Rock n Roll: rebellion and revolution

After my first presentation in January, a few of my Czech friends were asking me to give a lecture on American music. It seems that discussions about race and history, while interesting and thought-provoking, are not exactly what the teenagers want...

I ruminated on the suggestion for a little while and decided that the next discussion would be geared towards a younger crowd: many of my events are well attended, but I wanted to drop the average age from 30 to 18.

American music.....

Bluegrass!? No, that is too "old peopleish"

Blues!? Maybe, but Czechs won't understand their words....

Jazz!? Umm...........

POP?! No, I have no interest.

Hip Hop!? White boy + Hip hop = unauthentic.

Rock 'n' Roll!? YES!!!

Most Czechs know Rock n Roll music. No, most people in the world know Rock n Roll music, yet many "fans" of the genre really don't know the rich history of it and the influence of the early artists: chuck berry, carl perkins, jerry lee lewis, buddy holly, etc. Yeah, we Americans know their names, but for Europeans, especially those that were shielded behind the Iron Curtain for 40 years, Rock started with the Beetles, the Rolling Stones or even the Ramones; this is quite sad.

I began to read a lot and found that the years 1955 to 1957 were the epicenter of storm. So much was changing in American culture that the new was so holistic different than the old that many Americans today can't imagine what life was like pre-WWII: there was the development of the youth culture, the superstar and the rebel; it saw the ascendancy of the guitar as the primary weapon of rebellion and rhythm; Disc Jockeys ruled the airwaves; white, American suburbanites began listening to black Rock n Rollers. It was a wild time.

Much of it is forgotten now, because most of the sound quality is bad, there are a limited number of videos, most of the artist have been dead for decades and the early rock movement was about as long as Jerry Lee Lewis' career (3 years). So, I knew that a presentation on the foundations of Rock would be very new and (hopefully) interesting topic for my Czech friends.

The presentation was a joy to piece together; I used a plethora of original videos and found many obscure photographs. I knew that if the audience was getting bored/confused during my speaking parts, I could grab their attention by playing the videos or showing the pictures. I really didn't mind if this presentation wasn't solely driven by content.

I was hopeful that it would be a success.

As time approached, I slowly began to receive some guests. At about 6:30, when the presentation was scheduled to start, I had about 15 people (not a lot), but by 6:35 the number had sharply risen to 25 (respectable). A vast majority of the audience were in their late teens and early twenties. I had college students, teachers and high school students. I was proud that my plan had come into fruition: young people came!



The actual speaking went well, but my computer had some problems. The first video I attempted to play (Crow Jane by the blues man Skip James) had no sound. At this point, I had a small panic, because for the hour leading up to the start time, Jamie and I were having trouble downloading sound to go along with the videos. And, a Rock presentation without sound or video, is going to be B-O-R-I-N-G. Gathering myself, I pressed onward into the material and came upon the second video that was scheduled to be shown. I held my breath. Thankfully, it played. I was relieved. I talked for another 30 minutes and showed two more videos, which worked without major problems. Then, towards the end, I ran into trouble.

I set up my presentation like a fireworks show. I wanted to pepper the beginning of the speaking with a few videos here and there to keep the audience with me, and then at the end, release four consecutive video clips in a row. I did this for two reasons: one, it gave the audience a feel for how quickly and suddenly Rock n Roll was on the map as a viable movement; two, I wanted the audience to leave feeling entertained and informed. Yet, when it came time to start the video barrage, the worst happened. We received the "blue screen of death." That's correct, my computer completely crashed...

Shock and grief were the first two emotions that welled up from my gut. I tried to do an about-face and play it off. I joked and laughed, but deep down, I was so disappointed that I wouldn't be able to show my videos. I felt as if the whole presentation was a waste, because without the clips, there would be no reference for the audience to see what I was talking about.

After about 5 minutes, I gave my prepared conclusion and apologized for the technical problems. I told them that they could leave if they liked, but surprisingly, no one got up. I asked them if they were staying to watch the videos and all of them answered with an affirmative "yes!"

Eventually, the computer slowly came back to life and we ended with a fantastic finish.