Laura GibsonRocking the Box: The History of Rock and Roll on TelevisionIntroduction to MIAP12/14/09Description of the Exhibit: My final project is for a fictional exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex in New York City. The title of the exhibit is Rocking the Box: The History of Rock and Roll on Television, which will cover the history of rock and roll on television from the 1950s through the1980s. Networks needed to appeal to a mass audience, while rock and roll appealed to a niche audience (McGrath 39). This tension serves a running theme through much of the exhibit. I chose to begin with Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show and end with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” because both are iconic moments and represent two points on a continuum. The Ed Sullivan Show embodies the variety show ethos of something for everyone. MTV and other cablestations are about targeting a channel to a particular interest group or demographic. “Thriller” is one of the most famous music videos, and ushered in an era in which “fashion, modern dance, and filmmaking became as important to record’s success as songwriting, instrumentation and production” (Austen 200). This is the era we are still living in when it comes to rock stars. The main elements of the exhibit will be television sets, panels of text, and display cases. Sound coming from multiple sets will not be a problem due to technology already in place at the museum. The museum has headsets that play audio material when they are near a particular spot.(For a floor plan, see figure 1) The central element of the exhibit will be a series of television sets, with each set attached to a DVD player. Each set will be playing a series of clips showing important moments in the history of rock of television, divided up by era. The television sets willbe modern to accommodate the DVD player, but will be made to look appropriate to the era they will be displaying clips from. The television showing clips from the mid-sixties should look like 1a set from the mid-sixties. There will be a bench near each set so that if people want to sit down in order to watch, they can. (For a complete list of shows, see figure 2). Next to each television screen will be a large panel of text. This panel will provide historical and cultural information about the era and the shows. There will be extensive text, but because it will be next to the television set and not interfere with viewing the program, people will be free to read as much or little as they wish. (For the complete text of the wall panels, see figure 3). In the middle of the room will be a series of display cases, with explanatory notes explaining why the objects are important. Each case will relate to one of the eras shown on screen. (For a sample of what a case and explanatory notes would look like see figures 4 and 5, which covers the late sixties display case). For the first display case, I would like to include magazines that show the American Bandstand regulars on the cover, clothing worn by Elvis on his appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the issue of Life Magazine from December 1st, 1958 which featured Rick Nelson on the cover. I would also like to ask the Rock and Soul Museum in Memphis if they would be willing to loan Dick Clark’s podium to the Rock and Hall of Fame Annex for the exhibit (Rock and Soul Museum). For the second display case I would include materials designed to create anticipation and excitement for The Beatles first appearance on Ed Sullivan. It would be wonderful to have the telegram that Elvis sent to the Beatles after their first appearance on Ed Sullivan. This display case would also include publicity pictures of some of the rock stars that appeared on Shindig and Hollywood A Go Go. The Bubblegum era display case would contain cardboard records from 2that time, which were found on the backs of cereal boxes, in addition to lunch-boxes, t-shirts, andfan magazines such as Tiger Beat. The seventies display case would contain pieces of the Blues Brothers costume, script pages from rock related Saturday Night Live sketches, articles of clothing worn by Soul Train dancers, and publicity pictures from The Muppet Show. The MTV display case would have print ads for the channel, a copy of the VHS tape of The Making of Thriller, and fan letters to MTV video jockeys or VJs as they were known. The items would come from a variety of sources such as other museums, collectors, thrift stores, eBay, network archives, record company archives and university archives. As this exhibit deals with copyright protected material, licensing the clips, songs, and publicity rights for the singers and in some cases the host will be important. On my own I was able to locate the copyright owners for some of the material. (For a list of copyright owners, see figure 6). One of the issues I struggled with in researching the material for this exhibition was deciding what to include and what to exclude. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that I had to make difficult decisions, which were bound to disappoint some fans. Instead of letting museum-goers leave upset that I had excluded something they deemed important, I decided to create a contest which would let people vent their frustrations by allowing them to create a list of what they think are the most important moments in the history of rock on television. When people turnin their headsets at the end of the exhibit a staff member would offer them a chance to enter the contest. (For a contest entry form see figure 7). The contest would also function as a publicity tool. People who view the fan generated lists on the website may become more eager to visit the exhibit and be given the opportunity to 3create their own list. Publicity would be conducted through social networking sites such as myspace, Twitter, and Facebook. Radio ads would air on oldies and classic rock stations. Print ads would appear in Rolling Stone, Spin, and other music magazines (For the print ad, see figure 8). 4Figure 1: Floor Plan50s-early 60sshowsmid 60sshowslate 60sshowsbubble-gumshows70s showsMTVtext paneldisplay caseenterexittext paneltext paneltext paneltext paneltext paneldisplay casedisplay casedisplay caseFigure 2: Shows Exhibit Will Cover:TV 1 Mid 1950s-early 1960s:Elvis on Ed Sullivan: “Hound Dog”American Bandstand: Chubby Checker performs “The Twist”The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: Ricky Nelson sings “I’m Walkin”5TV 2 Mid 1960s: Beatles on Ed