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. Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...

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.

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. Many drugs are provided in tablet form. ... A groupie is a person whose devotion to a person (usually a celebrity, especially a rock and roll star) approaches the level of fanaticism. ...

Drugs were often a huge part of a rock musician’s lifestyle too. In the 1960s 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.” D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, commonly called acid, LSD, or LSD-25, is a powerful semisynthetic psychedelic drug. ... Jerry Garcia in his youth Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was famous as guitarist and primary singer of the psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead, though his extensive career involved many other projects. ... Jerry Garcia later in life The Grateful Dead, often referred to as The Dead, was an American psychedelia-influenced jam band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco from the remnants of another band, Mother McCrees Uptown Jug Champions. ...

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 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. Cannabis is a plant also known as Cannabis sativa, hemp, or marijuana. ... Flower-Power Bus Hippie (or sometimes hippy) is a term originally used to describe some of the rebellious youth of the 1960s and 1970s. ... In sociology, counterculture is a term used to describe a cultural group whose values and norms are at odds with those of the social mainstream, a cultural equivalent of a political Opposition. ...

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). Janis Joplin on the cover of her posthumously-released live album In Concert Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American blues-influenced rock, R&B, and soul singer and occasional songwriter with a distinctive voice. ... Jim Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was a singer, songwriter and poet. ... Keith John Moon (August 23, 1946 – September 7, 1978) was the drummer of the rock group The Who. ... John Bonham John Henry (Bonzo) Bonham (May 31, 1948 - 25th September 1980), was the drummer of rock band Led Zeppelin. ... The Needle and the Damage Done is a song by Neil Young that chronicles his Crazy Horse bandmate Danny Whittens descent into heroin addiction. ... For the former Canadian politician see Neil Young (politician) Neil Young with guitar (from the 1991 Weld tour) Neil Young (born November 12, 1945 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has become one of the most respected and influential musicians of his generation. ...

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. Album photograph by Sante D’orazio Keith Richards (born December 18, 1943 in Dartford, Kent), is a British guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with The Rolling Stones, the band he founded with vocalist Mick Jagger and Brian Jones in 1962. ... Eric Clapton at the Tsunami Relief concert in Cardiffs Millennium Stadium, January 22nd 2005 Eric Patrick Clapton CBE (born March 30, 1945) is a British guitarist and composer, nicknamed slowhand. ... Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948 of Italian parents in Yonkers, New York), better known as Steven Tyler, is the singer and co-songwriter in the band Aerosmith, formed in Sunapee, New Hampshire in the early 1970s. ... awesomest guy ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 ... Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. ... Heroin or diamorphine (INN) (colloquially referred to as brown sugar, junk, babania, horse, golden brown, smack, black tar, H, big H, lady H, dope, skag, juice, jude, diesel, boy, etc. ... Drug rehabilitation is an umbrella term for a variety of processes by which a person addicted to a drug stops using that drug. ... Jimi Hendrix James Marshall Jimi Hendrix (November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, widely considered to be the most important electric guitarist in the history of popular music. ... Janis Joplin on the cover of her posthumously-released live album In Concert Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American blues-influenced rock, R&B, and soul singer and occasional songwriter with a distinctive voice. ...

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. Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... The Stranglers are a British rock music group, formed in 1974 in Guildford. ... The Psychedelic Furs are an influential British post-punk band founded in the 1970s. ... The Only Ones featuring(left to right) Bassist Alan Mair, lead guitarist John Perry, drummer Mike Kellie, and singer/songwriter/guitarist Peter Perret The Only Ones were an influential British rock and roll band in the late 1970s who were associated with punk rock, yet straddled the musical territory in... Heroin or diamorphine (INN) (colloquially referred to as brown sugar, junk, babania, horse, golden brown, smack, black tar, H, big H, lady H, dope, skag, juice, jude, diesel, boy, etc. ... The original line-up of Guns N Roses. ... Janes Addiction is an American band which began in the late 1980s, and returned in the early 2000s. ... Primal Scream is a rock band from Scotland, headed by former Jesus & Mary Chain drummer Bobby Gillespie. ... Ministry is an industrial metal band of the 1980s, 1990s and onward. ... Grunge music (sometimes also referred to as the Seattle Sound) is an independent-rooted music genre that was inspired by hardcore punk, thrash metal, and alternative rock. ... Madchester refers to a period during the late 1980s and early 1990s when bands recording for Manchesters successful Factory Records label began to attract a lot of popularity. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... The Happy Mondays were a rock and roll band formed in Manchester, England in 1985. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Libertines were a critically acclaimed British rock and roll band noted for their chaotic live outings, often seemingly ramshackle touring schedule and uniquely English take on punk rock. ... The Brian Jonestown Massacre is a psychedelic rock band originally from San Francisco, California, United States, led by Anton Newcombe. ...

Rock and Fashion

Rock music and fashion have been inextricably linked. The tough, leather-clad image of early rockers such as the Rolling Stones 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 in 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. The term fashion applies to a characteristic means of expression or presentation; fashions may follow trends, in which they gain or lose popularity. ... This article is about the rock band. ... The Who in 1968. ... Possibly the most famous example of a rock opera, Pink Floyds The Wall A rock opera or rock musical is a musical production in the form of an opera or a musical in a modern rock and roll style rather than more traditional forms. ... For the film based on this album, see Quadrophenia (film) Quadrophenia was a double album released by The Who on October 19, 1973 (see 1973 in music), one of the groups two full-scale rock operas. ... Flower-Power Bus Hippie (or sometimes hippy) is a term originally used to describe some of the rebellious youth of the 1960s and 1970s. ... Categories: Stub | Clothing ... This article needs cleanup. ... A baseball cap worn with the bill at the front, shading the eyes A baseball cap is a type of soft cap with a long, stiffened and curved peak and it is worn by men, women and children. ... A rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. ... Emo (an abbreviation of emotionally-driven hardcore punk or just emotional-hardcore) is a term now broadly used to describe almost any form of guitar-driven alternative rock that expresses emotions beyond traditional punks limited emotional palette of alienation and rage. ...

The "Sell Out" dilemma

Main article: Selling out Selling out is a common slang phrase. ...

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). Selling out is a common slang phrase. ...

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. Ray Charles at the piano. ... Rhythm and blues (or R&B) is a musical marketing term introduced in the United States in the late 1940s by Billboard magazine. ... Country music, formerly called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. ...

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. July 13th is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... U2 at Live Aid (Wembley Stadium, London). ...