Abstract:

The unruly surge of enthusiastic mass dancing to rock ’n’ roll music became a defining event of 1956, a year packed with memorable political and cultural changes. Through detailed analysis of key films from Rock Around the Clock to Jailhouse Rock, this article locates 1950s rock ’n’ roll on the cusp between the remnants of the swing era, and the subsequent period of music industry control. After the shock administered by mid-1956 rock ‘n’ roll music and mass dancing to the then prevailing racially segregated social norms, Hollywood films downplayed the role of dance and refocused creative audience interest on the ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ vocal stars.

Author: Terry Monaghan