How and Why Did American Popular Culture Influence Australian Society in the 1950s and 1960s? To What Extent Did Australia Develop its Own Response to these Influences?

The 1950’s represent the beginning of the development of the music industry, as it is known today. It is from here on that the genre of ‘popular music’ existed and began to dominate the charts. Of course, there were acts that existed before the 50’s, and made a good name for them selves, acts like Bing Crosby, but it was in the 50’s that certain artists became household names, and idols to the masses.

Australia's popular culture in the 1960s has been influenced by Britain and America. Aspects such as fashion and music have changed and influenced Australia tremendously. With the invention of television, latest fashion trends and popular music were broadcasted across the world, inspiring teenagers and causing them to desire independence and new experiences. This caused a sudden change and caused teenagers to rebel against their normal traditional lifestyle and the values of their parents.

During 1945 to the present there has been many changes in Australian pop culture, these areas of pop culture include Film, television, radio, music, fashion, sport and communication. Popular Culture refers to the beliefs, attitudes and lifestyles shared by a group of people.

In the 1950s America and Britain influenced Australia’s popular culture in a number of ways. Although Australia’s national identity is evident in every part of popular culture, America and Britain both had a significant impact on the development of Australian culture since World War Two. Throughout out the decade they changed the way people thought about Australian fashion, music and entertainment. Fashion was based around celebrity images and American cinema and television became a big hit.

1950s After the turmoil and loss that WW2 brought to Australian society, Australians saw the emergence of a more conservative society . Teenagers now were encouraged to attend University, this new pressure to become a successful adult was the driving force for the new teenage subculture that emerged from 1950-1979. 1960s Following the era of the 1950s, when teenagers felt the pressure of obtaining an education and becoming successful adults, the 1960’s brought about great social change. These changes were brought about with a greater influx of immigrants who brought new ideas, customs and foods. American culture also became an overriding influence on Australian teenagers. 1970s The 1970s brought about even more change to the economy, politics, society and technology. The

The period of the 1950s to the 1960s brought about drastic changes to the Australian culture and history. However, the introduction of rock n’ roll style music was most influential towards teenagers and significantly altered history within youth culture because of its relatable tone. Furthermore, Australian society would not be the same without rock n’ roll style music, it had shaped and moulded Australia and impacted our daily activities. Additionally, the introduction of the rock n’ roll genre had instigated the ‘hippie’ and other fashion movements. Ultimately, developments and changes in Australian history during the 1950’s to 1960’s such as the introduction of rock n’ roll and its emergence into the fashion industry and teenagers’ ideals

1960s cinema reflected the tremendous social changes, transitional cultural values, fun, fashion, and rock ‘n’ roll of the

The music of the sixties went through tremendous change. It shaped mush of the music we hear today. From New Orleans came Jazz, from the East Coast came rock, from the West Coast came Psychedelic rock, and from England came the Invasion.

Through radio and television, the music, fashion and lifestyles of bands and individual artists of USA and Britain heavily influenced the popular culture of Australia, particularly youth.

Welcome to an era filled with sock-hops, diners, and poodle skirts. But that's not all! Arguably the most important aspect of the 1950's was that it was also a time filled with the newly evolved genre of "rock 'n' roll", a type of music that resulted from a combination of rhythm and blues, gospel music, country, and jazz. Rock and roll completely revolutionized musical tastes and essentially changed the world, especially among the youth. Suddenly all across the nation, teenagers were able to listen to this new music and rebel from their parents in ways that they never could before.

One of the hallmarks of 1960s lifestyle issues was the music. Music evolved considerably during the decade, as bands developed increasingly heavier sounds while the lyrics became more and more political. Starting with Bob Dylan and other singer-songwriters, the

In 1950’s the end of World War II and the beginning of the Korean War idealized the men of war as new and exciting symbols of rebellion in many different films, such as The Silver Chalice. During the baby boom, electrical products were ideal to have for entertainment and educational reasons which caused TV to become so popular.

The 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s are all both memorable and marked as influential time periods for what is the current culture of the United Sates. This paper will discuss the influence of each decade stated previously. The first factor to be considered is fashion and how it played a significant role in shaping the catwalk today. The Hippie Movement in the 60s and 70s was in large part a reason for many political protests. Music in the 80s can be considered the most recent as well as strangest influencing factor contributing to the culture of the United Sates.

The 1960's were a time of upheaval in society, fashion, attitudes and especially music. Music was a popular trend in magazines too, and new singers,bands were popular and many people liked. The flux of fashion is especially obvious for popular music. Some topics became rarer, others became more common. Music being, is a big trend that was in the magazines and there were different topics of the popular music. As the late fifties gave way to the early sixties, the rockabilly stars of the previous decade, the older pop-music stars were fading away as they struggled to find material. The older songs and music trends were fading and the newer songs and artists were growing and becoming a big hit. Music was a big part of trends in the magazines and fashion wasn’t the only trend in the

Popular culture seems to change with each era; from the environmental movement of the 70s, to the grunge music era of the 90s, each generation has their own ‘pop culture’. However, some people believe that popular culture, regardless the generation or era, consistently focuses on music, fashion, expressions and values.