British Invasion: Mods, Rockers, and Social Crosscurrents

In the late 1940s a genre of music known as ‘Rock and Roll’ has evolved in the United States. ‘Rock and roll’ which was a term originally used to refer to sexual intercourse became popular in the 1950’s. There are two types of rock and roll, The classic rock and roll which is the simple one while the mod (refers to ‘modern’) rock and roll refers to the modern music style. Although the Beatles and Elvis Presley both revolutionized pop culture, the first was more popular compared to the second.

The Beatles is the best-selling musical act of all time in the United States which sold more than 106 million albums in the U. S. alone. On the other hand, Elvis Presley only sold 77 million units in the U. S. (The Recording Industry Association of America). The Beatles and Elvis Presley influence the developing mass culture by introducing a new trend for their listeners. The Beatles listeners reflected the period’s changing tastes and behavior through the music that the Beatles had created (Still Fab – The Beatles and their timeless influence).

The Rolling Stones, an English band, is one of the Mods. In terms of album sales, they were been surpassed by the Beatles. They’ve got their bad boy images when Andrew Loog Oldham, their manager, and producer, suggests setting a ‘bad boy image’ to them which captured the attention of the kids and the media. They always had this bad boy images with them, especially in their songs. They would prefer the more boldly sexual side of rock and roll to do the opposite of what the Beatles were doing.

To them, the reflection of the Mod and the rockers is that the rockers portray the simple rock and the Mods are those who prefer a different style of music like those ‘bad boy images’ songs they are creating (The Rolling Stones). This distinction is continuously manifested by rockers today. We can often watch or hear music that has foul languages or music that was anti-government. The evolution of this kind of rock and roll affects the rock industry as African Americans do.

Just like the discrimination to the African American ethnic minority group which results in the division of people that loves African American music and the people who love American music alone, Mod music affect the industry by dividing the rock and roll lovers into two groups. The first group is the one who loves ‘classical rock’ like the ones created by The Beatles. The second group is the one who likes ‘bad boy rock and rolls’ like the ones created by The Rolling Stones.

References

1. November 10, 1999. “The American Recording Industry Announces its Artists of the Century”.
2. June 6, 2007 from, Recording Industry Association of America Website: http://www. riaa. com/news%5Cnewsletter%5Cpress1999%5C111099. asp Freud, Charles Paul.
3. June 2001. “Still Fab – The Beatles and their timeless influence”.
4. June6,2007from,FindArticles™Website:http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_2_33/ai_75099632 1989. “The Rolling Stones”.
5. June 6, 2007 from, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. Website: http://www. rockhall. com/inductee/the-rolling-stones