Rock and Roll was eventually inherited by white singers who often performed songs composed by black musicians. Buddy Holly was one of the foremost rockers of the late Fifties but confessed, “Without Elvis, none of us would exist”. The advent of high fidelity audio recordings in the 1950s meant that the actual performances of popular musicians could be preserved forever and this has ensured that certain works of popular music will be preserved in their original recorded form.

David Cassidy	ABBA

While the ‘white rockers’ were revolutionising Rock and Roll in the US, the Brit musicians had subjected the ‘Blues’ to a metamorphosis during the 50s that had also turned it into "white" music. In a few years, “British blues musicians were playing something that was as deeply felt as the American blues, but had a driving power that no other music on Earth had” (P. Scaruffi).

Back in the US, as Rock and Roll developed, the cross-pollination with country music and a toning down of the sound (beat), led to the emergence of vocal harmony groups and instrumental rock. The sound of ‘pop’ was emerging on both sides of the Atlantic.

In early Sixties Britain, veterans and disciples of that scene, led to the formation of bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds and the Animals. The Rolling Stones became "the" sensation in London and went on to record the most successful singles of the era. The Yardbirds were the most experimental of them all, and became the training ground for three of the greatest guitarists ever: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimi Page. From the Yarbirds ashes, two more blues based bands would emerge (Cream and Led Zeppelin), that in a few years would revolutionise rock music again. Liverpool, had a more commercial brand of rock bands like Gerry And The Pacemakers and the Beatles. "Beatlemania" stole the momentum from the blues scene and turned the music into a mass-media attraction. Rock music as a major business was born and pop music exploded.

Today, this musical style has become notable for it’s commercialism. Record company executives maximize their profits by marketing singers and musicians to have the maximum impact on a specific youth culture. In this way they maximise profits for themselves and their companies. John lennon once refered to these excecutives as “the men in suits”. Some emphasize the commercial motive and suggest the big companies manipulate the audiences and sell them products with no intrinsic value. I tend to agree as the so-called ‘pop music’ of today contains little real talent. Music videos and live performances are often used for exposure in the media, and artists may have extravagant stage shows and use choreographed dancing to make up for lack of substance in the music.

Further, commercial interests can cause the dilution of music as corporations take over their distribution and cause music to move away from the grassroots level of Folk, Blues or Rock and Roll. Several movements such as ‘Punk’ and ‘Heavy Metal’ in the 80s, and ‘Indie’ in the 90s, attempted to ensure this dilution did not occur. Unfortunately, today we still see “manufactured pop”, where groups come and go following mass exposure for a limited time (and targeted at younger and younger audiences). Is this killing the music? I think so….

Steve Shorter: March 2007

Sources: Wikipedia, Media KnowAll: Popular Music, Piero Scaruffi: History of rock music, Encyclopedia Britannica 2002, BBC Online – Music.

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