Rock and Fashion
Main article: Rock and roll fashion
Rock music and fashion have also been inextricably linked. The tough, leather-clad image of early rockers such the Rolling Stones in the 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 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 late 80s and 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. This was a rebellion against the clean cut image that was popular at the time. Today’s most popular rock influenced fashion spawns from a new genre of rock music called emo. Emo fans and musicians often dye their hair black, adorn studded belts, add pins to pants and bags, and wear vintage clothing often from thrift shops.
Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll
The rock lifestyle has always been 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 publically 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 1960’s. 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 a rock musician’s lifestyle too. In the 60’s, psychedelic music was created, in which some musicians encouraged and intended listeners of psychedelic music to be under the influence of LSD or other hallucinogenic drugs. They claimed that being on acid while listening to the music greatly enhanced the listening experience. Jerry Garcia of the rock band Grateful Dead says, “For some people, taking LSD [acid] and going to a [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 of experimentation with drugs by musicians may have influenced their popularity and acceptability among the youth that followed them. When the Beatles, once marketed as clean-cut youths, started publicly acknowledging using marijuana, many fans followed. Journalist Al Aronowitz who was a friend of the Beatles 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 th 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 Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon of the Who and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. 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, Steven Tyler, Scott Weiland and others, have acknowledged battling addictions to many substances including cocaine and heroin; most of these have successfully undergone drug rehabilitation programs, but many have died, like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.
The lessons of the excesses of the earlier eras were not always learned; 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. 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 acts like Oasis. Later, many rap, hip hop, and electronica acts would glamorize and promote drug use in songs, as have a few current rock acts like The Libertines and Brian Jonestown Massacre.
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.
Saving the world
On July 13th 1985 Rock and roll's social impact was to mobilise the largest musical concert in history with performers on two stages, one in London, England and the other in Philadelphia, USA (plus some other acts performing in other countries) and the audience everywhere around the world by satellite. The purpose was to raise money to feed the starving in Africa and the concert was called Live Aid. The concert lasted 16 hours and featured nearly everybody who was in the forefront of rock and pop in 1985.
Rock and rebellion
From its beginnings, rock and roll has been associated with youth, rebellion, and anti-establishment. The combination of black influences, suggestive lyrics, and wild response by the younger set made rock and roll shocking and threatening to the older generation. The ability to shock the elders in turn became part of the appeal of the music to young people. 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 regularly in television commercials; 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 and hip hop 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.
Last updated: 05-21-2005 02:12:40
