The Development of Popular Music Function in Film, 1st ed. 2019 From the Birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll to the Death of Disco Palgrave Studies in Audio-Visual Culture Series

This book offers a unique examination of the development of popular music function in film. It assesses the contribution of popular music to the interpretation of the most significant films, covering the period from rock ?n? roll?s initial introduction at the opening of Blackboard Jungle, to the backlash against disco, which followed soon after the release of Saturday Night Fever. By dividing this period into five phases?The Classical American Musical Phase, The British Invasion Phase, The New Hollywood Alienation Phase, The Disco Phase and The Post-Disco Conservative Phase?the book pinpoints key moments at which individual developments occurred and lays out a path of expansion in popular music function. Each chapter offers close analyses of this period?s most innovative films; examines the cultural, historical, technical and industrial factors peculiar to each phase and considers the influence of these upon the specific timing of functional advances. 

1. Introduction.- 2. The Classic American Musical Phase: The Films of Elvis Presley.- 3. The British Invasion Phase: A Hard Day’s Night.- 4. The New Hollywood Alienation Phase: The Graduate.- 5. The Disco Phase: Saturday Night Fever.- 6. The Conservative Post-Disco Phase: Footloose and Flashdance.- 7. Afterword.

Anthony Hogg, Independent Scholar, UK.

Marks the first book-length study to address the history of the development of popular music function in film directly Recognises the importance of a largely overlooked 13-year period in the 1960s and 1970s of developing popular music functionality Examines a variety of important films in-depth while also offering a historical analysis of the period