Surely 1950s rock n roll made every other era seem tame? There's footage of a DJ saying "We need to stop this animalistic, nigger rock n roll bomb". It wasn't the lyrics of the songs that were rebellious it was the sheer energy and ferocity of it and the fact that it was seen as black music corrupting white kids.
Very similar things were said about jazz in the 1920s.
I'm not sure "rock'n'roll" was any more demonised - or scary - to bourgeois American white folk than jazz was to an earlier generation.
Rock'n'roll had sex, and more than a hint of black/white integration - whereas the various eras of jazz had both of these things, as well as a reputation for reefer, heroin
and a totally subversive approach to traditional music structure.
Don't get me wrong - I love rock'n'roll - but at it's roots we have a pretty formulaic 12 bar blues structure.
Wanna talk about rebellious music? How's Charlie Parker - his revolutionary stylistic approach, as well as his appetite for booze, sex and smack?
Miles Davis, likewise - or, hell - what about Ornette Coleman and his ilk? Free jazz made rock'n'roll (specifically Sam Phillips era rock'n'roll) seem pretty tame by comparison.
John and Yoko producing a David Peel and the Lower East Side record ("the pope smokes dope" to be released on Apple Records) in the early '70s seems pretty rebellious to me - it was banned in all but 2 or 3 countries, and is the third in a series of very risqué albums made by Peel.
Terrible album tho wasn't it. And Some time in new york city isn't much better no matter how rebellious the lyrics were. Hunter Thompson memorably said about this period of Lennons life "In 1971 Lennon released Power to the people - 10 years too late". Regarding the pope - Black Sabbath said "Would you like to see the pope on the end of a rope do you think he's a fool" in the 1971 song "After Forever".
Mind you I did like David Peel "Have a marijuana". Although wasn't it disappointing how Lennons main man during that period - Jerry Rubin - turned Thatcherite in the 80s.
Nice to find someone that's actually familiar with David Peel!
The Pope Smokes Dope may not be his best work - but I agree, "
Have a Marijuana is a classic, and much overlooked in the (pre)history of punk rock (because he was "singing" about hippies, weed and acid.
I didnt know Jerry Rubin took a shift to the Thatcherite end of things, but Peel's main fanbase for many years were the scummy street punk gang known as the "motherfuckers" (or "Up Against the Wall, Motherfucker", in full). Dirty, class war anarchists - something that has been pretty well suppressed in American popular culture for a long time.
Speaking of punk rock, anarchy and Thatcher - I find Crass to be one of the most uncompromisingly rebellious musical projects of all time. Say what you will about their music - some of their stunts and acts of subversion were incredibly amusing stabs at the establishment - and like any truly subversive art, showed the stupidity and cowardice of the political elite, just by creating their art (in its various forms).
Interesting discussion; who'da thunk Nigel Farage and his band of dimwits could provoke such a conversation?