While Elvis will go down in history as the king of rock n’ roll, during his lifetime there was only one serious challenger to his crown. For years, especially during his late 60s/ early 70s comeback, Little Richard deliberately depicted himself as a mad pretender to rock’s throne: extravagant, outlandish, cocky and wild. 

 

Concerts would invariably start with Richard spotlit at the back of the hall, often clad in an ermine robe, quiff pomped to the max and caked in panstick. From there he would wend his way to the stage as a returning hero, through rows of his adoring subjects. 

 

Whatever his regal status, there’s no doubt that he played a major role in shaping our idea of what rock n’ roll is. His breakthrough hit Tutti Frutti and its immortal cry of ‘Awop-Bop-a-Loo-Mop Alop-Bam-Boom’ arguably marks the point when rock makes a formal commitment to violent rearrangement of the senses. 

 

Rock as a transgressive force that breaks social, racial and sexual boundaries? No one did more transgressing in the 1950s than this black performer who became a teen idol for millions of white fans, whose first hit was a hastily rewritten paean to the joys of anal sex. Lest we forget, Tutti Frutti’s original chorus ran ‘Tutti Frutti/ good booty/ If it don’t fit/ don’t force it’. All this, it bears repeating, occurred in the 1950s America.