Research Assignment
After the British invasion, rock and roll was firmly rooted in American culture. Rock has had two faces. One catered to the developing mass culture with its immense popularity. The other was the bad-boy image that was offered by the Mod stream of British bands. Within this context, respond to the following questions (minimum 900 words):
• How does the popularity of the Beatles compare with that of Elvis? How did the marketing of these two rock icons compare? How did they relate to the developing mass culture?
• How did the marketing of the Rolling Stones compare to that of the Beatles?
How did they get their bad-boy image? Did they always have it? How do they reflect the difference between the Mods and the Rockers? Is that distinction still at work in rock today?
• How do the troubles of the British working-class baby boomers affect the
they always have it? How do they reflect the difference between the Mods and the Rockers? Is that distinction still at work in rock today?
• How do the troubles of the British working-class baby boomers affect the developing rock ethos? Is the situation similar to that of the race issues that African Americans brought to early rock?
Be sure to cite your sources.
• In addition to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, please also include in your research other important British ensembles or artists; for example, The Who, The Kinks, Dave Clark Five, Peter and Gordon, Chad and Jeremy, The Animals, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Herman’s Hermits, The Moody Blues, The Hollies, The Yardbirds, The Zombies, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Tony Sheridan, Cilia Black. The list of British artists that I provided is not definitive. There are many more and it would be welcome if you chose any British artist outside of this list.
