Working Class Heroes: Rock Music and British Society in the 1960s and 1970s

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Acknowledgments
Introduction 1 Society, Culture and Music in Britain Before 1963 2 The Beatles 3 London 4 Mods 5 Marketing a Lifestyle 6 Psychedelia 7 Folk Rock 8 The Counterculture 9 Progressive Rock 10 Heavy Metal and Hard Rock 11 Glamrock 12 The Business of Rock Music
Conclusion Notes
Bibliography
Index

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In Working Class Heroes, David Simonelli explores the influence of rock and roll on British society in the 1960s and '70s. At a time when social distinctions were becoming harder to measure, rock musicians appeared to embody the mythical qualities of the idealized working class by perpetuating the image of rebellious, irreverent, and authentic musicians.

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In British society's transformation since 1945 from one defined in socioeconomic terms to those of culture, from working-class roots expanded to educated and multicultural ones, and from transatlantic exchanges to global interactions, the author's focus on the role of rock and roll in all its changing forms provides valuable historical analysis. Well-written individual chapters delineate the culture and counterculture of Beatlemania, psychedelic and folk rock, progressive and heavy metal rock, and glam rock to punk. Simonelli (Youngstown State Univ.) provides profiles of individual artists, groups, and the public receptions. His conclusion that 'yesterday's rebels are today's establishment' sums up the evolution of artists and groups in a sociohistorical process and the reshaping of British society. The impact on the British economy and on individual artists and groups is an important aspect of this perceptive study, which also places the different phases within the context of and in comparison to the continuing influence of 19th-century Romanticism. Using underutilized BBC newspapers found in Edinburgh and an array of printed materials, this expanded dissertation provides informative footnotes and a select bibliography, and is a scholarly addition to contemporary social history. Summing Up: Recommended

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