Baby Boomer Rock 'n' Roll Fans: The Music Never Ends

(Paperback)

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Description

Rock n roll infuses the everyday life of the American adult, but for the first, complete generation of rock n roll fansbaby boomers born between 1946 and 1964it holds a special kind of value, playing a social personality-defining role that is unique to this group. Based on 18 years of sociological research and 52 years of rock n roll fandom, Baby Boomer Rock n Roll Fans: The Music Never Ends draws on data collected from participant observations and interviews with artists, fans, and producers to explore our aging rock culture through the filter of symbolic interactionist theory. As author Joseph Kotarba notes, the purpose in writing this book is to describe sociologically the many ways people in our society who were raised on rocknroll music and its cultural baggage have continued to use the rocknroll idiom to make sense of, celebrate, and master everyday lifethrough adulthood and for the rest of their lives.

Sociological concepts of the self are the key organizing feature of this book, as each chapter engages with sociological ideas to explain how baby boomers use popular music to explore, sculpt, fulfill, and ultimately make sense of who they are in different contexts. Kotarba looks at baby boomers as individuals and parents, as political actors and religious adherents, social beings and aging members of American society, detailing throughout how rock n roll provides a groundwork for establishing and maintaining both private and public sense of self. Baby Boomer Rock n Roll Fans will interest scholars and students of music and sociology and American popular culture.

Reviews

In this interesting evaluation of the role rock 'n' roll music plays in the lives of the baby boomer generation, defined broadly as those (Americans) born between 1945 and 1964, sociologist Kotarba's essential aim is to demonstrate that rock music is as important to the personal and social identity of adults from this period as it is to today's "youth" culture, which is more often the focus of examinations of rock and popular music study. Certainly, his arguments are easily sustained, and often humorously so, which makes for an easy read. The author's target audience (baby boomers) is the group most likely to relate to the music examples and situations discussed. Younger audiences, however, may feel disconnected with the topics, having yet to experience aspects such as parenting or spiritual awareness as part of their reality. Summing Up: Recommended. * Choice Reviews *

Author Bio

Joseph A. Kotarba is professor of sociology and director of the Center for Social Inquiry at Texas State University-San Marcos. He is the author or editor of seven books, and approximately ninety-five articles and book chapters. He is the 2009 recipient of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interactions George Herbert Mead Award for Lifetime Achievement and 2010 recipient of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interactions Mentors Excellence Award. His most recent book is The Present and Future of Symbolic Interactionism, coedited with Andrea Salvini and Bryce Merrill.