Impact of Popular Culture, 1945-79 Flashcards
(22 cards)
Cinema - 1950s
Popularity
Most influential - average attendance 28 times a year
But shrinking: 1950, 4% owned TV; by 1955, 40%; and by 1960, 80%
1950 approx 1.5 bn tickets sold, 1980 just 100 mil
Over half closed 1955-1963
Cinema - 1950s
Escapism
Economic decline, loss of world power, end of empire, growth of immigration
Film industry provided escapism through films about war + white w/c culture
The Dam Busters (1955), Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and Sink the Bismark (1960)
Cinema - 1960s
Relaxation of Censorship
Obscene Publications Act (1959) and Theatres Act (1968) relaxed censorship
Led to wave of new, gritty films
Cinema - 1960s
New Wave
Focused on social realism
Look Back in Anger (1956) and A Taste of Honey (1961) told stories of ordinary working class families
Saturday Night Sunday Morning (1960) told story of working class man who partied + had sex with married women
Focus on ‘angry young man’
Cinema - 1960s
Mainstream Tastes
American dramas, James Bond films, and the ‘Carry On’ series of comedies were broadly popular, not New Wave
Cinema - 1970s
A Clockwork Orange
1971, Stanley Kubrick
Dystopic version of Britain, gangs of young men killing and raping for enjoyment
Hundreds of complaints, violent crime blamed on it
Banned from British cinemas
Cinema - 1970s
Get Carter
1971
Michael Cane portrayed a gangster seeking revenge for brother’s death
Dark, pessimistic - scenes of drug abuse + prostitution
Michael Hodges (screenwriter) described as ‘an autopsy of society’s ills’
Cinema - 1970s
Americanisation
British film industry collapsed, American dominance of cinema
Concerns over ‘Americanisation’ of British culture
Music - 1950s
Rock ‘n’ Roll
American style, popular
Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry reinvented black blues music
British artists like Cliff Richard and Tommy Steel became popular through emulating them
Music - 1950s
Skiffle
British style of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Lonnie Donegan most successful: 31 top 30 singles, three ‘number one hits’ by 1962
New groups like the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Rolling Stones developed skiffle to form British pop music
Music - 1950s
Teenagers
Rise of teenager due to disposable income + affluence
Differentiation through purchases + leisure pursuits
Music - 1960s
The Beatles
Most famous
Started in Liverpool as the Quarry Men
First charted with ‘Love Me Do’ (1961), had 17 number-one hits 1963-1969
By 1964, 12 records in Billboard Magazine’s ‘Hot 100’
By 1970 (break up), £100 mil of merch sold
Music - 1960s
Mods
Emphasised Britishness + w/c
The Who, The Kinks, and Small Faces
Rejected mainstream attitudes
Music - 1960s
Mods v Rockers
Second Battle of Hastings in Clacton, Brighton
Media attention + moral panic
Music - 1960s
Pirate Radio
Boats just outside British waters eg Radio Luxembourg
1964 - Radio Caroline had audience of 10 million
1967 - BBC reacted with Radio 1, 2, 3, and 4, Radio 1 just pop
Music - 1970s
Glam Rock
Marc Bolan, David Bowie
Challenged gender + identity
Top of the Pops 1972 - DB draped arm suggestively around Mick Ronson
Outraged older generation
Music - 1970s
Punk
Anarchist subculture - anti authority, anti establishment
The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Buzzcocks
‘music of the dole queue’
Music - 1970s
Punk - Female Empowerment
The Slits - all female band
X-Ray Spex, The Banshees fronted by mixed race women - Poly Styrene and Siouxsie Sioux
Music - 1970s
Youth
Trying to differentiate from parents through subcultures
Mods, rockers, hippies, skinheads, glam rockers, and punks
Music - 1970s
Mainstream Tastes
1960s top selling album was ‘Sergeant Pepper’ by the Beatles, followed by Sound of Music Soundtrack
1970s Elton John + Queen dominated, Queen sold 19 mil records by 1977 (changing attitudes to homosexuality)
Music - Immigrant Culture
Emergence of Reggae
Reggae had emerged, two record labels: Island and Trojan
1969 - Desmond Dekker’s ‘The Israelites’ was first reggae song to hit number one
Music - Immigrant Culture
Themes
Highlighted racism and inequality
Linton Kwesi Johnson’s album, **Dread Beat an’ Blood’ (1978) **included song ‘All Wi Doin’ Is Defendin’’ - reflected widespread anger
Race Collective used reggae to present political message
