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Boy Bands and the Performance of Pop Masculinity 1st
Edition Georgina Gregory Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Georgina Gregory
ISBN(s): 9780429648458, 0429648456
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 4.18 MB
Year: 2019
Language: english
Boy Bands and the
Performance of Pop
Masculinity

Boy Bands and the Performance of Pop Masculinity provides a history of the boy
band from the Beatles to One Direction, placing the modern male pop group
within the wider context of twentieth- and twenty-first-century popular music
and culture. Offering the first extended look at pop masculinity as exhibited by
boy bands, this volume links the evolving expressions of gender and sexuality
in the boy band to wider economic and social changes that have resulted in new
ways of representing what it is to be a man.
The popularity of boy bands is unquestionable, and their contributions to
popular music are significant, yet they have attracted relatively little study. This
book fills that gap with chapters exploring the challenges of defining the boy
band phenomenon, its origins and history from the 1940s to the present, the
role of management and marketing, the performance of gender and sexuality,
and the nature of fandom and fan agency. Throughout, the author illuminates
the ways in which identity politics influence the production and consumption
of pop music and shows how the mainstream pop of boy bands can both rein-
force and subvert gender and class hierarchies.

Georgina Gregory is Senior Lecturer for Film and Media at the University
of Central Lancashire, where she teaches modules on popular music and youth
culture. She is the author of Send in the Clones: A Cultural Study of the Tribute
Band.
Boy Bands and the
Performance of Pop
Masculinity
Georgina Gregory
First published 2019
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Taylor & Francis
The right of Georgina Gregory to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gregory, Georgina, author.
Title: Boy bands and the performance of pop masculinity / Georgina
Gregory.
Description: New York ; London : Routledge, 2019. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018046292 (print) | LCCN 2018048465 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780429027574 (ebook) | ISBN 9781138647312 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781138647329 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Boy bands. | Popular music—History and criticism. |
Masculinity in music.
Classification: LCC ML3470 (ebook) | LCC ML3470 .G738 2019 (print) |
DDC 781.640811—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018046292

ISBN: 978-1-138-64731-2 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-64732-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-02757-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by codeMantra
Contents

List of Figures vii

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction 1

1 Definitions: What Constitutes a Boy Band? 8

2 From Barbershop to Mainstream Pop 16

3 Constructing the Product 37

4 Marketing and Promotion 60

5 Weapons of Mass Seduction: Performing

Pop Masculinity 83

6 Fandom, Texts and Practices 101

7 Breaking Up, Making Up and Moving On 122

Bibliography 135
Index 157
Figures

2.1 Crosby, Stills and Nash 31

4.1 Zodys department store ad for Beatle wigs 63
4.2 The Bay City Rollers 67
4.3 The Beatles vs. the Rolling Stones 68
4.4 The Beatles’ logo 70
4.5 The Monkees’ logo on an album cover 70
4.6 *NSYNC’s logo 70
4.7 The Monkees 73
4.8 The Beatles arrive at JFK Airport 75
4.9 One Direction 77
4.10 The Rolling Stones in concert in Oslo in 1965 81
5.1 Harry Styles 83
7.1 Westlife 132
Acknowledgements

I would like to draw attention to a number of people who have helped in the
production of this book. In particular, thanks go to Genevieve Aoki and Peter
Sheehy of Routledge for allowing me the time needed to complete the project.
I also wish to express gratitude to the many students I have taught at University
of Central Lancashire over the years, whose observations have provided useful
insights into the subject of boy bands and associated fan culture.
Amongst others Mark Duffett, Tim Wise and the late David Sanjek have
provided a combination of scholarly inspiration and support so thanks must go
to them. Finally, as writing takes up such a lot of my time and energy, I am
grateful to my family – Greg, Holly, Mya, Jack and Georgia – thank you for
being there.
Introduction

Throughout the postwar period, groups of young men in their teens or t­ wenties
singing romantic songs in harmony have been the bedrock of the popular music
industry. In Janice Miller’s words: “Between The Beatles and The Osmonds
and after, came many boy-­bands sharing similar characteristics: mainstream
manufactured for a teen market with a voracious appetite for this kind of en-
tertainment” (Miller, 2011: 84). Although characterized by ephemerality, the
presence of boy bands within the musical landscape significantly influences
perceptions of masculinity. In fact long before the Osmond brothers or Take
That, vocal groups with a repertoire of heartfelt ballads provided a template
for the earnest masculinity we are familiar with today. The popularity of boy
bands is unquestionable and their contribution to popular music is significant,
yet they have attracted limited scholarly interest. Their unthreatening version
of masculine identity has dominated the twentieth century but more attention
is devoted to rock, rap and metal masculinity (Weinstein, 2000; Walser, 2015;
White, 2011). However, as Diane Railton notes: “One of the ironies of pop-
ular music studies is that the music that is the most popular, in terms of con-
temporary chart success, is rarely discussed by academics writing in the field”
­( Railton, 2001: 321).
Some contextual material is offered by Jay Warner (2006), whose histori-
cal account of postwar American vocal groups is limited by its geographical
boundary and while it contains important detail about doo-­wop and R&B
vocal groups, its coverage of groups described as boy bands is limited. Em-
anating from the music industry where the exceptional success of boy bands
is revered, Frederick Levy’s (2000) The Ultimate Boy Band Book is one of the
few texts dedicated to unravelling the phenomenon. Writing from the per-
spective of a talent manager, Levy offers some useful insights into the his-
tory and construction of boy bands but fails to locate the groups in a broader
2 Introduction

