What Makes each Classic Rock Decade Magical: The 1950s

I often ask this question of musicians I’ve interviewed, what makes (insert relevant era here) special to you? I’ve asked this question a lot and this time I want to answer it. Now, my perspective is going to be limited and far removed because I was born after the classic rock era but I am so obsessed with old pop culture that I feel like I can answer it. Think about it, can you name what’s special about the 2020s? No, I think we need to be far enough removed from each decade to analyse and truly understand it.

Since this blog is all about classic rock, I’ll only be talking about the classic rock era, so from the 1950s to the 1980s. All amazing decades and all beautiful in their own way. I’m going to keep things positive and focus on the things that make life beautiful. We are keeping politics to a minimum here, because the reason I love the decades of the past isn’t the regressive attitudes (I mean, we have plenty of those today too, let’s be real), it’s the aesthetic and the art. Let each of these blog posts be my love letter to the decade.

What makes the 1950s special to me: women’s fashion

I’m gonna start with my favourite thing about the 1950s and that is women’s fashion. I don’t think the 50s were as great of a time for men’s fashion, I mean a lot of men’s fashion is boring and there’s one decade I like for men’s fashion and you can probably predict which one it is (it’s the 60s obviously).

Why do I love women’s fashion from the 50s so much? Well, I’m gonna be biased, it’s because that’s the decade I look best in and it’s the one that suits my body type the best. This is my list and I get to decide what I love about each decade! When I was a young underweight flat chested girl, the 60s was my era for fashion. Now that I’ve aged, my body looks different from when I was in my late teens so I gotta adapt and wear clothes that make me look my best.

The silhouettes of the 1950s are the GOAT. It looks classy. It looks sophisticated. It looks glamorous. It’s elegant. It shows how beautiful women are while not being extremely revealing like today’s clubwear and BBL fashion. It’s form fitting, but not cheap looking or overly revealing. I’m not as keen on the hair and makeup of this era, but the silhouette? The boomers back in the 60s might have said that full skirt with a petticoat and cinched waist was “granny” or “old fashioned”, like that’s what my mother, auntie, older sister, or teacher would wear. After some time, designers like Thierry Mugler, Vivienne Westwood, and John Galliano took inspiration from this era.

Dior’s New Look of the late 1940s was a revolution. That defined the postwar era. I’m living for it since I often style myself in a hyperfeminine way (when I’m not dressing like a dandy). Not just that, but look at the designs of Charles James, Balenciaga, Alfred Shaheen, Suzy Perette, and Lilli Ann. Of all of these, Lilli Ann has to be my favourite. I love the peplums on the suits and the nipped waists.

The swimwear from this decade is the absolute best! It’s so flattering. Why can’t they still make swimwear that has coverage whilst still being flattering? Just because I’m thin doesn’t mean I want to show off a lot of skin!

The accessories also made the outfits even more special. There’s really something nice about gloves, stoles, and hats and you lose those in the 60s.

I am a big hater of bras. I don’t like the straps because they dig into my shoulders and ribcage and I’m quite bony so it’s uncomfortable. At this point for me, it’s a necessary evil since I’m a 28G cup. However, I love the look of bullet bras, they look amazing under a jumper. I’d love to get one but my ribcage is tiny and I’m firmly in the fuller bust range and that means there’s not much choice to begin with.

I think my love of that shape must have originated from cartoons I watched growing up where the women were all drawn like fashion illustrations or heck, the real life models from the 50s. Characters like Ms Bellum from Powerpuff Girls or Dexter’s mum from Dexter’s Laboratory, And that means it’s time for the next point!

What makes the 1950s special to me: the models and actresses

Ever watched the movie Funny Face starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire? In the “Think Pink” musical number, you see a few of the most famous models of the time right there: Dovima, Suzy Parker, and Sunny Harnett. There were other stunning models in that decade too like Dorian Leigh, Alla Ilchun, and Betty Brosmer. The most iconic looking actress of the time in my opinion has to be Jayne Mansfield. Just watch The Girl Can’t Help It. Not only was she beautiful, she was incredibly smart and talented too. If anything, her appearance, as stunning as she was, is the least interesting thing about her.

I really love the burlesque stars and pinups of the time like Bettie Page, Tempest Storm, and Bunny Yeager. The latter was also a great photographer! I love looking at old Playboy magazines from this time period and what really makes this era special is that the women were all natural, since boob jobs weren’t a thing until the early 60s, and even then not very common when they were first introduced.

I think if you go through my Instagram, you’ll see that I do take a lot of inspiration from these stunning women. Models and actresses back then, the body was tea. You never really see bodies that look like that anymore. I don’t know if it’s lifestyle or change in preferences of people who do casting, maybe it’s both.

