Rock and television

Think of rock and television as one of those couples plainly destined to get together but often at odds until the shotgun wedding arranged by MTV (Music TeleVision) finally got them to the altar in 1981. From the start, which in this case means Elvis Presley, TV in the United States and Britain functioned—or tried to—as a taming influence on the music’s unruly streak. Famously, Presley’s gyrations were obscured by waist-up shots during his TV...