1950s: A Decade of Conformity - Study of Rock n Roll Icons Breaking the Rules

           Rock n roll in itself defied the established rules and was seen as rebellious, but there were two specific individuals within the rock n roll scene who further defied the rules, but suffered consequences for their stand against conformity.  

     Real-life sex-symbol Ricky Nelson, the picture perfect youngest son of Ozzie and Harriet, was truly a tortured soul trying to fit into the role he played on television.  The Nelson family embodied the fifties image of prosperity and harmony in their picture-perfect two-story, colonial-style home in their 1950’s hit television series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.  However, off-screen, the Nelson family was not so picture perfect.  Ozzie was domineering in his role as both producer and father.  This in turn caused Ricky to rebel by dressing as a punk in a leather jacket and motorcycle boots, smoking marijuana, getting tattoos, fighting, and joining a gang.  Ricky was even arrested once for stealing lanterns from a construction site.  Ricky was obviously trying to find his own way by fighting against the “good boy” image established by his parents through the popular television show.  Unfortunately, the attempt by his parents to establish Ricky’s identity backfired causing Ricky to rebel against authority in ways he might not have had he not been forced into that established role.

            A further example of a man who suffered because of his individuality was Alan Freed, the high-profile disc jockey who coined the phrase “rock ‘n’ roll” on his New York City radio show in 1954.    Alan Freed was a fan of black rhythm and blues music and incorporated songs by black artists on his shows when most other disc jockeys in white neighborhoods only played the white covers.  Groundbreaking because of his refusal to concede to society’s unwritten rules regarding race, Freed was later targeted in the payola scandal and fired from his radio shows in 1959.  Dick Clark, also a large radio personality who played rock ‘n’ roll music, was spared during the payola scandals, although he was guilty of accepting pay for play as well.  This was largely due to Freed’s association with African American performers as well as the more edgy style of music where Dick Clark was willing to push upon his teenage audiences a more mainstream musical style

.  Because Clark was willing to yield to expectations, he continued to be a successful music personality while Freed, who played the music he and his audience enjoyed regardless of race, was vilified and condemned.