Anti-Rock: The Opposition to Rock 'n' Roll

By Linda Martin and Kerry Segrave

Book Overview

Rock is a music of rebellion against authority, and has consequently frightened and outraged people throughout its forty-year history. Anti-Rock is the first book to detail the objections of rock's detractors. Critics from parents to religious groups, industry executives to scientists, government spokesmen to eccentric crusaders, have all attacked rock vehemently with comments such as "It's the jungle strain gets 'em all worked up"; it's "one step from fascism"; and "These deafening, dope-ridden, degenerate mob scenes have no more place in our America than would a publicly promoted gang rape." Here is: Albert Goldman, writing in the New York Times in 1968, comparing Mick Jagger to Adolf Hitler. A 1981 university study concluding that prolonged exposure to disco music "causes homosexuality in mice and deafness in pigs." Dr. John, a New York physician, writing in 1977 that rock music causes "a breakdown in the synchronization of the two sides of the brain." Tipper Gore, the former Vice-President's wife, co-chair of the Parents Music Resource Center and author of Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society, commenting on heavy metal lyrics: "I'm a fairly with-it person, but this stuff is curling my hair."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306805022
• ISBN13: 9780306805028
• Release Date: March 1993
• Publisher: Da Capo
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A good history

Growing up with punk rock and having constantly tried analyzing all the reasons why "rock and roll" is so 'evil' according to mainstream, this book gave me the greatest insight to how it all started. Listening to comedians like Bill Hicks who attack the subject of "anti-rockers" I still never new where rock and roll really came from except it had influences from African American roots in Blues, etc. But who WAS the first rock band. What WAS the first song classified as "rock"? This book defines all that and gives a great explanation for where the hatred came from. Maybe if you've read a thousand books on the subject like it seems the other reviewers did, then this book is redundant and too extremist, but from a perspective OF an extremist (or at least a listener of extremist music) this is a nice history lesson for ANYONE who is passionate about ANY kind of music.