(Redirected from Rock (music))
'Rock music' is a form of
popular music with a prominent vocal melody accompanied by
guitar,
drums, and
bass. Many styles of rock music also use keyboard instruments such as
organ,
piano, or
synthesizers. Rock music usually has a strong
back beat, and often revolves around guitar, either electric or acoustic.
Rock music has its roots in 1950s-era
rock and roll and
rockabilly. In the late 1960s, rock music was blended with folk music to create
folk rock, blues to create
blues rock and with jazz, to create
jazz-rock fusion, and without a time signature to create
psychedelic rock. In the 1970s, rock incorporated influences from
soul,
funk, and
latin music. Also in the 1970s, rock developed a number of subgenres, such as
soft rock,
hard rock,
progressive rock,
heavy metal and
punk rock. Rock subgenres from the 1980s included
glam metal,
synth-rock,
thrash metal,
hardcore punk and
alternative rock. In the 1990s, rock subgenres included
grunge-style rock,
britpop,
indie rock,
piano rock, and
nu metal.
Origins: Rock and roll
Main articles: Origins of rock and roll
Rock 'n' roll came from
rhythm and blues (R'n'B), country, and in turn its influence fed back to these cultures, a process of borrowings, influences that continue to develop rock music. Rock 'n' roll had runaway success in the U.S. and brought R'n'B-influenced music to an international audience. Its success led to a dilution of the meaning of the term "rock and roll", as promoters were quick to attach the label to other commercial pop.
Rock 'n' roll started off in the early-to-mid 1950s in the
United States.
African-American artists such as
Chuck Berry,
Little Richard,
Bo Diddley, and
Fats Domino played predominantly to African American crowds. While these key early rockers were indisposed to racism, local authorities and dance halls were very much divided upon racial lines.
Mainstream acceptance of rock and roll came in the mid-1950s when what Bo Diddley describes as 'ofay dudes' (or whites) signed to major labels and started covering their material.
Elvis Presley and
Bill Haley and the Comets,
Buddy Holly,
The Big Bopper,
Jerry Lee Lewis and
Johnny Cash often toured and played together in dance halls and clubs across the US and Britain.
Towards the end of the 1950s "chessboard" crowds (both black and white patrons) would emerge at rock and roll concerts, as fans discovered the original artists of the songs they knew from television and the radio, such as
Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti".
The genre ignited British enthusiasm for rhythm and blues and the development of
British rock.
The mid-1950s-early 1960s
Early British rock
Main articles: British rock
In the United Kingdom the
trad jazz movement brought visiting
blues music artists to Britain.
Lonnie Donegan's 1955 hit "
Rock Island Line" was a major influence, and helped to develop the trend of
skiffle music groups throughout the country, including
John Lennon's
the Quarry Men, the 1957 precursor to
The Beatles. Britain developed a major rock and roll scene, without the race barriers which kept "race records" or
rhythm and blues separate in the U.S.
Cliff Richard had the first British rock 'n' roll hit with "
Move It", effectively ushering in the sound of
British rock. At the start of the 1960s, his backing group
The Shadows was one of a number of groups having success with
surf music instrumentals. And while rock 'n' roll was fading into lightweight pop and schmaltzy ballads, at clubs and local dances British
rock groups, heavily influenced by
blues-rock pioneers like
Alexis Korner, were starting to play with an intensity and drive seldom found in white American acts.
By the end of 1962, the
British rock scene had started, with groups drawing on a wide range of American influences including
soul music, rhythm and blues and surf music. Initially, they reinterpreted standard American tunes, playing for dancers doing the
twist, for example. These groups eventually infused their original rock compositions with increasingly complex musical ideas.
The Beatles brought together an appealing mix of image, songwriting and personality, and achieved an unprecedented level of worldwide popularity. In mid-1962
The Rolling Stones started as one of a number of groups increasingly showing blues influence, along with
The Animals and
The Yardbirds. In late 1964,
The Kinks,
The Who and
The Pretty Things represented the new
Mod style. Towards the end of the decade, British rock groups began to explore psychedelic musical styles that made reference to the drug subculture and hallucinogenic experiences.