socio-­cultural or critical framework. Furthermore, as it was written before the

successful relaunch of Take That, *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys it does not
account for the appearance of ‘man bands’ – well-­k nown groups reassembling
as adult versions of their former selves.1 Other industry-­focused literature ex-
amines the transformative leadership, personal shortcomings and misdemean-
ours of pop band managers. A sample includes music journalist Ray Coleman’s
(1989) anecdote-­fi lled account of Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein’s early life
and his closet ­homosexuality. Presumably because there have been some high-­
profile lawsuits stemming from financial mismanagement, Tyler Gray’s The
Hit ­Charade (2008) looks at pop impresario Lou Pearlman’s Machiavellian en-
deavours through the lens of investigative journalism. Louis Walsh’s successful
career as a pop manager also comes under scrutiny (Foley, 2002) in a book
charting his rise from working as an office boy to becoming a leading pop
supremo. There are also studies of music mogul Simon Cowell’s contribution
to pop management (Newkey-­Burden, 2009; Bower, 2012), not to mention
a wide range of ­biographies and autobiographies about individual artists and
groups. In this respect Herbert (2011), McKeown (2006), and Roach (2006) are
typical and all add valuable detail and colour to scholarly study.
To some extent, the dearth of academic studies on the subject may be at-
tributed to the collective failure of mainstream pop groups to shock or offend.
Presumably their wholesome character makes them a less compelling object
of study – especially when other music artists do so on such a regular basis.
Moreover, as Gayle Wald, one of the first to take the group’s seriously points
out, critical writing about pop has a tendency to focus on the shortcomings of
mass culture rather than any redeeming or instructive qualities it might offer:

Among recent trends in youth music culture, perhaps none has been
so widely reviled as the rise of a new generation of manufactured
‘­teenybopper’ pop acts. Since the late 1990s, the phenomenal visibility
and commercial success of performers such as … the Backstreet Boys, and
‘N Sync has inspired anxious public handwringing about the shallowness
of youth culture, the triumph of commerce over art, and the sacrifice of
‘depth’ to surface and image.
(Wald, 2002: 1)

Nevertheless, boy bands convey important information about gender ­identity, a

subject overlooked in the majority of literature within popular music studies prior
to the 1980s. However, interest has grown, and among others ­Leonard (2017),
Lieb (2013) and Whiteley (2013a, 2013b) explain how gender is constructed, cir-
culated and maintained within the music industry. Their work is informed by, and
builds upon the work of Judith Butler (2011) and Jack ­Halberstam (1998) whose
observations on the constructed character of gendered identity ­problematize
­essentialist readings.
 Introduction 3

Other than Wald (2002), only a handful of scholars have tackled the nature
of gender in boy bands.2 Among them Jamieson (2007) discusses the marketing
and presentation of the Backstreet Boys to see if the queer subtexts of boy band
videos influence the audience. Similarly, Jennifer Moos (2013) looks at groups’
queer potentialities and their role in creating a space for alternative masculini-
ties, exploring the affective responses of fans – notably those engaged in gender
parody via drag king performance.
Paul McDonald (2013) considers the area of representation by analysing the
relationship between gender, body and music video to show how a particular
version of masculine identity was portrayed by Take That during the 1990s.
Matthew Stahl (2002) also investigates representation but from the perspective
of the artists themselves to see if the way they would like to represent themselves
differs from how they are depicted by managers and marketing professionals.
In doing so he raises issues concerning authenticity, legitimacy and autonomy,
all of which are explored by Maria Sanders (2002) who looks at aspirations of
autonomy in boy bands assembled by entrepreneurs. A similar theme is tackled
from the perspective of discourse by Mark Duffett (2012), who explores how
negative discourses underscore the way critics write about boy bands, leading
ultimately, to a stasis of critical commentary about market-­led pop.
Other valuable texts include Freya Jarman-­Ivens’ Oh Boy! Masculinities and
Popular Music (2011), a book that evaluates how masculine identity is negotiated,
constructed, represented and addressed within texts and practices ­a ssociated
with various music genres. Likewise, Stan Hawkins’ The British Pop Dandy:
Masculinity, Popular Music and Culture (2017b) provides important insights into
the construction of pop’s masculine identities, expressions of dandyism and
camp via various media platforms, showing how performance, gender and
­sexuality are inextricably entwined.
With a view to adding to this existing body of knowledge and to augment the
limited literature on boy bands and masculine identity in mainstream or ‘manufac-
tured’ pop, this book explores how pop masculinity is produced and consumed.
By examining vocal harmony groups from a historical perspective, showing how
they reveal prevailing structures of power, it aspires to illustrate Raewyn Connell’s
assertion that masculinity is “a historically mobile relation” (Connell, 1995: 77). In
their different guises these groups have provided young men with a vehicle for the
expression of feelings that may be socially suppressed, allowing them to speak, for
example, of men’s desire to nurture or be loved and cared for.
This book illustrates how the gender fluidity of contemporary boy bands
and the artists’ ‘identikit’ personalities express the performative character of
postmodern identity. We live in an era where traditional markers of identity
are less stable, and in these circumstances popular music offers access to new
ways of being, not least because it “opens up … possibilities for recognising
and imagining forms of identity in ourselves and others” (Hawkins, 2017a: 7).
In particular, millennial boy bands illustrate how modern masculinity is less
4 Introduction

monolithic than previously, and is fraught with insecurity and instability

(Aboim, 2016). Free market rule, the collapse of the welfare state, diminishing
worker’s rights and the privatization of essential services are all challenging the
traditional gender order. Men and boys are particularly affected because they
are now in competition with women and girls who have made major progress
in the fields of education and employment. Women are forging careers and
supporting themselves, but they also have an optional licence to find purpose
and add meaning to their lives through raising children.

