16. The teen embrace of rock and roll drew an adult backlash
Rock and roll music in America drew the majority of its fans from teenagers, both black and white, male and female. Though by no means all, many adults were wary of the new genre, and many more openly hostile towards rock and roll. It was called the devil’s music, particularly from conservative Southern Baptist churches. It was blamed for juvenile delinquency, lower grades in school, defiance of authority, sexual promiscuity, and racial intermixing. The music itself, with its steadily pulsing rhythm, was called sexually provocative, as were the dance moves of its performers and listeners. The dance moves exhibited by Elvis Presley and others were regarded as obscene by those determined to guard public mores.
Similar concerns followed the music across the water as its popularity grew in Britain. Rock and roll fans began to dress differently, adopt American slang and American mannerisms. British youth divided itself into groups called mods and rockers, each with their distinctive dress, and each openly hostile to the other, as well as to adult authority in all of its manifestations. Teen contempt for authority in staid Britain was blamed on the evil influence of the American music which was uprooting British tradition. When Brian Epstein decided to clean up the Beatles in order to make them more presentable to adults, he elevated “his boys” above the fray over the bad influences of rock and roll.