Iconic, ahead of their time men: Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Little Richard

I swear the most ahead of their time looking people are always LGBT people. While I’m more partial to how women looked in the 50s, but there were some iconic men and they were all the blueprint for the rock and roll look. Both Brando and Dean were bisexual and Little Richard was gay.

Marlon Brando looked very rock and roll as a biker in The Wild One. Looking at his character in the movie, you’d think there would be rock and roll as the soundtrack, but that film came out in 1953 before rock and roll was really a thing. The music was jazz, which was the Greatest Generation and Silent Generation’s rock and roll, if you will! James Dean looked rock and roll before rock and roll was even a thing. Just look at him in Rebel Without a Cause, it’s hard to think of anyone who looked as effortlessly cool as he did on that movie poster. It’s so hard to believe he never really heard much rock and roll, but it’s true since he died in 1955. Little Richard was glam rock before glam rock and his style was so over the top, pre-dating that look by over a decade! It’s a look that continues to fascinate people.

What makes the 1950s special to me: the beginnings of rock and roll

Being a classic rock fan, this is easily my other favourite thing about the 1950s. I think rock and roll was at its best in the 60s and 70s, but you wouldn’t have that without the original rock and roll of the 1950s and the genres that inspired rock and roll. I see rock music as being like Legos, building upon each other. You need a strong foundation to build on top of that and oh boy was the foundation strong! I encourage all my fellow 60s music obsessors to read about their favourite musicians’ influences. You don’t have to think it’s your favourite music, but give it a listen with an open mind and it will be a rewarding experience that will give you greater appreciation for the music that came afterwards. You can hear influences such as the guitar sounds, beats, vocal harmonies, call and response, spoken word bits, and way more!

Think about it. Imagine walking through a door and you’re in the 1950s and you hear songs like “Rock Around The Clock”, “Hound Dog”, “Maybellene”, and “That’s All Right Mama” on the radio. It was a revolution and it kick started a new sound. A diverse group of musicians including Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Johnnie Ray, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Larry Williams, Buddy Holly, Dion DiMucci, Cliff Richard, Eddie Cochran, The Everly Brothers, Link Wray, and Ritchie Valens created rock and roll.

It’s hard to narrow down a list of 50s rock and roll songs that really changed my life, but if I had to pick, and this is in no particular order:

1. “Rumble” – Link Wray (1958)
2. “Bo Diddley” – Bo Diddley (1955)
3. “The Girl Can’t Help It” – Little Richard (1956)
4. “Slow Down” – Larry Williams (1958)
5. “Wake Up Little Susie” – The Everly Brothers (1957)
6. “Oh Boy!” – Buddy Holly & The Crickets (1957)
7. “Summertime Blues” – Eddie Cochran (1958)
8. “Move It” – Cliff Richard (1958)
9. “Johnny B. Goode” – Chuck Berry (1958)
10. “Peter Gunn” – Duane Eddy (1959)

People say the 60s, starting with The Beatles was when the boomers started making music that was truly theirs, and that’s true, but the youth really loved rock and roll and the music the Silent Generation made was the inspiration for the music that boomers made in the following decades. Also a lot of rock musicians from the 60s and 70s covered music from the 50s. The Greatest and Silent Generation started rock and roll and the Boomers continued it.

And here’s a little more food for thought, the 50s was so iconic that there was a decade long revival that spanned the entire 70s, Music like Sha Na Na, Showaddywaddy, Mud, The Rubettes, Shakin’ Stevens, Rockpile, Dave Edmunds, Stray Cats, Crazy Cavan, and Robert Gordon. There was the London Rock and Roll Show in 1972 with Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Bill Haley, and Chuck Berry. Elvis Presley started his Vegas residency in 1969 and it continued until 1976 and his 1973 Aloha from Hawaii via satellite concert was broadcast around the world. Phil Ochs became the first Elvis impersonator, commissioning a gold lamé Nudie suit just like Elvis’ and played medleys of Elvis and Buddy Holly songs in concert at Carnegie Hall in 1970. John Lennon released an album called Rock ‘n’ Roll in 1975 full of 50s covers. Adjacent to music, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren had a shop called Let It Rock with Teddy Boy revival stuff and rockabilly fashion. Movies and shows like American Graffiti, That’ll Be The Day, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, The Lords of Flatbush, The Buddy Holly Story, and Grease.

The music that led to rock and roll: doo-wop, R&B, jazz, and more!

If you were to imagine rock and roll as a baked good, the ingredients are blues, jazz, R&B, gospel, country, folk, and doo-wop. These genres all inspired rock and roll. If you truly want to appreciate the music of the 1950s, you gotta go beyond rock and roll and chances are you might like some of these genres.

