I think there is a watershed that came about in the early 60s. Up until that point, maybe late 50s as well, music was not marketed directly to teenagers. We tend to forget that the end of the 50s and early 60s was the explosion in buying power of the teenage market, for clothes, records, record players etc.

As such, the previous music, the 30s and the 40s and even the mid 50s, it was looking for general acceptance across the entire public. But the explosion in buying power of the teenage demographic brought about records that were created and marketed directly at JUST them. And it is about this time that teenagers started to like music most of their parents strongly disapproved of.

I think there is also a strong difference between families that were musicians, with children that played music, to the average family when nobody played music, they only listened to it. You generally find a wider acceptance of new stuff when you have already gone through several decades of learning new styles. The general public, on the other hand…!

To a certain extent, my comment was a bit of hyperbole, but from a general perspective, I think there is a nugget of truth in it. To the average teenager, if what they liked simultaneously pissed off their elders, win – win! 🤯

We all had different experiences with our families, but look at the big picture, and certain trends seem to become more apparent. Like I said, for those who grew up in the 40s and early 50s, they grew up under a very different circumstances to how later generations did, and that is what I think I was commenting on.

With a nod and a wink, of course!