Why was Rock 'n' Roll seen as the grooviest shit in the 50s when it's just averagely groovy (ie. unremarkable)?
from SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 11 Feb 2026 09:12
https://lemmy.ml/post/43005060
from SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 11 Feb 2026 09:12
https://lemmy.ml/post/43005060
#nostupidquestions
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The 50s were 70 years ago, things that were new and interesting then are not new and interesting now. It’s unremarkable to you because you have 70 years of people building on top of it.
It is still remarkable. You need to understand that looking at things in perspective and in big picture is very important. (For many other tings also).
Try to listen to top hits from the 1920s, 30s, 40s and so on… And you will see the shift, the magic that Rock was. Are those rock songs meh - compared to later songs? Definitely. But those masterpieces would not have existed if those meh songs were not introduced - and for those who fought to keep them socially tolerated and later accepted.
I see, you’re right that listening to previous hits would definitely help put RnR into perspective
Do you believe that any living soul 70 years in the future is going to look back at any of the crappy shit being produced now as worthwhile to even consider?
No there will only be old decrepit people, that’s going to be you btw, that continues to persist in listening to it because of some sentimental value. But say stupid shit like the 10s were the best musical years ever.
No but take the 80s. People look back to those for good music, even today. I suppose it must mean that the 50s RnR trend was tantamount to today’s autotuned latino rap
There is good music from past centuries. Like … How many people have been inspired by Moonlight Sonata. A few songs always survive as good songs, because that’s what they are.
To understand Rock and Roll tou need to understand where it came from. You have to understand that it gave white youth the opportunity to make dance swing music in a highly segregated society. Moving away from big bands into smaller garage size groups, being able for the youth to practice in the suburbs. Entering high schools and becoming a subculture, mainly or basically exclusively, white. Where black cultural music moved towards hiphop and rap, talking about the reality of segregation and poverty. White youth was using RnR to protest systemic issues, racism, war, and the old way of doing things within the more socially acceptable ‘fad’ that RnR was considered to be.
What other contemporary music was as groovy?
Most discussions of 50’s rock and roll tend to approach as being significant and revolutionary for its era instead of as a piece of work by itself.
It is the Seinfeld is unfunny trope.
We hadn’t discovered The Funk yet
Yup. Bootsy Collins did not yet find that ball o’ tits from outer space.