Teenagers played several important roles in the 1950s music industry: 1) Teenagers were a key consumer demographic that record labels actively marketed and sold music to. They spent money on records, attended concerts, and influenced trends. 2) As consumers, teenagers decided which artists and songs became popular hits by purchasing their music. 3) Some teenagers, like Little Stevie Wonder and Frankie Lymon, became musicians and performers themselves, making music targeted towards other teenagers. Their success showed there was a market for music made by and for teenagers.

1. TEENS AND MUSIC
What role do teenagers play in the music industry?

2. BELLRINGER
• What role do teens play in the music
business?
(Buying music, selling music, making
music, listening?)
• 5 sentences

3. Daily Vocabulary
• Consumer
• conservative

4. Daily Vocabulary
• Consumer – a buyer, or purchaser.
• Conservative – having values that are traditional and
cautious

5. Teen Life in the 1950‟s
Take Cornell Notes

6. Teen-ager
The word “teenager” was created in the 1950‟s to refer
to a new group of consumers (or shoppers).
Unlike the young people of the Great Depression (1930‟s
and 40‟s) who had to work or fight in World War 2, young
people of the 1950‟s had less adult responsibilities, and
more time and money on their hands.
Teens of the 1950‟s were a distinct group with
interests, fashion, musical tastes and spending power
of their own.

7. 1950‟s Conservative Values
• Teens spent most of their time in school, and were
constantly pressured to conform to society‟s
extremely conservative standards.
• Schools would show movies that pressured students to
stay away from drugs, sex, slouching, speeding, or
anything else that didn‟t conform.
• There were severe social consequences for teen
pregnancy, homosexuality, and interracial relationships.

8. Teen Activities
• Watching television
• Listening to the Radio
• Driving Cars
• Going to the Movies
• Dance parties

9. Teen Rebellion
America‟s first teenagers clearly wanted more than
wholesome fun.
And when rock „n rollers such as Chuck Berry, Little
Richard and Elvis Presley burst onto the scene, teens were
ready. They latched onto rock „n roll‟s reckless, thrilling beat
and refused to let go. With the advent of rock „n roll, and a
spate of movies featuring disaffected teens, America got its
first taste of teenage rebellion.

10. Most parents were shocked. Rock „n roll, with its
powerful beat, gyrating singers, and sexually
suggestive lyrics, was considered to be utterly
unsuitable for children.
The fact that such music also had strong roots in the
African-American blues and gospel traditions made it all the
worse to white families. It was denounced by conservatives
as “jungle music” or “Satan‟s music” – which made the
teenagers, in true teenage form, crave it all the more.

11. Black Teens and White Teens
• The average black teen in Chicago, although painfully
aware – and often brutally reminded – of the
pervasive racism in America, had their own happy
days.
• Like their white counterparts, black teenagers of the
„50s, laughed with their friends, wore saddle shoes, penny
loafers and swing skirts, listened to 45s, and watched
wholesome sitcoms with their families. They danced at
parties, took “home economics” or “shop” in school, and a
small percentage applied and went to college.

12. • Although white and black teens shared many
similarities in pastimes, fashions and musical
taste, the two situations were not “separate but
equal.”
• After WW2, American popular music had been strictly
segregated.

13. What roles did teenagers play in the
Music Business in the 1950‟s?
How has this set the standard for teens and music today?

14. Teen Consumers
• Record producers marketed Rock and Roll and R&B
to teens because they could make a large profit from
them.
• Teens flocked the record stores, dropped millions of
dimes in the jukebox, and joyfully jitterbugged away in
thousands of high school gyms across the nation. And as
the song goes, rock „n roll was here to stay.

15. Teen Trendsetters
Teens were deciding which musical artists would be most
successful, and which things would be popular based on
what they were buying.
If teens were buying it, the record label was happy to
sell it.

16. Teen Performers
• Teen musicians were popping up left and right. The
1950‟s was the first time that there was a market for
music made by teen for teens.
• Teen songs were about dancing, teenage emotions
like love or sadness, and things like cars, clothes and

17. Little Stevie Wonder
• “the Twelve-Year-Old Genius” from Michigan, referencing
Ray Charle‟s.
• Stevie Wonder began playing harmonica, piano, and
drums as a small child, and began performing for large
audiences by age 10
• Fingertips was his live album that made it to number 1

18. Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers
• Frankie Lymon was 12 years old when he
began singing in a vocal group called the
Premiers. In 1955 they changed their
name to The Teenagers, because that
was the hip new buzzword.
• Why Do Fools Fall In Love? –

19. Little Eva
• The Locomotion was recorded
when Eva was 16 years old
• Eva was a babysitter for
songwriter Carol King, who
wrote her big hits.
• The Locomotion is an
example of a song and dance
trend that was sparked by a
teen singer.

20. The Shirelles
The Shirelles were one of the most successful teen
acts of the 1950‟s/60‟s, making songs about teenage
angst.
Will you Still Love Me Tomorrow?
Mama Said

21. Today‟s Activity
Write a one-page response to these questions:
P1: How are teens consumers of the music business
today?
P2: Give an example of a teen trend that was set by a
contemporary musician. (Fashion, dance moves, lifestyle)
Explain it in 5+ complete sentences.
P3: Describe a musical artist that you enjoy who is a
teenager, or was a teenager when they began making
music. Do you relate to the music, or enjoy it more than
music made by older adults? Why or Why not?