The Madchester bands of the late 1980s and early 1990s such as Happy Mondays also promoted drug use in their lyrics and in their image, as did later Britpop acts like Oasis, Blur and Suede. More recently, it has mainly been rap and hip hop, (and a few electronica) acts which have been glamorizing and promoting drug use in songs, though a few current rock acts like The Libertines and Brian Jonestown Massacre have been as well.
[edit] Rock and Fashion
Rock music and fashion have been inextricably linked. The tough, leather-clad image of early rockers such as Gene Vincent influenced a generation of young people on both sides of the ocean. A cultural war broke out in the mid-1960s in the UK over the rivalry between the "Mods" (who favored high-fashion, expensive styles) and the "Rockers" (who wore T-shirts and leather); followers of each style had their favored musical acts, who eagerly fed into the conflict by releasing records praising one style and disparaging another (the Mods versus Rockers controversy would form the backdrop for The Who's rock opera Quadrophenia).
Rock musicians were early adopters of hippie fashion and introduced such styles as the Nehru jacket; bands such as the Beatles had custom-made clothing that influenced much of '60s style. As rock music genres became more segmented, what an artist wore became as important as the music itself in defining the artist's intent and relationship to the audience. In the late 1970s, Disco acts helped bring flashy urban styles to the mainstream, while New Wave groups began wearing mock-conservative attire (including suit jackets and skinny ties) in an attempt to be as unlike mainstream rockers (who still favored blue jeans and hippie-influenced clothes) as possible.
In the early 90s, the popularity of grunge brought in a fashion of its own. Grunge musicians and fans wore torn jeans, old shoes, flannel shirts, backwards baseball hats, and grew their hair long in rebellion against the clean-cut image that was popular at the time.
Musicians continue to be fashion icons; pop-culture magazines such as Rolling Stone often include fashion layouts featuring musicians as models.
[edit] The "Sell Out" dilemma
Main article: Selling out
Rock musicians and fans have consistently struggled with the paradox of "selling out" -- to be considered "authentic", rock music must keep a certain distance from the establishment and its constructs; however it is widely believed that certain compromises must be made in order to become successful and to make music available to the public. This dilemma has created friction between musicians and fans, with some bands going to great lengths to avoid the appearance of "selling out" (while still finding ways to make a lucrative living).
If a performer first comes to public attention with one style, any further stylistic development may be seen as selling out to long-time fans. On the other hand, managers and producers may progressively take more control of the artist, as happened, for instance, in Elvis Presley's swift transition in species from "The Hillbilly Cat" to "your teddy bear".
It can be difficult to define the difference between seeking a wider audience and selling out. Ray Charles left behind his classic formulation of rhythm and blues to sing country music, pop songs, and soft-drink commercials. In the process, he went from a niche audience to worldwide fame. In the end, it is a moral judgement made by the artist, the management, and the audience.
[edit] Saving the world
Rock musicians have sometimes attempted to address social issues directly as commentary or as calls to action. During the Vietnam War the first rock protest songs were heard, inspired by the songs of folk musicians such as Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, which ranged from abstract evocations of peace Peter, Paul, and Mary's "If I Had a Hammer" to blunt anti-establishment diatribes Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young's "Ohio". Other musicians, notably John Lennon and Yoko Ono, were vocal in their anti-war sentiment both in their music and in public statements.
Famous rock musicians have adopted causes ranging from the environment (Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me (the Ecology)" and the anti-apartheid movement (Peter Gabriel's "Biko"), to violence in Northern Ireland (U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday") and worldwide economic policy (The Dead Kennedys' "Kill the Poor"). On occasion this involvement would go beyond simple songwriting and take the form of sometimes-spectacular concerts or televised events, often raising money for charity.
Rock and roll as social activism reached a milestone in the Live Aid concerts, held July 13th 1985, which were and outgrowth of the 1984 charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and became the largest musical concert in history with performers on two main stages, one in London, England and the other in Philadelphia, USA (plus some other acts performing in other countries) and televised worldwide. The concert lasted 16 hours and featured nearly everybody who was in the forefront of rock and pop in 1985. The charity event raised millions of dollars towards famine relief in Africa.
Live Aid became a model for many other fund-raising and consciousness-raising efforts, including the Farm Aid concerts benefiting family farmers in North America, and televised performances benefiting victims of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. Live Aid itself was reprised in 2005 with the Live 8 concert raising awareness of global economic policy.
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