Andy Bennett is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Surrey and previously worked with the Rockmobil project in Frankfurt. He is author of Popular Music and Youth Culture: Music, Identity and Place (2000) and co-editor of Guitar Cultures (2001). He is chair of the UK and Ireland branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM) and co-convenor of the British Sociological Association Youth Study Group.

* What is the relationship between youth culture and popular music?

* How have they evolved since the second world war?

* What can we learn from a global perspective?

In this lively and accessible text, Andy Bennett presents a comprehensive cultural, social and historical overview of post-war popular music genres, from rock 'n' roll and psychedelic pop, through punk and heavy metal, to rap, rave and techno. Providing a chapter by chapter account, Bennett also examines the style-based youth cultures to which such genres have given rise. Drawing on key research in sociology, media studies and cultural studies, the book considers the cultural significance of respective post-war popular music genres for young audiences, with reference to issues such as space and place, ethnicity, gender, creativity, education and leisure. A key feature of the book is its departure from conventional Anglo-American perspectives. In addition to British and US examples, the book refers to studies conducted in Germany, Holland, Sweden, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Japan, Russia and Hungary, presenting the cultural relationship between youth culture and popular music as a truly global phenomenon.

Table of Contents

Series editor's foreword

Introduction

Post-war youth and rock 'n' roll

Sixties rock, politics and the counter culture

Heavy metal

Punk and punk rock

Reggae and Rasta culture

Rap music and hip hop culture

Bhangra and contemporary Asian dance music

Contemporary dance music and club culture

Youth and music-making

Whose generation? Youth, music and nostalgia

References

Glossary

Index.