I decided to look in the sociological side of Metal and Rock to identify key themes that I could pursue within the context of my film. I began to read ‘The Sociology of Rock’ by Simon Frith, which spoke about several themes, such as youth and music, making money, rock musicians, rock culture and the press. I decided to write out a few key quotes I found interesting and inspiring in regards to furthering my research of the rock and metal genre. For instance ‘Rock is often analyzed as a contemporary folk music- a music made for young people by young people and therefore ‘emerging’ from young people’s culture’ suggesting that the genre of rock is immersive within youth.
In relation to Iron Maiden, most of the members of the original line-up would’ve been in their early twenties, being a part of the youth culture of the time, thus appealing to younger audiences discovering there taste in music. The book discussed youth and music in relation to the normality’s of society, where 15-16 year olds would identify themselves as ‘hairies’ or ‘hippies’, promoting their hatred for commercial music and love of progressive rock. In addition to labeling themselves through nicknames, teenagers would also dress a certain way in order to identify to a certain group. For instance ‘Skinheads’ would dress neatly and were ‘Always polished to perfection’.
The themes of fashion and rebellion would’ve played a huge part of many of the ex-members everyday lives when they were younger, which would ultimately lead all of the characters going on to join Iron Maiden, producing music completely different to the norm of the time. Female youth was also an interesting topic of conversation within Frith’s work. Rock as a part of a teenage girls life would similarly involve using ‘labels’ which would identify you a certain way. Similarly, ‘Skinhead’ girls would spend a lot of their time at home, as their families would forbid them from leaving the house; ultimately limiting their social existence.
Frith describes female youth culture as ‘a culture of the bedroom’, where girls would meet, stay at home and listen to music. This is an interesting topic, and one I would like to look into further and through conversation with ex-members wives, hopefully find out more information about and explore further. Not only did the book cover youth in relation to music, but it also looked at other aspects of youth, for instance the employability of boys and girls in the 60s and 14 70s and their career paths after compulsory education. The books also discussed social class and what affect that had on young peoples lives. This is a theme that would’ve been prevalent of the 1960s and 1970s, when a lot of the ex-members were growing up in different parts of London and Essex. This is a theme that I will develop my knowledge of over the fore-coming weeks and will be identified within my film through the questions I will be asking each of the ex-members.
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