A girl does not have to, she is not expected to, ‘make something’ of herself.
Her career does not have to be self-­justifying, for she will have children,
which is absolutely self-­justifying, like any other natural or creative act.
(Goodman, 1956: 13)

Women today can choose if or when to have a child, establishing a family unit
with or without a male partner, whereas men are still inclined to conflate their
value with achievements in the world of paid employment.

Most young adult males are focused on their need for significance. They
are interested in making their way in the world and having an impact.
This is not to say they don’t have relationships, start families and create
homes. They do, but their priority is typically focused on work.
(Olver, 2015)

With the growth of zero hours contracts and a lack of ‘jobs for life’, today’s
young men face challenges nobody envisaged in the boom years of the 1950s
and 1960s when jobs were plentiful and women were still primarily restricted
to the home and reliant on a man for economic support. Models of manhood
­provided by men engaged in hard physical labour and skilled craftsmanship,
where a sense of community and pride prevailed, have all but vanished in the
world of twenty-­fi rst-century employment. At this juncture, pop ­harmony
groups are providing a less aggressive, more anxious to please and better
groomed model of masculine identity, better adapted to the changing socio-­
economic circumstances.
This study seeks to explain how identity politics influence the production and
consumption of mainstream pop. At various points throughout the history of boy
bands, social class, race and location have all played a role in defining how main-
stream pop music is produced, marketed and consumed. In particular, since vocal
harmony singing cuts across racial boundaries, the intersection of black and white
American styles of performance is examined to illustrate how styles of music are
borrowed, adapted and relocated, often in opportunistic plagiarism for commer-
cial purposes. The singing and performance styles of pop vocal groups move reg-
ularly between black and white cultures in a tradition of appropriation noted by
 Introduction 5

Andrew Ross who asked: “How much of a white component (­country, ­rockabilly)
was truly present in ‘white’ R&R’s version of ‘black’ R&B? Did Elvis imitate or
did he sing ‘black’ music?” (Ross, 2016: 68). Sometimes the exchange is a by-­
product of the proximity of diverse communities in urban settings, but in other
cases it is cynically engineered in forms of cultural theft.
As academic studies of popular culture have swung away from their focus on
production, there is now a need to reconsider how pop music is created, marketed
and presented to prospective audiences. However covertly the ambitions are con-
cealed, the creation, distribution and consumption of commerical rather than
mainstream pop is always governed by a desire to minimize risk and maximize
profit. Whereas some artists aspire to create music with educational or political
significance, mainstream pop’s commitment to generating profit is refreshingly
transparent in its reflexive acknowledgement of commercial objectives. By look-
ing at the nuanced nature of pop’s marketing it is possible to see how this ideology
is embedded in the design and delivery of boy bands from the outset.
Stardom itself is recognized in various quarters as a manufactured ­phenomenon
(Franck and Nüesch, 2007; Dyer, 2013), and the construction of pop bands ex-
poses the endeavours of the culture industries to create stars. However, televised
talent shows challenge a long-­cherished and ­Romantic ­v ision of artists operating
agonistically against a commercial mainstream. Drawing heavily on the notion
of musicians as autonomous artists (Frith and Horne, 2016), the perspective of
the struggling artist continues to influence perceptions of authenticity or a lack
thereof. Hence, unlike auteurs, who occupy a privileged place in the canon and
academic literature, identikit pop groups have always hovered on the margins
of respectability. In Robert Pruter’s words: “rock fans, led by the rock crit-
ics, tended to place [them] outside the critical mainstream” (Pruter, 1996: 246).
Only a few such groups have ever been acknowledged within the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame, and none are representative of the current wave of so-­called
‘manufactured’ bands.3
Their abjection encourages us to join Foucault (1980: 118) in asking if an
individual is not an acknowledged auteur, what are we to make of his output?
Should we assume the texts and practices of mainstream pop bands have no
value or ought we to question why we are only invited to appreciate these
artists once they pursue a solo career, reject pop or write their own music? It is
true that the majority of modern boy bands do not write their own songs and
may not play musical instruments, but this was never a barrier to acclaim for
vocalists such as Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra. It seems that reasons for exclu-
sion from the canon are neither straightforward nor consistent.4 If nothing else,
boy bands make us question the fetishization of auteurs and virtuosos, inviting
us to reflect upon the fragility of masculine authority if it is so reliant on evi-
dence of self-­authored music or mastery of an electric guitar.
Music journalist Maria Sherman observes how “historically, teen pop and
boy band fandom has [always] existed in a weird space of cultural celebration and
6 Introduction

