A Thread For ALL Things Rock and Roll

The older generations were especially worried about "juvenile delinquency." In the 1950s, this didn't mean dealing in street drugs or drive-by shootings, but rather chewing gum in class, souping up a hot rod and talking back to parents.

Rock'n'roll music was attacked on all fronts, with records banned and smashed. Radio DJs were ordered not to play certain songs; rock singers (especially Elvis) were condemned; and the career of rock promoter Alan Freed, the man who named the music rock'n'roll, was destroyed by a government investigation.


To quote Michael Ventura, who was there:

For one thing, for us white kids, the real '50s was only the latter half of the decade, because we didn't have rock'n'roll until well into 1955, and in terms of popular culture the decade would hardly be worth mentioning without rock'n'roll. For another, the feel of the time has not only been forgotten but also erased. And there's no way to grasp the subversive force of this now-innocent-sounding music unless you can feel a little of what it meant to be a kid hearing it as it was played for the first time.

It was music that was made for teenagers and scared the hell out of adults; it was taboo-shattering music about–gasp–sex and racial commingling. That's why records were burned, censorship laws were passed, and some lives were ruined. Because this was the Devil's music, and it was threatening the status quo.

But you couldn't stop anything this real. It hit you where you lived. It belonged to the kids and only the kids. It set them apart. It gave them something to believe in. Rock'n' roll was their joy. It was their freedom. It is still so today.