British rock and roll

, who would eventually become the Beatles In the 1950s, Britain was well placed to receive American rock and roll music and culture. It shared a common language, had been exposed to American culture through the stationing of American troops in the country, and, although not enjoying the same economic prosperity as the US, had many similar social developments, not least of which was the emergence of distinct youth leisure activities and sub-cultures. This was most evident in the rise of the Teddy Boys among working-class youths in London from about 1953, who adopted a version of the Edwardian styles of their grandfathers' generation. British audiences were accustomed to American popular music and British musicians had already been influenced by American musical styles, particularly in trad jazz, which also exposed some to the precursors of rock and roll, including boogie-woogie and the blues. From this emerged the skiffle craze in 1955, led by Lonnie Donegan, whose version of "Rock Island Line" reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. Skiffle produced an Anglicised and largely amateur form of American folk song, chiefly notable for inspiring many individuals to take up music. These included many of the subsequent generation of rock and roll, folk, R&B and beat performers, among them John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who first performed together in the Quarrymen skiffle group in 1957 Both films contained the Bill Haley & His Comets hit "Rock Around the Clock" and helped it to top the UK chart in 1955 and again in 1956. It also set off a moral panic as young cinema goers ripped up seats to dance, which helped identify rock and roll with delinquency. This led to it being almost banned by TV and radio stations, making it something of an underground youth movement, which was widely adopted by the Teddy Boy sub-culture. In the 1950s, Radio in the UK was almost exclusively in the hands of the BBC. Popular music was only played on the Light Programme, and the playing of records was heavily restricted by "needle time" arrangements. Nevertheless, American rock and roll acts became a major force in the UK chart. Elvis Presley reached number 2 in the UK chart with "Heartbreak Hotel" in 1956 and had nine more singles in the Top 30 that year. His first number 1 was "All Shook Up" in 1957 and there would be more chart-toppers for him and for Buddy Holly and the Crickets and Jerry Lee Lewis in the next two years. ==Emergence and development==

, one of the first British rock and rollers, performing in Stockholm in 1957 The initial response of the British music industry was to attempt to produce exact copies of American records. These were often recorded with session musicians and, even if note perfect, lacked the energy and spontaneity that characterised American rock and roll. They were often fronted by teen idols co-opted in an attempt to break into the suddenly emerging youth market. Another response was to treat rock and roll as a joke – "Bloodnok's Rock and Roll Call", recorded by The Goons, reached number 3 in the chart in late 1956. The bland, jokey, or wholly imitative style of much British rock and roll in this period meant that the American product remained dominant. However, this process was important in the orientation of the British record industry towards the youth market and group based music in general. In 1958, Britain produced its first "authentic" rock and roll song and star, when Cliff Richard and The Drifters (Not the US vocal group) reached number 2 in the chart with "Move It", which managed to combine a bluesy rock and roll riff with respectable lyrics and attitude. The success of "Move It" was partly due to an appearance on Independent Television's Oh Boy! (1958–9). This followed the BBC's tentative first attempt at youth music programming, Six-Five Special (1957–58), with a much more music-orientated show that did much to promote the careers of British rock and rollers like Marty Wilde, Johnny Gentle, Vince Eager, Adam Faith and Duffy Power, all managed by Larry Parnes who also gave them their stage names. However, in retrospect their work tends to be seen as a bland imitation of American rock and roll. Amid the limited vitality of late 1950s and early 1960s British rock and roll, there were some more dynamic acts. These included Billy Fury, whose rockabilly-style compositions, aided by the guitar of Joe Brown, on his "masterpiece" Tony Sheridan, Vince Taylor and Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages also produced some work that could be compared with American rock and roll. Other singers who issued records of note included Terry Dene, "a fine rock'n'roll vocalist"; ==Decline and revivals==

performing in 1976 British rock and roll declined sharply in the face of the new beat music after 1962. While some of the most successful acts, most notably Cliff Richard, were able to hang on to positions in the chart, British rock and roll virtually disappeared from the chart, as beat and then R&B based groups began to dominate. These acts were joined in the charts by other retro acts in the late 1970s, including Darts and Matchbox. The revival continued in the 1980s, mainly due to the popularity of Shakin' Stevens, who became the UK's "most successful singles chart act of the 1980s", and appeared frequently on children's television shows such as The Basil Brush Show and Razzmatazz. In 1981, British rockabilly band The Jets also had two hit singles in the UK charts. However, since then a wider revival has been elusive. ==Influence==

In general, early British rock and roll was a second-class product and made little impact on the American market, where British acts before 1963 were almost unknown. In Britain too their significance was limited. British rhythm and blues bands like the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds deliberately turned away from rock and roll towards its sources in America, and even the subsequent generation of beat bands that owed much more to rock and roll, frequently covered songs by American artists like Chuck Berry, but rarely used material from British acts. Early British rock and roll was undoubtedly an inspiration and influence on the instrumentation and shape of the beat music that spearheaded the British Invasion, but it had to be changed significantly into something new and vital in order to have any impact outside of its own borders. ==See also==