critical marginalization” (Sherman, 2015). This book explores why if fans can
see no wrong with manufactured groups, they are regularly maligned by fellow
musicians, music journalists and anti-­fans, all of whom are vocal in ridiculing and
dismissing the artists and their music.5 During the 1960s, ‘made for television’
band the Monkees were a popular target. Indeed, at the height of their success,
“the nascent rock press and much of the counterculture community that it served,
made much sport of reviling the band as ‘prefabricated’ and ‘plastic’” (Ramaeker,
2001: 74). Crawdaddy magazine offered an equally lofty condemnation suggesting
that, “After it’s all over, and they’ve outsold everyone else in history, the Monkees
will still leave absolutely no mark on American music” (Williams, 2002: 121).
If we are prepared to remain open-­m inded, we might ponder why it is ac-
ceptable to dismiss boy bands as irrelevant for failing to conform to notions of
musical proficiency conflated with the production of rock music? Is it possible
that romantic, mainstream pop has vindicating qualities that are all too often
overlooked? If so, what are its redeeming characteristics? This study highlights
how hierarchies of value promote the dominance of certain genres and artists
over others if they are deemed to conform to whatever currently constitutes ac-
ceptable taste. Drawing on sociological studies (Gans, 1975; Bourdieu, 1984) we
can see that the production of art often speaks less about individual creativity,
than it does about shared sets of conventions. Perhaps more than anything the
views of critics illuminate the observation that, “Taste classifies, and it classifies
the classifier” (Bourdieu, 1984: 6). Perhaps this pop masculinity illustrates the
way gender, youth and social class are used to position ­musicians, fans and critics
within competing hierarchies of power, in a social order where the feminine has
always been subordinated to the masculine and within which musical prefer-
ences are coded according to socio-­economic status.
Whatever their shortcomings in technical skill or political import, boy bands
present a powerful example of Max Weber’s paradigm of ‘mediated ­charisma’:
indeed, their presence exemplifies “the management of mass responses of
­intoxication and devotion to essentially packaged agents of entertainment”
(­Rojek, 2011: 166). By analysing how the discourses of popular music mobilize
language to position the groups and their fans, it is possible to gain more under-
standing as to how the value system operates. With this objective in mind, the
study seeks to challenge perceptions of pop fandom as homogenous, young and
female. In doing so it draws attention to the presence of a much wider audience
which is conveniently ignored to uphold the view that boy bands only appeals
to girls and gay men.
Far from resembling the “cultural dopes” identified by the Frankfurt School
(Horkheimer and Adorno, 2002), they show themselves to be strong-­m inded,
imaginative media practitioners who provide evidence of creativity while
healthily rejecting preferred readings. This book’s focus on fan culture aims to
show some of the virtuous qualities of romantic pop music in an era character-
ized by aggressive marketing of pornography, broken families and challenging
 Introduction 7

labour conditions. With the rise of internet porn and excessive use of sex in the
marketing of products and services, young people may well be exhausted by the
omnipresence of sexualized imagery (Huston et al., 1998). The boys’ smiling,
friendly faces and their evocation of old-­fashioned romance present a refreshing
antidote to the pressures imposed by a hypersexualized society. Mild-­mannered
youthful masculinity harks back to earlier times where good manners mattered
and where chastity had cultural currency. The gender ­neutrality of boy bands
invites women to partake in the culture of pop masculinity to the point where
it is difficult to distinguish some of the female boy bands (where young women
impersonate male artists) from their male counterparts.
Thus while it is easy to dismiss mainstream pop as conservative, unlike
some more politically informed music genres, it is remarkably tolerant of al-
ternative sexuality and radical in its own way. The study shows how out gay
and bisexual performers are accepted within the pop community and how gay
fans interpret texts to relate to the music on their own terms. In certain re-
spects, the soft masculinity purveyed by boy bands could even be deemed rev-
olutionary. The boys’ open expressions of vulnerability, the ease with which
they express their emotions and their commitment to romantic love set them
apart. ­Admittedly the pro-­feminine stance is not universally accepted, mainly
because: “The men who are nurturing and caring are kept a distance from
masculinity” ­(MacKinnon, 2003: 57). In the next chapter, the social prohi-
bition of feminized masculinity is explored through the medium of discourse
to show how discursive apparatus ensures that the value of mainstream pop is
diminished and dominant expression of masculinity are secured. It illustrates
how, through everyday use of language and the language of popular music,
hierarchies of merit and preferred expressions of gender are put into place in an
effort to marginalize everything from the culture of femininity to the social
power of youths, teenage girls and gay men.

Notes
1 Where bands such as Take That, Backstreet Boys, NKOTB and Westlife have re-
launched their careers by regrouping in a more mature incarnation and appealing
to a wider demographic.
2 See, for example, McDonald, 2013; Stahl, 2002; Jamieson, 2007; Kumanyika, 2011;
Duffett, 2013; Löbert, 2012; McLaughlin and McLoone, 2014.
3 Prejudice against pop harmony acts does not appear to stem from a rejection of
choral singing per se, because the Four Seasons, the Ink Spots, the Drifters and the
Beach Boys are all celebrated inductees.
4 Vocal harmony groups employed by the Tamla Motown label were controlled as
much, if not more, than the average boy band and groups were expected to conform
to the company’s interference in all aspects of their careers. The repertoire and back-
ing music was created by in-­house song-­writing and production teams, artists were
groomed in etiquette, dressed by stylists and coached by professional choreographers.
5 Mark Duffett has identified a thriving culture of hate pages on Facebook dedicated
to target boy bands and their followers (Duffett, 2013: 218).
1
Definitions
What Constitutes a Boy Band?

