Australian Rock Chronicles 1955-1964

Book excerpt: Australian Rock Chronicles 1955-1964 retraces the evolution of Australian rock music during the first ten years or what is commonly referred to as the 'first wave’. The book tells the story of how rock music in Australia grew from its early troubled beginnings to what it is today - readily accepted by society as a part of a thing called ‘pop culture’. It is as much about the people – the artists, the promoters, the generation of teenagers who ensured its survival and the adults who tried in vain to quell the revolution – as it is about the music. It also touches briefly on the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, Australian music scene during and after World War II, American entrepreneur Lee Gordon’s arrival in Australian and his impact on the local entertainment business and the birth of the ‘teenager’. Read all about the artists from the early pioneers of Alan Dale, Johnny O’Keefe and Col Joye to the early Sixties stars like The Atlantics, The Denvermen, Little Pattie and Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs.