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.
David Simonelli is associate professor of history at Youngstown State University.
Table of Contents
, 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, 13, Punk, , Conclusion, , Notes, , Bibliography, , Index,
What People are Saying About This
David P. Szatmary
Working Class Heroes takes an interesting direction, looking at the disintegration of the British class structure through the prism of rock and roll. Unlike the U.S. which has more of a distinction based upon race, British society saw the downfall of the traditional class structure and its left-over aristocracy through the introduction of mass consumption, including the mass commoditization of its music through rock and roll. The author does an excellent job showing how rock and roll reflects this significant cultural change in British society and offers a unique perspective.
Dennis Dworkin
Too often the history of rock music is written for fans, and the result is that such accounts tend to be chatty and superficial. In contrast, this book contextualizes British rock in a wider context, at a pivotal moment in postwar British history. Working Class Heroes is a thoroughly enjoyable, clearly written, and nicely researched account of British rock, which situated it within a larger narrative of British social and cultural transformation, while at the same time discussing a transatlantic context, which is an absolutely indispensable dimension of any history of rock during this period.