Although the term is frequently invoked and used with some confidence, what
exactly constitutes a boy band is contestable.1 Do the groups represent a distinct
genre of popular music replete with recognizable conventions and codes, or
is their existence defined by and dependent on a set of inconsistently applied
discourses? We might categorize certain groups as being boy bands without
considering why other seemingly similar ensembles are labelled differently.2
Opinions clearly differ, in that one person’s boy band might well be deemed an-
other’s pop/rock or R&B ensemble – so, depending on who is defining them,
at different times the Beatles, the Jackson 5, the Bay City Rollers, the Four
Tops, NKOTB, Take That, Bros, Hanson and Busted could all fit the descrip-
tor (Benjamin et al., 2015). The aforementioned groups clearly differ in terms
of the genres they represent and in the skillsets of their respective members.3
Hence, before any meaningful discussion can take place, the defining terms
need some further interrogation. This exercise not only attempts to explain
why certain groups are categorized as boy bands, it also provides some insights
as to why the label influences critical reception of the artists concerned.
Descriptors play an important function in the management of music con-
sumption and critique by presenting a useful shortcut to style, presentation and
content. Within this seemingly benign etymological context there are none of
the negative connotations implied in the consolidation of hierarchies of taste.
Here addition of ‘boy’ to the word ‘band’ turns the prefix into a tool, activating
discursive ammunition to enforce the superiority of one type of music over an-
other. In this way, agents, subjects, producers and consumers are all positioned
and the discourses function as a conduit through which power is exercised. In
John Shepherd’s words: “there are discourses constructed around concrete mu-
sical practices” and “those discourses group such practices into categories that
 Definitions: What Constitutes a Boy Band? 9

render the music amenable to various forms of social, political and economic
control” (Shepherd, 1993: 49). By way of illustration, the following reflections
illustrate how Billboard magazine positions the groups.

Boy bands make safe music aimed at young, naive girls, and adults often
assume that this music is not worth critical analysis. Teens love them,
and most other people dismiss them. If there ever was a type of formulaic
music, these boys – often cobbled together in a perfect-­people factory,
their high cheekbones and chiselled jawlines at pristine ratios – would be
the ones making it.
(Sherman, 2015)

In this context, the boy band becomes a convenient receptacle for disparaging
judgements on everything from the moribund character of mass culture to the
demise of true musicianship. Conjuring up images of the talentless alumni of re-
ality television shows, the label invokes well-­worn tropes defining ­mainstream
pop as disposable, mass-­produced trash. In the process, binaries of ‘­worthy’ and
‘unworthy’, ‘authentic’ versus ‘inauthentic’ music are activated, as Mark Duffett
explains.

Recent critical commentaries suggest that four discourses – youth, ex-

ploitation, gender, and fandom – interlock to determine how writers dis-
cuss the [boy band] genre. Collectively their result is a relative stasis in
critical commentary that helps to allay wider anxieties about the idea
that, in a capitalist society, any of us can actively and pleasurably engage
with a musical genre led by its own marketing.
(Duffett, 2012: 185)

Dictionary Definitions
If we turn to dictionary definitions to unravel the nuances of meaning, they
are a helpful point of departure, even if only to highlight a lack of consensus in
interpretations of the constituent terms ‘boy’ and ‘band’. For example, Collins
English Dictionary is unhelpfully vague in that its definition of “an all-­m ale vo-
cal pop group created to appeal to a young audience” (Thomas, 2016) would
fit any number of music groups from the 1950s to the present day. The lack of
precision means that critically acclaimed auteurs like Crosby, Stills, Nash and
Young, the Four Seasons and the Beach Boys could be placed alongside abject
ensembles such as Westlife, Bros or Jedward.4 The catch-­a ll descriptor is less
than helpful partly because it rests on the assumption there is agreement as to
what constitutes ‘pop’ music in the first place. Here the writer illustrates the
potential pitfalls in attempting to marshal cultural texts into specific categories,
Other documents randomly have
different content
 The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Popular
History of England, From the Earliest Times to
the Reign of Queen Victoria; Vol. I
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: A Popular History of England, From the Earliest Times to the

Reign of Queen Victoria; Vol. I

Author: François Guizot

Editor: Madame de Witt

Release date: March 21, 2020 [eBook #61647]

Most recently updated: October 17, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Don Kostuch

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A POPULAR

HISTORY OF ENGLAND, FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE REIGN
OF QUEEN VICTORIA; VOL. I ***
[Transcriber's note: This production is based on
http://www.archive.org/details/popularhistoryeng01guiz.

Spoiler alert: If you expect to hear about Cinderella and Prince

Charming living in Camelot, here are some of the most frequently
used words in this book, ordered by number of occurrences.

war, armies, enemies, soldiers, weapon, prison, attack, defence,

conquer, battle, invade, fortifications, dead, suffer, anger, seize,
kill, insurrection, threat, fight, traitor, surrender, fear, escape,
pursue, opposition, strike, wound, condemn, blood, victor,
quarrel, insurgent, punish, capture, rival, pirate, danger, crime,
violence, destroy, arrest, trouble, archer, unhappy, murder,
disorder, combat, reinforcement, pillage, dying, anxiety, exile,
besiege, repulse, executed, captive, hostages, cruel, bitter,
conspiracy, insult, revenge, humiliated, imprisoned, ruin,
assassin, plunder, barbarian, rampart, jealous, confiscate,
avenge, alarmed, usurpation, tyrannical, savage, malcontents,
massacre, slaughter, despair, military, misfortunes, unfortunate,
widow, detested, succumb, die, dagger, languished, assault,
mercenaries, disaster, armor, booty, perjury, drown, repugnance,
fatal, slave, armistice, robber, odious, greed, poison, incursion,
false, foe, impeached, ambush, capricious, perfidious, scaffold,
dungeon, decapitated.]
 Murder Of Thomas A-Becket.

A Popular History Of England

From the Earliest Times

To The Reign Of Queen Victoria

 M. Guizot

Author of "The Popular History of France," etc.

Authorized Edition

Illustrated

Vol. I

New York

John W. Lovell Company

150 Worth Street, Corner Mission Place

 Volume One.

Murder of Thomas A'Becket. Frontispiece

Caractacus and his Wife before Claudius. 16
Augustine preaching to Ethelbert. 32
Alfred in the Herdsman's Hut. 44
Canute by the Seashore. 72
William the Conqueror reviewing his Troops. 98
Robert's Encounter with his Father. 110
Azelin forbidding the burial of William the Conqueror. 116
Death of William Rufus. 122
Escape of the Empress Maud from Oxford. 144
Richard Removing the Archduke's Banner. 188
Richard's farewell to the Holy Land. 192
King John's Anger After Signing Magna Charta. 214
King Henry and his Barons. 228
That is the Title by which I Hold my Lands. 242
Bruce warned by Gilbert de Clare. 262
Robert Bruce Regretting His Battle-Axe. 274
The Battle of Sluys. 294
Van Arteveldt at his Door/ 298
Queen Philippa on her knees before the King. 314
King John Taken Prisoner by the Black Prince. 320
The Black Prince Serving the French King. 322
Death of Wat Tyler. 346
 Table Of Contents.

Chapter I. Ancient Populations of Britain 9

Roman Dominion (55 B.C. to 411 A.D.)
Chapter II. The Rule of the Saxons to the Invasion of the 24
Danes (449 -832
Chapter The Danes. 37
III. Alfred the Great (836-901)
Chapter IV. The Saxon and Danish Kings. 59
The Conquest of England by the Normans (901-
1066)
Chapter V. Establishment of the Normans in England (1066- 103
1087)
Chapter VI. The Norman Kings. (1087-1154) 117
William Rufus
Henry I.
Stephen
Chapter Henry II. (1154-1189) 146
VII.
Chapter Richard Cœur-de-Lion. 182
VIII. John Lackland.
Magna Charta (1189-1216)
Chapter IX. King and Barons. 218
Henry III. (1216-1272)
Chapter X. Malleus Scotorum 238
Edward I. (1272-1307.)
Edward II. (1307-1327)
Chapter XI. The Hundred Years' War. 285
Edward III. (1327-1377)
Chapter Bolingbroke. 335
XII. Richard II. (1377-1308). Henry IV. (1398-1413)
 Preface.
"The History of France," related to his grandchildren by M. Guizot,
is now universally known. It has supplied a want which every one
must have felt; it has been welcome both to children and to
parents. Our national history enjoyed one indisputable privilege: it
had everywhere the right to the first place. But after the "History of
France," my father had related for the benefit of his grandchildren
the "History of England." He had adopted a plan slightly different
from that which he had followed in his previous narratives. He felt
that in this case the knowledge which would enable the reader to
supply any hiatus is less extended; he was, in consequence, careful
to preserve the regular and chronological sequence of events. I
have collected these lessons as I collected those of "The History of
France." My father foresaw that he would not himself make use of
the notes which I preserved. He therefore requested me to edit
them, and he took a pleasure in re-perusing my work. I have thus
written this "History of England," step by step, as he related, and in
great part revised it; and I now publish it in accordance with his
desire, and, in the hope of enabling others to share in the useful
instruction which we all derived from it, both parents and children.
The French have often been charged with ignorance of the history
of foreign nations. It is time to remove that reproach. For us the
"History of England" is important and interesting above all others.
In peaceful times and in times of war it is everywhere connected
with our own by a national bond, which all the causes of dissension
have not been able to destroy. In studying the History of England
we study again the History of France; and we may draw from it
useful lessons for the service and the welfare of that country whose
trials and sorrows have rendered her a thousand times dearer to
us.

Guizot De Witt.
[Henriette Guizot de Witt, daughter of François Guizot.]
History Of England.
 Chapter I.
Ancient Populations Of Britain.
Roman Dominion, 55 B.C. TO 411 A.D.
The earliest periods of English History are obscure, and even the
origin of its inhabitants is still a subject of discussion. The first
authentic information which we possess with regard to them is
derived from their conqueror. Julius Caesar remarked their
resemblance to the Gauls, and modern researches have confirmed
his testimony. Every thing seems to show that the inhabitants of
Britain were Celts, or Gaels, a name which the population of the
highlands of Scotland retain to this day. On the Southern Coasts, an
invasion of Cimrys, or Belgians, appears to have mingled with the
Celtic population and to have brought with it some elements of
civilization. Long before the advent of Cæsar, the Phoenicians and
Greeks established at Marseilles, had entered into relations of
commerce with the Scilly Isles, which they called the Cassiterides,
and also with the extremity of the County of Cornwall, where the
tin-mines were situated. Pytheas, who lived at Marseilles at the
commencement of the Fourth Century B.C., has related his voyage
along the coast of Britain; but it is with the invasion of the Romans
that the history of England commences. It is here that we
penetrate for the first time into those islands which, though
separated from the rest of the world, sent to the Gauls, who were
struggling for their independence, succor, which furnished Cæsar
with a pretext for the attempt to conquer them. After his fourth
campaign in Gaul, about the year 55 B.C., the great Roman general
set sail on the 26th of August for Britain. He had brought with him
the infantry of two legions,—about twelve thousand men, and he
disembarked near the point where the town of Deal is now
situated. The Britons had gathered in a mass upon the shore. A
great number were on horseback, urging their horses into the
waves, and insulting and defying the foreigners. They were almost
entirely naked, having cast off the clothing of skins with which they
were ordinarily covered, in order to prepare for the combat. Their
war chariots were driven rapidly along the shore. For a moment the
Roman soldiers hesitated, troubled by the unaccustomed sight,
perhaps from a dread of offending the unknown gods of people
celebrated among their Gaulish brethren for the devotion with
which they surrounded the Druidical faith. The standard-bearer of
the tenth legion was the first to precipitate himself into the sea.
"Follow me, my fellow-soldiers," said he, "unless you will give up
your eagle to the enemy. I at least will do my duty to the Republic
and to our general." His comrades followed his example, and the
savage inhabitants of Britain retired in disorder, driven back, in
spite of their bravery, after a short engagement.

