The year was 1955. Most adults had just discovered rock ’n’ roll. And they were horrified.
A movie called Blackboard Jungle came out that March. In the movie, teenagers take over a city high school. Gang members fight with knives. Students throw baseballs at teachers.
The teens’ music is the first thing the movie audience hears. It starts with a drum beat. Then comes the song “Rock Around the Clock.” There’s a screaming saxophone and a fast guitar solo. And it’s all played at top volume.
Adults had never heard anything like rock ’n’ roll. And to many of them, it sounded like a bad influence. It turned kids into criminals, they said. And it was spreading like a sickness.
But it didn’t matter what the adults thought. Before long, rock ’n’ roll was here to stay.
The year was 1955. Most adults had just heard rock ’n’ roll. And they didn’t like it.
A movie called Blackboard Jungle came out that year. In the movie, teens take over a high school. Gang members fight. Students throw baseballs at teachers.
The teens’ music is the first thing the movie audience hears. It starts with a drum beat. Then comes the song “Rock Around the Clock.” There’s a loud saxophone. There’s a guitar solo. And it’s all played at top volume.
Adults had never heard anything like rock ’n’ roll. Many thought it was a bad influence. It turned kids into criminals, they said.
But it didn’t matter what the adults thought. Rock ’n’ roll was here to stay.
The year was 1955. Most adults had just discovered rock ’n’ roll—and they were horrified.
A movie called Blackboard Jungle came out that March. In the movie, teenagers take over a city high school: Gang members fight with knives, and students throw baseballs at teachers.
The teens’ music is the first thing the movie audience hears. It starts with a drum beat. Then comes the song “Rock Around the Clock.” There’s a screaming saxophone and a fast-paced guitar solo—and it’s all played at top volume.
Adults had never heard anything like rock ’n’ roll, and many of them considered the music a bad influence. It transformed decent kids into criminals, they claimed—and it was spreading like a disease.
But it made no difference what the adults thought: Before long, rock ’n’ roll was here to stay.