After their initial success in the UK, the Beatles launched a large-scale US tour to a frenzy of fan interest known as
Beatlemania, which spread worldwide with the Beatles' first visit to the US in 1964 including their debut on the ''
Ed Sullivan Show'' on 9 February 1964. In the wake of Beatlemania, other British bands headed to the US, notably the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Yardbirds.
1960s garage rock
Main articles: Garage rock
The
British Invasion spawned a wave of imitators that played mainly to local audiences and made inexpensive recordings, a movement later called
garage rock. Some music from this trend is included in the compilation album ''. Some of the better known bands of this genre include
The Sonics,
? & the Mysterians, and
The Standells.
1960s Surf music
Main articles: Surf music
The
rockabilly sound influenced a wild, mostly instrumental sound called
surf music, though ''
surf culture'' saw itself as a competing
youth culture to rock and roll. This style, exemplified by
Dick Dale and
The Surfaris, featured faster tempos, innovative percussion, and reverb- and echo-drenched
electric guitar sounds. In the UK, British groups included
The Shadows. Other West Coast bands, such as
The Beach Boys and
Jan and Dean slowed the tempos down and added lush harmony vocals to create what became known as the "California Sound".
Rock as a counterculture movement (1963-1974)
Main articles: Counterculture
In the late 1950s the US
beatnik counterculture was associated with the wider anti-war movement building against the threat of the atomic bomb, notably
CND in Britain. Both were associated with the
jazz scene and with the growing
folk song movement.
Folk rock
Main articles: Bob Dylan,
Folk rock
The folk scene was made up of folk music lovers who liked acoustic instruments, traditional songs, and
blues music with a socially progressive message. The folk genre was pioneered by
Woody Guthrie.
Bob Dylan came to the fore in this movement, and his hits with ''
Blowin' in the Wind'' and ''
Masters of War'' brought "
protest songs" to a wider public.
The Byrds, who playing Bob Dylan's ''
Mr. Tambourine Man'', helped to start the trend of
folk rock, and helped to stimulate the development of
psychedelic rock. Dylan continued, with his "
Like a Rolling Stone" becoming a US hit single.
Neil Young's lyrical inventiveness and wailing electric guitar attack created a variation of folk rock. Other folk rock artists include
Simon & Garfunkel,
Joan Baez,
The Mamas & the Papas,
Joni Mitchell,
Bobby Darin and
The Band.
In Britain,
Fairport Convention began applying rock techniques to traditional British folk songs, followed by groups such as
Steeleye Span,
Lindisfarne,
Pentangle, and
Trees.
Alan Stivell in Brittany had the same approach.
Psychedelic rock
Main articles: Psychedelic rock
Psychedelia began in the folk scene, with the
Holy Modal Rounders introducing the term in 1964. With a background including folk and jug band music, the
Grateful Dead fell in with
Ken Kesey's
LSD fuelled ''
Merry Pranksters'', playing at their ''Acid Tests'' then providing an electric ''
acid rock'' soundtrack to their ''Trips Festival'' of January 1966, together with
Big Brother & the Holding Company.
The Fillmore was a regular venue for groups like another former jug band,
Country Joe and the Fish, and
Jefferson Airplane. Elsewhere,
The Byrds had a hit with ''
Eight Miles High''. The
13th Floor Elevators titled their album ''
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators''. The music increasingly became associated with opposition to the
Vietnam War.
In England,
Pink Floyd had been developing psychedelic rock since 1965 in the
underground culture scene. In 1966 the band
Soft Machine was formed.
Donovan had a folk music-influenced hit with ''
Sunshine Superman'', one of the early psychedelic pop records. In August 1966
The Beatles released their ''
Revolver'' album, which featured psychedelia in ''
Tomorrow Never Knows'' and in ''
Yellow Submarine'', along with the memorable album cover.