On the morrow, ambassadors from the Britons came to solicit

peace. At the first rumor of the projected invasion they had sent
emissaries into Gaul to offer their submission to the Romans, in the
hope of turning them from their enterprise. Cæsar had listened to
them with kindness and had had them conducted by his own envoy
Comius, king of the Belgian Atrebates; but he did not relinquish his
intentions, and the Britons in their irritation had put the delegate of
Cæsar in irons. This was the first matter with which the conqueror
reproached them, at the same time demanding hostages for their
future good behavior. Some hostages were immediately given. The
British chiefs asked for time to send others, and Cæsar entered into
separate negotiations with the chiefs who came one after the other
to treat with the conqueror.

During these negotiations the sea rendered aid to the Britons.

Great part of the Roman fleet was destroyed. The barbarians
perceived their advantage and were dilatory in sending the
hostages. Meanwhile Cæsar had promptly set his soldiers to the
task of repairing the vessels, and making requisitions upon the
Gauls for the materials which were required. The vessels were
beginning to be in a state to take the sea when the seventh legion,
detached on a foraging expedition in the country, was surprised in
the only field of grain then standing, by a number of Britons who
were lying in ambush concealed by the long stalks of the corn.
Horsemen and war chariots issued forth from the surrounding
forests. The Romans ran the risk of being crushed, when Cæsar
came to their assistance with the remainder of his forces, and
defeated the barbarians, who sued for peace. The equinox was
approaching. The general did not even wait for the hostages, but
set sail for Gaul in the middle of September, sending at the same
time news to Rome which induced the Senate to decree twenty
days of public thanksgivings to the Immortal Gods. In his
Commentaries, however, Caesar modestly describes this first
campaign in Britain as a reconnoitring expedition. He cherished the
design of returning thither later.

Accordingly in the following year (54 B.C.), Caesar embarked at the

same point upon the coast of Gaul, in order to land at the same
spot, though with very different forces. He carried with him the
infantry of five legions (about thirty thousand men) and two
thousand cavalry. Eight hundred transport vessels covered the sea.

From the summits of their cliffs the Britons had perceived this
formidable expedition, and had sought refuge in the vast forests
which cover their shores. Cæsar marched forward to drive them
back into their retreats, when a violent tempest destroyed forty of
his ships and drove a great number ashore. The first care of the
conqueror was to protect his fleet against the fury of the sea and
the hostility of the islanders. He caused all his vessels to be hauled
ashore, in order to surround them afterwards by a strong
intrenchment. His largest galleys were diminutive in comparison
with our vessels of war. His transport ships were hardly more than
barges. The Roman soldiers labored without intermission ten days
and ten nights before they had rendered their fleet secure.

They then resumed their march against the Britons, whose army
was still increasing. All the chiefs had united their forces under the
orders of a commander-in-chief, Cassivelanus, king of the Cassii,
renowned for his bravery and skill. The Britons avoided a general
engagement. Assailing the Romans incessantly with their cavalry
and their war-chariots, which they conducted with the ease of habit
even along the edge of precipices, they retired again into the
forests from the moment that the advantage was no longer on their
side. But this barbarian intrepidity was not accompanied by
experience. Cæsar's cavalry, supported by three legions, having
scoured the country in quest of forage, the enemy had remained
concealed all day, when suddenly they issued in a mass from the
neighboring forests and swept down upon the Romans who were
scattered about the country. Already the Britons imagined
themselves victors; but the well-disciplined Roman detachments
formed again as if by enchantment, the horsemen rallied, and the
Britons, enclosed in a formidable circle, sustained losses so great
that on the morrow the allies of Cassivelanus nearly all deserted
him and returned into their territories, leaving him to face the
Romans unsupported. The king in his turn fell back upon his
kingdom, which was situated on the left bank of the Thames.

In their pursuit the Romans had traversed the fertile country which
now forms the counties of Kent and Surrey, while this skirmishing
species of warfare continued, often with results favorable to the
Britons. But the fatal want of union common to barbarous tribes
lent aid to the Romans. Cassivelanus was detested by his neighbors
the Trinobantes, who sent ambassadors to Cæsar, asking the
restoration of their king Mandubratius, a fugitive in Gaul, where he
had implored the protection of the Romans against this same
Cassivelanus, who had conquered and put to death the father of
his rival. On this condition the the Trinobantes offered their
submission. Some other tribes followed their example. These
seceders acquainted the Romans with the road to Cassivelanus's
capital situated on the environs of the spot now occupied by the
town of St. Alban's. This was a collection of huts reminding
beholders of the dwellings of the Gauls. They rested on a
foundation made of stones, from which arose the walls composed
of timber, earth, and reeds, and surmounted by a conical roof
which served at once to admit daylight and to allow smoke to
escape through a hole in the top. Fens and woods surrounded by a
ditch and earthworks protected this primitive capital, which soon
fell into the hands of the Romans.

