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Rock and Roll: From Bill Haley to Blind Melon in Ten Songs
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Post World War two (WW2) America saw the rise of the working class lifestyle made possible by the emerging economic boom that followed the war. This saw a seismic shift in the American music culture from an elitist to a proletarian/working class subculture. With this new development emerged the roc...

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  • May 5, 2021
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Rock and Roll: From Bill Haley to Blind Melon in Ten Songs

Post World War two (WW2) America saw the rise of the working class lifestyle made possible

by the emerging economic boom that followed the war. This saw a seismic shift in the American

music culture from an elitist to a proletarian/working class subculture. With this new

development emerged the rock and roll genre in the mid-1950s. Perhaps as a reflection of the

era’s poor and working class rebellion against bourgeoisie music and art. From then onwards this

new purely American music genre and subculture took in an array of influences ranging from

folk rock, soul, hard rock, and psychedelic music. It was less elitist, more rural, more African

American, and more lower class. Thus it appealed to a large portion of the American society

becoming the prominent element of popular culture in the second half of the 20th century. As a

tool of social change and a sound track for social justice movements (Stoppard 1), rock and roll

is the best thing to happen to American post WW2.

From the 1952 Comets, the first rock and roll band, of Bill Haley to the Beatles and the

Rolling stones of later decades, rock and roll has a rich history of self-reinvention, rebellious

genius, and stylistic innovation. Millions of rock and roll records have been produced since the

mid-50s, millions sold, and thousands have made it to the top of the charts in the world. From all

these, the following ten are better placed to represent the history of rock and roll.

, Surname 2


Although the rock and roll arguably began in the early 20th century, the genre as we know

it today began in the early 50s with Bill Haley’s Rock Around the Clock released in May 1954.

Although not as popular as some of the songs in this list, Rock Around the Clock offered a sharp

break with the status quo and set popular culture on a new course. Thus it is widely considered

the one song, more than any other that brought rock and roll into the mainstream culture around

the world” (http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/rock-around-the-clock-influence/). Ranked

No. 158 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”

(pophistorydig.com), the song enhanced the emerging working class and youth rebellion against

conventional music genres in the United States. Haley’s record was combination country

western, rhythm and blues, and innovative sounds. This departure from the conventional music

confined within one genre ushered in the era of unbounded rock and roll that rebelled against the

status quo. Although Bill Haley is not as a popular a rock and roll name as Elvis Presley or

Chuck Berry, this song set the pace for all of them. Bob Stanley, writing for the Guardian notes

“that Bill Haley isn’t thought of as rock’s prime mover is sad and a little ridiculous. Whichever

way you slice it, even forgetting Rock Around the Clock, he was at the front of the queue” (1)

and so was this record.

From Haley and His Comet’s hit single in the mid-50 rock and roll became mainstream

and other artists, from other genres including R&B and country western and so on, joined the

band wagon and the genre was on a roll. One such artist was Chuck Berry with his hit record

Johnny B. Goode released in 1958. In a never heard before mish mash of country, R&B, guitar as

the lead instrument and electric sound, the song has been touted as the beginning of rock and roll

as we know it today besides Bill Haley’s. The song is important in the history of the genre

because it introduced the easy to listen to style of rock and roll with a simple structure and

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