The questions Altschuler's book provokes touch not just upon controversies of what made rock n' roll so frightening to some, but also what constitutes good music, other than the ear of the beholder? What, if any difference exists between popular and high culture other than the listener's opinion? Can any work of be highbrow regardless of the genre, so long as it is good? And what do we mean by 'good?" Regardless, if Paul McCartney is now Sir Paul, a knight of the British realm, and if Disney cartoon stills are exhibited in museums

Rock n' Roll in the 1950's was clearly the product of Black culture. Even the White star Elvis openly admitted that he was inspired by Black music and Black movements in his on-stage dancing. The birth of rock brought so-called race music into many white homes for the first time, or at least Elvis.

It was not musical quality, or even its targeting of a youthful audience, but the way that rock n' roll challenged cultural norms about race and appropriate ways of expression sexuality that caused the cultural rejection of the music by older generations who considered themselves cultural arbitrators. Rock n' Roll's unsettling of sexual norms was a way that teens, by listening to music could gain knowledge about sexual and racial worlds in an uncontrolled fashion that their parents could not access. "Some parents endorsed high school courses in sex education, as long as the material stayed 'above the belt.'" Everything about rock n' roll was below the belt, however-famously Elvis' rotating pelvis was denied prime time coverage. Other children subscribed to teen magazines, which gave them an education in the facts of life. Elvis' racially as well as sexually disturbing gyrating provided another form of education to these teens.

Rock n' Roll's origin thus proved disturbing to conservative elites in content more than style. But why did more liberal groups not champion this music form that rattled the conformist 1950's children of men in gray flannel suits by pushing sexuality into the public arena, and candidly discussed family, sexuality, and race? Some did, of course. But the quick commodification of rock n' roll by industry soon deprived the early strains of some of the early associations with rebellion. The comparison with Disney may be apt, as school products such as lunchboxes soon bore the faces of popular figures. Before rock 'n' roll "no major symbol" had been so exclusively accepted by teenagers in such a mass fashion. Even when Frank Sinatra's appeal to bobby-soxers was at its peak, the merchandising plans built around him seemed amateurish compared to the selling of rock n' roll. (126)

Other teen idols of popular music soon chimed in with Sinatra. This shows that the 'teenage' aspect of this new form of supposedly rebellious culture was not the only reason that it was despised. Mainstream musical teen idols of the past that had couched their expressions of romance in a more deferential fashion condemned rock n' roll as if they were the guardians of decency in popular musical culture. The music was i

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Approximate Word count = 1711
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)