The Beach Boys responded in the U.S. with ''
Pet Sounds''. From a
blues rock background, the British supergroup
Cream debuted in December, and
Jimi Hendrix became popular in Britain before returning to the US.
1967 was the year when the psychedelic scene truly took off. Many pioneering records came out including the first album from
The Doors and
Jefferson Airplane's highly successful
Surrealistic Pillow. The Beatles' groundbreaking album ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' was released in June, and by the end of the year
Pink Floyd's ''
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' and Cream's ''
Disraeli Gears''. As the
Summer of Love reached its peak, the
Monterey Pop Festival went underway headlining the top bands of the genre including
Jefferson Airplane and also introducing
Janis Joplin and
Jimi Hendrix to the mainstream.
The culmination of rock and roll as a socially-unifying force was seen in the
rock festivals of the late '60s, the most famous of which was
Woodstock in 1969 which began as a three-day arts and music festival and turned into a "happening", as hundreds of thousands of youthful fans converged on the site.
Progressive rock
Main articles: Progressive rock
Progressive rock bands went beyond the established rock music formulas by experimenting with different instruments, song types, and musical forms.
The Who popularized the rock opera. Some bands such as
Pink Floyd,
The Moody Blues,
Procol Harum, and
Deep Purple experimented with new instruments including wind sections, string sections, and full orchestras. Many of these bands moved well beyond the formulaic three-minute rock songs into longer, increasingly sophisticated songs and chord structures. With inspiration from these earlier artists, referred to as "proto-prog", it flowered into its own genre, initially based in the UK, after King Crimson's 1969 genre-defining debut album, ''
In the Court of the Crimson King''. Progressive rock bands borrowed musical ideas from classical, jazz, electronic, and experimental music. Progressive rock songs ranged from lush, beautiful songs to atonal, dissonant, and complex songs. Few achieved major mainstream success, but large cults followed many of the groups.
Pink Floyd,
Yes,
Rush,
Jethro Tull, and a few less notable others were able to work in hit singles to their otherwise complex and untraditional albums to garner a larger audience.
Main articles: Krautrock
By the late-1960s, German audiences began listening to progressive rock bands from Britain and the United States. During this period, avant-garde musicians in Germany were playing
electronic classical music. These German avant-garde musicians adapted their electronic instruments for a style of music that blended progressive rock and psychedelic rock sounds. By the early 1970s, German progressive rock (later called ''krautrock'') bands were blending jazz (
Can) and Asian music (
Popol Vuh). The music by bands such as and influenced the development of
techno and other related genres.
Main articles: Italian rock
In
Italy progressive rock was also popular in the 1970s. Some Italian progressive rock bands were
Premiata Forneria Marconi,
Le Orme,
Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and
Area International Popular Group.
Main articles: Pakistani rock
Although
Pakistan has a long history of rock music producing legendary bands such as
Junoon and
Strings it was only in the 90s that progressive rock made its mark on Pakistani rock scene. One of the bands is
Mizraab from the city of
Karachi who started of in 1996 with their first album ''An Abstract Point of View''. Then ''
Panchi'' in 1999. Failing to leave an impact with their first albums Mizraab launched their third album ''
Mazi Haal Mustaqbil'' in 2004 which proved a great success. Pakistani progressive rock is slowely gaining popularity and more bands are making this kind of music.
In Turkey progressive rock began to grow with
Barış Manço in the mid-1970s. His symphonic-progressive rock album ''2023'', released in 1975, is one of the most important albums in Turkey. He made a contribution to the other genres of rock music with his other albums and became a famous rock star in Turkey.
Soft rock
Main articles: soft rock
Rock music had a short-lived "bubble gum pop" era, of soft rock, including groups such as
The Partridge Family,
The Cowsills,
The Osmonds, and
The Archies. Other bands or artists added more orchestration and created a popular genre known as soft rock. Performers included
Barry Manilow,
Neil Diamond,
Olivia Newton-John, and
Eric Carmen, and groups such as
Bread,
The Carpenters,
Electric Light Orchestra,
England Dan & John Ford Coley, and
Tina Turner.
