Beginning in the mid-1950s, rock music found a surprising home on mainstream television. Programs hosted by Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and Ed Sullivan featured a wide variety of rock musicians, including Bill Haley & the Comets, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, and especially Elvis Presley, who appeared on all three shows to galvanic response. Afternoon dance programs like “American Bandstand” also played a role in bringing rock to large, eager teenage audiences.
Then the appearance of the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964 changed the face of pop culture, leading to an explosion of televised rock, from prime-time rock variety shows like “Shindig” and “Hullabaloo” to the sit-com rock antics of “The Monkees” and the jubilant renewal of Elvis Presley in his comeback special of 1968.
Media historian Brian Rose presents a lively survey of how rock and television grew up together.
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