(There were people who swore the world went straight to hell, did not pass "go", did not collect $200))

It's almost impossible to imagine now, but there was a time when Rock was in its infancy and an endless source of bafflement from mainstream media and an entire generation who just didn't understand what it was all about. We're not even talking about what was then referred to as "race music" and early Rhythm & Blues - this was stuff pretty tame by comparison. Bill Haley and His Comets, Patti Page, The Crew Cuts - these were the acts mainstream America was somehow convinced were taking it's Youth on a one-way trip to hell - or at least, having its collective i.q. reduced to room temperature.

So mainstream America sought to explain it all - sought to answer burning questions. From 1955, well into the early 1960s, hundreds of hours of airtime were devoted in an attempt to explain what the phenomenon was all about. And to the mainstream, it was only a phenomenon; a fad, a passing fancy. Something that wasn't destined to last. And the Big Guns were brought out to help explain it. As in the case of this broadcast, part of the Conversation Series, a weekly Sunday talk program devoted to current affairs, no less than award winning Composer Richard Rodgers was brought on to explain, or at least offer some insight over Elvis Presley. Joining Rodgers was New York Disc Jockey Ted Brown and moderator Clifton Fadiman to talk about just what this strange new music was.

Actually, in retrospect quite funny. It does however point up to just how naive America was in the 1950's and how resistant to anything resembling change we were.

Now does it start to sink in just how big a deal the Civil Rights Movement was back then?