The mid to late 70s
Heavy metal
Main articles: Heavy metal music
A second wave of British rock bands became popular during the 70s, with groups that were more steeped in American blues music than their more pop-oriented predecessors. Bands such as
Cream,
Led Zeppelin,
Deep Purple,
Judas Priest,
Queen and
Black Sabbath,
Uriah Heep played highly amplified, guitar-driven
blues-rock. These bands laid the foundations for the
heavy metal rock sound.
Heavy metal languished into obscurity in the mid 1970s. A few bands including
Queen,
AC/DC,
Led Zeppelin and
Aerosmith maintained large followings and there were occasional mainstream hits such as
Blue Öyster Cult's "
(Don't Fear) the Reaper". Music critics overwhelmingly disliked the genre. This began to change in 1978 following the release of
Van Halen's eponymous ''
debut''. The album helped to usher in an era of high-energy rock and roll, based out of
Los Angeles, California.
Arena rock
Main articles: Arena rock
The Beatles,
the Rolling Stones,
Grand Funk Railroad and
The Who began the practice of live performances for large audiences in stadiums and arenas. The growing popularity of metal and progressive rock led to more bands selling out large venues. Entertainment companies marketed a series of
arena rock bands, such as:
Journey,
Boston,
Styx,
Heart, and
Foreigner in the late 70s.
Although
The Beatles did not find this form of performance to their taste, other bands carried on, driving the development of technology for large scale concerts, notably
The Who,
the Grateful Dead and
Queen.
Punk rock
Main articles: Punk rock
Punk rock started off as a reaction to the lush, producer-driven sounds of disco, and against the perceived commercialism of
progressive rock that had become arena rock. Early punk borrowed heavily from the garage band ethic: played by bands for which expert musicianship was not a requirement, punk was stripped-down, three-chord music that could be played easily. Many of these bands also intended to shock mainstream society, rejecting the "peace and love" image of the prior musical rebellion of the 1960s which had degenerated, punks thought, into mellow disco culture.
Ramones drummer
Tommy Ramone stated, "In its initial form, a lot of [1960s] stuff was innovative and exciting. Unfortunately, what happens is that people who could not hold a candle to the likes of Hendrix started noodling away. Soon you had endless solos that went nowhere. By 1973, I knew that what was needed was some pure, stripped down, no bad rock 'n' roll".
[1]
While the Ramones were often regarded as the first punk band,
[2],
[3] they had many contemporaries from the same era in the
New York scene. Artists like
Patti Smith,
The Heartbreakers, and
Television played the same fast paced, stripped-down, style of rock, and often played shows along with the Ramones at burgeoning club
CBGB's.
In 1976 the Ramones, along with British punk band the
Sex Pistols, went on a tour of the
United Kingdom. The tour was widely credited for inspiring the first wave of English punk bands such as
The Clash,
The Damned, and
The Buzzcocks. In England, the music became a more violent and political form of expression, represented with the Sex Pistols first two singles "
Anarchy in the U.K." and "
God Save the Queen". Despite an airplay ban on the
BBC, the records rose to the top chart position in the UK. Other bands, like the Clash, were less nihilistic, more overtly political and idealistic.
As the Sex Pistols toured America, they spread their music to the West Coast. Before, punk was mostly an East Coast phenomenon in the US, with scenes in New York and
Washington D.C.. In the late 70s
California punk bands such as the
Dead Kennedys,
X and
Black Flag, gained greater exposure.
New Wave
Main articles: New Wave (music)
Punk rock attracted devotees from the art and collegiate world and soon bands sporting a more literate, arty approach, such as the
Talking Heads, and
Devo began to infiltrate the punk scene; in some quarters the description
New Wave began to be used to differentiate these less overtly punk bands.
