ABSTRACT
Particular genres of popular music have sparked controversy and opposition, both on their emergence and sporadically since: rock ‘n’ roll in the mid-1950s, psychedelic rock in the late 1960s, disco and punk in the 1970s, heavy metal and gangsta rap in the 1980s and rave culture in the 1990s, to name only the better known examples (see Martin and Seagrave, 1988; Winfield and Davidson, 1999). Criticism has been variously on the influence of such genres on youthful values, attitudes and behaviour through the music’s (perceived) sexuality and sexism, nihilism and violence, obscenity, black magic and anti-Christian nature. The political edge of popular music has been partly the result of this hostile reaction often accorded to the music and its associated causes and followers, helping to politicize the musicians and their fans. While such episodes are a standard part of the history of popular music –
music hall, jazz and other new forms of popular music were also all stigmatized in their day – rarely are their nature and cultural significance more fully teased out. I argue here that they have constituted a form of moral panic – the social concern generated by them was greatly exaggerated and the perceived threat to social harmony was by no means as ominous as many regarded it. Attempts to control and regulate popular music genres such as rock and rap are significant as part of the ongoing contestation of cultural hegemony, particularly with the emergence of the New Right.
