The Devil’s Music

Source: Jacobin · Bias: Far Left

Summary

Years and years before gangster rap, satanic lyrics, glam rock, and Led Zeppelin’s groupie antics, good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll — the chosen music of the postwar youth — roused nothing less than a full-blown moral panic across America. Here are the songs most responsible.Standing atop a piano, rock 'n' roll singer Jerry Lee Lewis gives an enthusiastic performance at the Cafe de Paris in New York City on June 10, 1958. (Bettmann / Getty Images)Sorry, this article is available to subscriber only. Click here to subscribe.

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The Devil’s Music
Jacobin

The Devil’s Music

Far Left

Years and years before gangster rap, satanic lyrics, glam rock, and Led Zeppelin’s groupie antics, good old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll — the chosen music of the postwar youth — roused nothing less than a full-blown moral panic across America. Here are the songs most responsible.Standing atop a piano, rock 'n' roll singer Jerry Lee Lewis gives an enthusiastic performance at the Cafe de Paris in New York City on June 10, 1958. (Bettmann / Getty Images)Sorry, this article is available to subscriber only. Click here to subscribe.

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