If punk rock was a social and musical phenomenon, it garnered little in the way of record sales (small specialty labels such as
Stiff Records had released much of the punk music to date) or American radio airplay, as the radio scene continued to be dominated by mainstream formats such as
disco and
album-oriented rock. Record executives, who had been mostly mystified by the punk movement, recognized the potential of the more accessible New Wave acts and began aggressively signing and marketing any band that could claim a remote connection to punk or New Wave. Many of these bands, such as
The Cars and
the Go-Go's were essentially pop bands dressed up in New Wave regalia; others, including
the Police and
the Pretenders managed to parlay the boost of the New Wave movement into long-lived and artistically lauded careers.
Between 1982 and 1985, influenced by
Kraftwerk and
Gary Numan, New Wave went in the direction of such
New Romantics as
Duran Duran,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Psychedelic Furs,
Talk Talk and the
Eurythmics, sometimes using the synthesizer to replace all other instruments. This period coincided with the rise of
MTV and led to a great deal of exposure for this brand of
synth-pop. Some rock bands reinvented themselves and profited too from MTV's
airplay, for instance
Golden Earring, who had a second round of success with "
Twilight Zone", but in general the times of guitar-oriented rock were over. Although many "Greatest of New Wave" collections feature popular songs from this era, New Wave more properly refers to the earlier "skinny tie" rock bands such as
the Knack or
Blondie.
Post-punk
Main articles: Post-punk
Alongside New Wave,
post-punk developed as an outgrowth of punk rock. Sometimes thought of as interchangeable with New Wave, post-punk was typically more challenging, arty, and abrasive. The movement was effectively started by the debut of
Public Image Ltd. in 1978, formed by former
Sex Pistols singer
John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten), and was soon joined by bands such as
Joy Division,
Siouxsie & the Banshees,
the Fall,
Gang of Four, and
Echo & the Bunnymen. Predominantly a British phenomenon, the genre continued into the 1980s with some commercial exposure domestically and overseas, but the most successful band to emerge from post-punk was
Ireland's
U2, which by the late 1980s had become the biggest band in the world.
Rock diversifies in the 1980s
In the 1980s, popular rock diversified. This period also saw the
New Wave of British Heavy Metal. The early part of the decade saw
Eddie Van Halen achieve musical innovations in rock guitar, while vocalists
David Lee Roth (of
Van Halen) and
Freddie Mercury (of
Queen as he had been doing throughout the 1970s) raised the role of frontman to near performance art standards.
Bono of
U2 would continue this trend. Concurrently, pop-New Wave bands remained popular, with performers like
Billy Idol and
The Go-Go's gaining fame. American
heartland rock gained a strong following, exemplified by
Bruce Springsteen,
Bob Seger,
Donnie Iris,
John (Cougar) Mellencamp and others. Led by the American folk
singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the British former
prog rock star
Peter Gabriel, rock and roll fused with a variety of folk music styles from around the world; this fusion came to be known as "
world music", and included fusions like
aboriginal rock. Also, more extreme forms of rock music began to evolve; in the early eighties, the harsh and aggressive
thrash metal attracted large underground audiences and a few bands, including
Metallica and
Megadeth, went on for mainstream success.
Glam metal (''Hair metal'')
Main articles: Glam metal
One genre that was widely popular in the 1980s (c.1983) was
glam metal. Taking influence from various artists such as
Aerosmith,
Queen,
Kiss,
Alice Cooper (all but Queen would eventually play glam metal at some point in the 80s),
Sweet and the
New York Dolls. The earliest glam metal bands to gain notability included:
Mötley Crüe,
W.A.S.P. and
Ratt. They became known for their debauched lifestyles, teased hair and use of make-up and clothing. Their songs were bombastic and often defiantly macho, with lyrics focused on sex, drinking, drugs, and the occult.
By the mid 1980s, a formula developed in which a glam metal band had two hits -- one a "power ballad" (slow-dance tempo, with soft verses and bombastic anthemic choruses), and the other a hard-rocking anthem. In 1987 a second wave of glam metal acts, sometimes referred to as
sleaze rock, emerged including:
Guns N' Roses,
L.A. Guns and
Faster Pussycat. Guns N' Roses' debut album, ''
Appetite for Destruction'', became a huge seller. The band would continue its success into the early 90s, with the release of ''
Use Your Illusion I'' & ''
II''.
