Let’s spend the night together: Sex, pop music and British youth culture, 1950s–80s

doi:10.7765/9781526159991

Let’s spend the night together explores how sex and sexuality provided essential elements of British youth culture in the 1950s through to the 1980s. It posits that the underlying sexual charge of rock ’n’ roll – and pop music more generally – was integral to the broader challenge embodied in the youth cultures that developed after the Second World War. Drawing from scholarship across a range of disciplines, the Subcultures Network explore how sex and sexuality were experienced, presented, conferred, responded to and understood within the context of youth culture, popular music and social change in the period between the Second World War and the advent of AIDS. We ask: how was the relationship between sex and youth-orientated cultures mediated? How did pop music transmit sexual desires? How and where was sex experienced by people coming of age amid new sounds and styles? Did youth cultures challenge or reinforce sexual mores; how did they reaffirm or reimagine notions of gender and sexuality? Was youth culture shaped by broader socio-cultural and economic changes or did it help drive the change? No definitive conclusions will be offered. Rather, we hope to open up the field, positing questions and raising possibilities for future study.

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Contents

Front Matter
pp i-iv
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Contents
pp v-vi
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Figures and tables
pp vii-vii
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Contributors
pp viii-xii
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Acknowledgements
pp xiii-xiv
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Introduction – Let’s spend the night together: Sex, pop music and British youth culture, 1950s–80s
pp 1-15
- By Matthew Worley, Keith Gildart, Anna Gough-Yates, Sian GLincoln, Bill Osgerby, Lucy Robinson, John Street, Pete Webb
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1 - Where were you? UK chart pop and the commodification of the teenage libido, 1952–63
pp 16-37
- By Tom Hennessy
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2 - The Jerry Lee Lewis scandal, the popular press and the moral standing of rock ’n’ roll in late 1950s Britain
pp 38-57
- By Gillian A.M. Mitchell
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3 - ‘I’m different; I’m tough; I fuck’: Attitudes towards young men, sex and masculinity in Nik Cohn’s Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom – Pop from the Beginning (1969)
pp 58-74
- By Patrick Glen
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4 - ‘We are no longer certain, any of us, what is “right” and what is “wrong”’: Honey, Petticoat, and the construction of young women’s sexuality in 1960s Britain
pp 75-93
- By Sarah Kenny
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5 - Lovers’ lanes and Haystacks: Rural spaces and girls’ experiences of courtship and sexual intimacy in post-war England
pp 94-112
- By Sian Edwards
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6 - Queering modernism: Social, sartorial and spatial intersections between mod and gay (sub)culture, 1957–67
pp 113-131
- By Shaun Cole, Paul Sweetman
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7 - ‘You just let your hair down’: Lesbian parties and clubs in the 1960s and early 1970s
pp 132-151
- By Alison Oram
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8 - Singing Elton’s song: Queer sexualities and youth cultures in England and Wales, 1967–85
pp 152-169
- By Daryl Leeworthy
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9 - ‘Nothing like a little disaster for sorting things out’: Blowup (1966) and the free hedonism(s) of Swinging London
pp 170-184
- By Marlie Centawer
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10 - ‘Everything gets boring after a time’: Deep End and swinging sex
pp 185-204
- By David Wilkinson
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11 - Run the track, but no bother chat slack: Overstanding the relationship between slackness and culture within the reggae dancehall, 1960s–80s
pp 205-219
- By William ‘Lez’ Henry
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12 - ‘This could be a night to remember’: Authenticity, historicising and the silencing of sexual experience in the northern soul scene
pp 220-237
- By Sarah Raine, Caitlin Shentall
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13 - ‘Mummy … what is a Sex Pistol?’: SEX, sex and British punk in the 1970s
pp 238-257
- By Matthew Worley
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14 - The ‘style terrorism’ of Siouxsie Sioux: Femininity, early goth aesthetics and BDSM fashion
pp 258-274
- By Claire Nally
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15 - Coming of age Asian and Muslim in post-punk West Yorkshire
pp 275-292
- By Nabeel Zuberi
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16 - ‘I’m your man’: Heartthrobs and banter in Smash Hits
pp 293-309
- By Hannah Charnock
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Index
pp 310-318
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Let’s spend the night together

Sex, pop music and British youth culture, 1950s–80s

Book description

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Contents

Front Matter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

Figures and tables
pp vii-vii

Contributors
pp viii-xii

Acknowledgements
pp xiii-xiv

Introduction – Let’s spend the night together: Sex, pop music and British youth culture, 1950s–80s
pp 1-15

1 - Where were you? UK chart pop and the commodification of the teenage libido, 1952–63
pp 16-37

2 - The Jerry Lee Lewis scandal, the popular press and the moral standing of rock ’n’ roll in late 1950s Britain
pp 38-57

3 - ‘I’m different; I’m tough; I fuck’: Attitudes towards young men, sex and masculinity in Nik Cohn’s Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom – Pop from the Beginning (1969)
pp 58-74

4 - ‘We are no longer certain, any of us, what is “right” and what is “wrong”’: Honey, Petticoat, and the construction of young women’s sexuality in 1960s Britain
pp 75-93

5 - Lovers’ lanes and Haystacks: Rural spaces and girls’ experiences of courtship and sexual intimacy in post-war England
pp 94-112

6 - Queering modernism: Social, sartorial and spatial intersections between mod and gay (sub)culture, 1957–67
pp 113-131

7 - ‘You just let your hair down’: Lesbian parties and clubs in the 1960s and early 1970s
pp 132-151

8 - Singing Elton’s song: Queer sexualities and youth cultures in England and Wales, 1967–85
pp 152-169

9 - ‘Nothing like a little disaster for sorting things out’: Blowup (1966) and the free hedonism(s) of Swinging London
pp 170-184

10 - ‘Everything gets boring after a time’: Deep End and swinging sex
pp 185-204

11 - Run the track, but no bother chat slack: Overstanding the relationship between slackness and culture within the reggae dancehall, 1960s–80s
pp 205-219

12 - ‘This could be a night to remember’: Authenticity, historicising and the silencing of sexual experience in the northern soul scene
pp 220-237

13 - ‘Mummy … what is a Sex Pistol?’: SEX, sex and British punk in the 1970s
pp 238-257

14 - The ‘style terrorism’ of Siouxsie Sioux: Femininity, early goth aesthetics and BDSM fashion
pp 258-274

15 - Coming of age Asian and Muslim in post-punk West Yorkshire
pp 275-292

16 - ‘I’m your man’: Heartthrobs and banter in Smash Hits
pp 293-309

Index
pp 310-318

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Let’s spend the night together

Sex, pop music and British youth culture, 1950s–80s

Book description

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Contents

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Accessibility standard: Unknown

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