The Second World War cemented not only an Anglo-American special relationship in politics but in the evolution of musical trends in Britain.

Visiting American GIs reactivated the popularity of big band music - which filtered onto BBC radio programmes – and the revived sounds of Dixieland and New Orleans trad jazz became the live sound on the London club scene.

An even more popular craze of the 1950s was skiffle, a folk-blues revival launched by Lonnie Donegan. Its do-it-yourself creed and musical simplicity allowed a new generation of young musicians to pick up cheap guitars, washboards and tea chest basses and start their own skiffle groups.

From the mid-1950s, British pop was transformed by the rock ‘n’ roll craze. Inspired by the likes of Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard, British rock ‘n’ rollers sprung up everywhere as teenagers found a new musical, social and economic freedom.

 

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