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock was also popularised during this period with
Joe Satriani's release of ''
Surfing with the Alien''. With many heavy metal guitarists being
virtuosos, many of them felt constrained by their bands and were releasing solo albums. Guitarists such as
George Lynch,
Steve Vai,
Yngwie Malmsteen and
Steve Morse have all greatly contributed to the genre.
Alternative music and the indie movement
Main articles: Alternative rock
The term ''alternative music'' (also often known as
alternative rock) was coined in the early 1980s to describe bands which didn't fit into the mainstream genres of the time. Bands dubbed "alternative" could be most any style not typically heard on the radio; however, most alternative bands were unified by their collective debt to
punk. Important bands of the '80s alternative movement included
R.E.M.,
Sonic Youth,
the Smiths,
Pixies,
Hüsker Dü,
the Cure, and countless others. Artists largely were confined to
indie record labels, building an extensive underground music scene based around
college radio, fanzines, touring, and word-of-mouth. Although these groups never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on the generation of musicians who came of age in the 80s and ended up breaking through to mainstream success in the 1990s. Notable styles of alternative rock during the 80s include
jangle pop,
gothic rock,
college rock, and
indie rock. The next decade would see the success of
grunge in the US and
Britpop in the UK, bringing alternative rock into the mainstream.
Success of hybrid genres (1994-1999)
Pop punk
Main articles: Pop punk
With the death of
Kurt Cobain, rock and roll music searched for a new face, sound, and trend. A second wave of alternative rock bands began to become popular, with grunge declining in the mid-90s. A fusion of pop music and punk rock, known as ''pop punk'' had been around since the 80s. In 1994
pop punk bands
Green Day and
The Offspring brought the genre, to the mainstream with their multi-platinum selling albums ''
Dookie'' and ''
Smash'' respectively. As the 90s progressed other pop punk bands like
Sum 41,
Blink-182 and
Good Charlotte also experienced success. Anarchist or anti-establishment themes have been common in pop punk music. In 2002 the album series ''Rock Against Bush'' was introduced, in an effort to "change the government". Punk bands including
Anti-Flag,
NOFX,
Sum 41,
Green Day, and
The Offspring were showcased.
Post-grunge
Main articles: Post-grunge
Also in the wake of Cobain's death, many considered grunge to have died with him. A new style of music called ''post-grunge'' evolved. Much like the case of pop punk and punk rock, post-grunge differed from grunge in its more mainstream sound such as being more radio friendly. Bands like the
Foo Fighters,
Creed,
Fuel,
Everclear,
Live, and
Seether spearheaded rock radio by playing this style of music.
Female solo artist
Alanis Morissette also found success while being labeled under the post-grunge tag. In 1995 her album ''
Jagged Little Pill'' became a major hit by featuring blunt, revealing songs such as "
You Oughta Know". Combining the confessional, female-centered lyrics of artists such as
Tori Amos with a post-grunge, guitar-based sound created by producer
Glen Ballard, it succeeded in moving the introspection that had become so common in grunge to the mainstream. The success of ''Jagged Little Pill'' influenced successful more pop-oriented female artists during the late 90s including
Fiona Apple and
Jewel.
Rapcore and Nu metal
Main articles: Rapcore
Main articles: Nu metal
In the early 90s bands like
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Rage Against the Machine,
P.O.D. and later
Deftones and
Korn had brought a fresh sound by combining rap and rock with much success. Later in the decade this style, which contained a mix of grunge, metal, and hip-hop, became known as
rapcore and spawned a wave of successful bands like
Limp Bizkit and
Linkin Park. Many of these bands also considered themselves a part of the similar genre ''nu metal''.
Present day (2000-present)
Internet influence
In the early 2000s the entire music industry was shaken by claims of massive theft of music rights using
file-sharing tools such as
Napster, resulting in lawsuits against private file-sharers by the recording industry group the
RIAA.