Cassivelanus had only one hope left. He had given orders to the
four chiefs who had the command in Kent to attack the Roman
vessels. They obeyed, but the detachment charged with the
protection of the fleet was on its guard. The Britons were repulsed.
Cassivelanus, beaten and discouraged, humbled himself so far as to
sue for peace. Nevertheless when Cæsar at the commencement of
September retired once more to Gaul, he left in Britain neither a
soldier nor a fortress. The second campaign, longer and more
fortunate than the first, had not produced any greater results.

Ninety-six years elapsed; the Roman Republic had become the

Roman Empire; but the Britons had been troubled by no new
invasion. The Belgian population of the sea-coast had continued to
cultivate their fields, to which they already knew how to apply marl
for manure. They had woven in peace their long brogues, or
chequered breeches, their square mantles, and their tunics. The
Celts, more savage, had seen their flocks multiply around them.
Even this, the only kind of wealth among barbarous tribes, did not
exist in the northern part of Britain. The rude inhabitants of
Scotland depended only on the products of the chase, and found a
shelter for their almost naked state in the hollow of rocks or in the
obscurity of caverns; but no invader had come to trouble their wild
liberty up to the day when the Emperor Claudius, in the year 45 of
the Christian Era, conceived the project of marching in the
footsteps of Cæsar and subduing the savage land of Britain. One of
the most experienced of his generals, Aulus Plautius, sent forward
with a force of fifty thousand men, obtained at first some
successes, notwithstanding the resistance of the chief of the
Silures, Caractacus. When the Emperor arrived, the capital of this
people was captured, and several tribes had submitted almost
without a struggle. Claudius returned to Rome to enjoy there the
honors of an easy triumph.

Thirty battles fought by Aulus Plautius were insufficient to reduce

Caractacus. Ostorius Scapula was the first to succeed in
establishing on the Severn a line of forts separating from the rest
of the island the country, now become Roman, which comprised
nearly all the Southern tribes. The Britons, who appeared to be
subdued, were disarmed. But a new insurrection soon broke forth.
The Iceni, who occupied the country now known as the counties of
Norfolk and Suffolk, were the first to rise. The Cangi followed their
example; and in order to reduce them the Praetor was compelled
to pursue them as far as to within one day's march of the sea
which separates England from Ireland. From the territory of the
Brigantes, which embraced a portion of the present counties of
Lancashire and York, Ostorius hastened to invade the Silures, who
inhabited the southern portion of Wales, and who were always the
most indomitable opponents of a foreign domination. "Behold the
day which is to decide the fate of Britain!" exclaimed Caractacus at
the sight of the Romans. "To-day begins the era either of liberty or
eternal slavery. Remember that your ancestors were able to drive
back the great Cæsar, and to save their liberty, their life, and their
honor!" He spoke in vain. The naked breasts and bare heads of the
Britons could not resist the broad swords of the Roman soldiers.
The massacre was horrible. The wife and the daughter of
Caractacus were captured, but the chief himself had disappeared.
Hoping to renew the struggle, he had taken refuge with his
mother-in-law, Cartismandua, queen of the Brigantes. She delivered
him up to the Romans. Caractacus was sent to Rome with his
family. "How can men who possess such palaces make such efforts
to conquer our miserable hovels?" exclaimed the British hero, while
traversing the streets of Rome. He appeared before the tribunal of
the emperor. Agrippina was there by the side of her husband. The
wife of Caractacus threw herself at her feet, imploring her pity; but
the conquered chief asked for nothing, and exhibited no sign of
fear. This greatness in defeat penetrated to the heart and to the
sluggish mind of Claudius. He gave the order to set the captives
free. Tradition states that he even restored to his prisoner a portion
of his territory, but Tacitus does not mention this; he leaves the
story of the vanquished chief at the point where the fetters fall
from his hands.

For a moment Nero, who had become emperor, thought of

abandoning the conquest of Britain, so difficult to secure. It was
not until the year 59 A.D. that Paulinus Suetonius, at that time
prætor, resolved to crush the resistance of the Britons in their
innermost retreat. The island of Mona (now Anglesey) was
consecrated to the Druid worship; the priests had nearly all taken
refuge there, and there the defeated chiefs found an asylum.
Religion even then exercised a considerable power over the minds
of the inhabitants of Britain. In no part were the Druids more
numerous and powerful; nowhere had they a greater number of
disciples diligently occupied during long years in engraving upon
their memory the regulations of their worship, the sacred maxims,
the ancient poems, which the priests did not allow to be committed
to writing. Great, therefore, was the emotion in Britain when the
Romans were seen to attack the holy isle.
 Caractacus and his Wife before Claudius.

On the shore a great crowd awaited the advance of the enemy,

"savage and diversified" in appearance, says Tacitus. The armed
men were assembled in a mass; the women, attired in sombre
dress, running about with dishevelled hair, like furies brandishing
their torches; and the Druids were standing, clothed in their long
white robes, as if about to sacrifice to their gods, their heads
shaved, their beards long, their hands raised to heaven, while they
pronounced the terrible maledictions of the Celtic races against the
enemies of their people and their divinities. The Roman soldiers
hesitated; their limbs seemed paralyzed by fear, and they exposed
themselves, without resisting, to the blows of their enemies. Their
general urged them to advance. At length, each encouraging the
other to despise the infuriated cries of a band of priests and
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