I’ll list a selection of 20 songs I love from these genres:

1. “Firecracker” – Martin Denny (1959, Exotica)
2. “What’d I Say” – Ray Charles (1959, R&B)
3. “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?” – Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (1956, Doo-wop)
4. “I Wonder Why” – Dion & The Belmonts (1958, Doo-wop)
5. “Fever” – Little Willie John (1956, R&B)
6. “Reet Petite” – Jackie Wilson (1957, R&B)
7. “Poison Ivy” – The Coasters (1959, R&B)
8. “Ain’t That a Shame” – Fats Domino (1955, R&B)
9. “Little Darlin’” – The Diamonds (1957, Doo-wop)
10. “Jesus Gave Me Water” – Sam Cooke & The Soul Stirrers (1951, Gospel)
11. “Blue Rondo à la Turk” – Dave Brubeck (1959, Jazz)
12. “I Walk The Line” – Johnny Cash (1956, Country)
13. “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena” – The Weavers (1951, Folk)
14. “Uncloudy Day” – The Staple Singers (1956, Gospel)
15. “Autumn Leaves” – Cannonball Adderley (1958, Jazz)
16. “So What” – Miles Davis (1959, Jazz)
17. “On The Sunny Side of the Street” – Dizzy Gillespie (1959, Jazz)
18. “Straight, No Chaser” – Thelonious Monk (1951, Jazz)
19. “It Never Entered My Mind” – Chet Baker (1959, Jazz)
20. “Waltz For Debby” – Bill Evans (1956, Jazz)

The coolest looking cars

If you’ve ever seen any pictures of Havana, you’ll notice all the old 1950s cars and in my opinion this is when cars looked the coolest. I don’t even drive and I’m someone who prefers taking trains, but the 50s makes me really want a car. Forget about a Bugatti, I want a 50s Cadillac! Can they make cars like that again but electric?

That was the status symbol back then. It was the epitome of midcentury Americana. You know you’ve made it when you’re driving a Cadillac. The lines, the architectural look of the fins, the V shaped boomerang looking motif under the Cadillac logo, the chrome, the presence, it looks futuristic. It’s so extra and I love it!

Atomic Age Architecture: Googie

While the fairy tale and gothic and ornate look of Victorian architecture will always be my favourite, there’s a special place in my heart for Googie and Midcentury Modern architecture. Some people think it hasn’t aged well, but I think there was a lot of character that we just don’t see in today’s boring architecture. I love how geometric it is and I love all the neon lights and bright colours. The starbursts make it unmistakably 50s. I love the sloping roofs and cursive scripts on signs. I love how much of this architecture is still standing in Southern California. It had an influence on cartoons like The Jetsons, Johnny Bravo, The Powerpuff Girls, and Dexter’s Laboratory: all cartoons I loved watching when I was a kid. It looked like the future!

The Coolest Hangouts: coffee bars, drive-ins, diners

Ever since I was a little kid, I was fascinated with drive ins and diners thanks to old cartoons like The Flintstones. Still to this day I’ve never been to a drive in cinema, but I’ve been to a drive in restaurant and I thought those were so cool. I also love diner food even though I’d have to go to a special restaurant to find veggie versions of diner food. There’s really something special about dipping chips into a milkshake. As a kid I had fond memories of going to the diner in the early morning with my dad on the way to the airport to get a grilled cheese and hot chocolate for breakfast. There’s a chain of retro themed diners called Johnny Rockets and I loved looking at the old songs on the jukeboxes at the tables. The McDonalds in my hometown of Gurnee, Illinois was a nostalgia themed McDonalds and they had a Wurlitzer jukebox there and they used to have nights where people would bring their old cars to the carpark. I also love how rock and roll in the UK started at coffee bars like the 2i’s and I love how you can get coffee late at night. I don’t like alcohol that much so a coffee bar is right up my alley.

I really want to go to a 50s diner with a bunch of other people in period dress and we do an epic takeover the place making it feel like we were really there.

Counterculture: Beats and the beginnings of Dirtbag Comedy

The 60s was known for its counterculture that pushed the envelope, but that had to have come from somewhere and the roots of the mods and hippies were from the beatniks. All the classic rockers read books and poetry by the Beats. The daring social commentary and free speech movement was inspired by people who spoke truth to power like Lenny Bruce. While Lenny Bruce wasn’t arrested for obscenity until the early 60s, he got his start in comedy in the late 40s and he’d MC at burlesque theatres. If you’re a fan of George Carlin, Blazing Saddles, South Park, It’s Always Sunny, and Cum Town, then I think you gotta listen to what came before it.

In conclusion, the 1950s were a decade that culturally lasted a lot longer than it did, starting just after WWII and ending around 1963. It’s a misunderstood decade, but if you open your mind, you’ll be rewarded with some great music and glamorous style and an understanding of the decades to come.

Now it’s your turn. If you were there for it, what were your favourite things about the 50s? If you weren’t, what do you find cool, unique, or interesting about the 50s?

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