During much of the 2000s, rock has not featured as prominently in album sales in the US as in other countries such as the UK and Australia. By contrast to those countries,
hip hop music has
dominated the US single charts, with artists such as
the Game,
Snoop Dogg,
Kanye West,
Nelly,
Eminem and
Jay-Z. According to a recent study by Teenage Research Unlimited, hip hop is the most popular format of music among adults from ages 18-34 in the United States. R&B acts like
Mariah Carey,
Usher and
Alicia Keys are very popular on the pop charts, although with the exception of Carey, none of these acts, rap or R&B, sell as many albums as rock did. Nearly all of the best selling albums of all time are still rock.
The biggest factor that has contributed to the resurgence of rock music is the rise of paid
digital downloads in the 2000s. During the 90s, the importance of the buyable
music single faded when ''
Billboard'' allowed singles without buyable, album-separate versions to enter its
Hot 100 chart (charting only with radio airplay). The vast majority of songs bought on paid download sites are singles bought from their albums; songs that are bought on a song-by-song basis off artist's albums are considered sales of singles, even though they have no official buyable single.
Garage rock revival
Main articles: Garage rock revival
After existing in the musical underground, garage rock saw a resurgence of popularity in the early 2000s, with the
garage rock revival. Bands like
the White Stripes,
the Strokes,
Jet,
the Vines, and
the Hives all released successful singles and albums. This wave is often referred to as ''back-to-basics rock'' because of its raw sound.
Post-punk revival
Main articles: Post-punk revival
Additionally, the retro trend has led to a
post-punk revival. Bands like
Hot Hot Heat,
the Libertines,
the Killers,
Bloc party,
Franz Ferdinand,
Arctic Monkeys,
the Strokes, and
the Bravery mix post-punk sensibilities with electronic beats, and are among the UK's biggest selling artists.
Social impacts
Main articles: Social impact of rock and roll
The influence of rock and roll is far-reaching, and has had significant impact worldwide on fashion, film styles. This impact is broad enough that "rock and roll" may also be considered a lifestyle in addition to a form of music. Its impact has arguably been extremely positive as well, the phenomenal worldwide popularity of many rockstars facilitating charity events such as
Live Aid.
The spiritual aspects of music are undeniable, and rock music especially has generated a discussion of where it lies in the scheme of good and evil. In 1966
John Lennon became infamous in the U.S. for a statement that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus,"
[4] and other songwriters like
Pete Townshend have explored these spiritual aspects within their work. The common usage of the term
rock god acknowledges the religious quality of the adulation some rock stars receive.
Trivia
★ The first record released in Britain to feature the words ''Rock and Roll'' was "Bloodnock's Rock And Roll Call", a 1956 record from ''
The Goon Show''.
★ There have been many songs with the title "Rock and Roll" from
the Treniers in the 1950s to
Led Zeppelin,
the Velvet Underground and
Gary Glitter in the 1970s as well as
Rainbow,
the Rolling Stones and
Daft Punk in the late 1990s. However, Trixie Smith is possibly the first artist to incorporate the words in the 1922 record "My Man Rocks Me with One Steady Roll".
★ Approximately from the same time (during the 1920s or 30s), there is an early use of the term "rock and roll": There is a song from The Boswell Sisters which is called "Rock and Roll": "The name of their song [Boswell Sisters' song] "Rock and Roll" is an early use of the term (though far from the first). It is not one of the sisters' hotter numbers; it refers to "the rolling rocking rhythm of the sea". (Source:
Boswell Sisters). The Boswell Sisters recorded songs only from 1925 to 1936, so this must be one of the first songs, if not the first, to be called "Rock and Roll".
See also
★
Pop music
References
1. Ramone, Tommy, "Fight Club", ''Uncut'', January 2007
2. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/ramones/bio.jhtml#/music/artist/ramones/bio.jhtml
3. http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=1775
4. ''Evening Standard'', March 4, 1966
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