Use classic cassettes as take-home party favors.
For more than 50 years, rock 'n' roll has been here to stay, creating a distinctive style in each decade that moved beyond music into fashion, d cor and pop culture. Decorating for a rock 'n' roll party begins with selecting a decade of music to feature, then picking props inspired by or actually from the era.
'50s Rock Decor
Rock 'n' roll was born in the '50s among ducktails, poodle skirts, saddle shoes and diners. Decorate the food service area with classic diner signs advertising slices of pie and coffee for a nickel. Use an old-fashioned soda fountain to serve drinks with a few red vinyl bar stools pulled up in front. Install a black-and-white-checked dance floor to recall the look of linoleum popular in 1950s hangouts. Jukeboxes filled with 45-rpm records were the "it" device for delivering music during the decade, so install a working one near the dance floor and plaster the walls with the classic wax. For a less expensive solution, opt for cardboard cutouts of jukeboxes, records, pink flamingos and classic convertibles with '50s fins.
'60s and '70s Rock Decor
Revolution was the word in the music of the 1960s, while the 1970s rode high on the newfound freedoms with a disco-fueled sexual revolution. Fuse the decades in a revolutionary party theme filled with peace signs, flower power and glittery disco balls. Break out the fluorescent paint and make dozens of protest signs bearing slogans like "Ban the Bomb" and "Make Love, not War" to hang on the walls. Go with gold lame tablecloths and sand candle centerpieces, or ditch the '70s and stick with tie-dyed linens. For a fully '70s disco bash, invest in a lighted dance floor inspired by "Saturday Night Fever." Top off either look with lava lamps and vintage 8-track stereo equipment picked up from thrift stores.
80s Rock Decor
A rock 'n' roll party theme inspired by '80s music should be filled with hair bands, pop princesses and a plethora of groups performing New Wave music on synthesizers. Since "Video Killed the Radio Star" on MTV in 1981, procure a bunch of picture-tube television sets to stack around the dance floor as nonelectric decorations or wired up to play music videos from the decade. Use vintage tape decks and cassette tapes as centerpieces, with a few retro toys like Rubik's Cubes and He-Man action figures. Incorporate the distinctive d cor of the era with geometric artwork in neon pink and electric blue. Complete the look with music posters featuring Cyndi Lauper, Def Leppard and early Madonna.
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