Oldies Music Glossary: "Fifties Pop"

Definition: The music at the top of the charts in the early Fifties was a soundtrack to the American renaissance -- comfortable, pleasant, ordered, genial, affable. In other words, a prime target for rock and roll to pick off, especially since early-Fifties radio did such a stellar job of ignoring blues and R&B entirely.

Indeed, Fifties pop, so called as to distinguish it from the rock-dominated second half of the decade, was completely free of African-American influence: with a generation of soldiers home from fighting the good fight in WWII, dance music was on the outs, at least for adults. The big hits of the period differed slightly from their postwar counterparts in that they were more apt to recognize the country and western influences finally beginning to make themselves noticed in pop culture; also present was a more lush approach to arrangement, a nod to European themes (Italian, mostly), and a tendency towards novelty. Other than that, however, Fifties pop had not made many strides since the end of the war.

With bands out, crooners were in, and this period was the heyday of the "pop vocal" style. (The other great postwar obsession, jazz, had progressed to bebop, becoming music for the mind more than the dance floor.) But although rock came in soon enough to infiltrate America's teen ears with R&B, the influences of Fifties pop on rock were not insubstantial: for every Pat Boone, who sought to water down the style to the point of silliness, there was an Elvis who had seriously studied the Johnnie Rays and Dean Martins of the world, and had taken their stylistic lessons to heart. And while rock eventually maintained its position at the top of the charts, it didn't happen overnight, especially with a second generation of teen idols who filled the void between the two with "safe" music that only tangentially referred to rock.

Also Known As: Pop Vocal, Easy Listening, Standards