BRIEF HISTORY OF ROCK'N'ROLL

Rock 'n' Roll was born in 1956. In that year: Elvis released 'HeartbreakHotel'; Chuck Berry sang 'Roll Over Beethoven'; Little Richard blurred theboundary with 'Tutti Frutti'; Janis Martin sang for women with 'DrugstoreRock and Roll'; while pop music hit the big screen with Rock Around theClock, featuring Bill Haley and the Comets. It was fun, it was gaudy, itwas provocative and sexy, fresh and new. And radio listeners and recordbuyers, black and white equally, fell in love with rock 'n' roll.Musicjournalist Nick Johnstone charts the events the year rock 'n' roll brokeinto the mainstream and explores its African-American roots. He also showshow the DNA fused in that one burst of creativity has persisted for thenext 50 years, first re-born as rock in the hands of two new superstarartists: The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and its many incarnationsthrough punk, grunge to the present day.