Rock 'n' roll was from the start, then, constituted not simply as music
but also as knowledge. To be a rock fan is not just to like something but also to know
something, to share a secret with one's fellow fans, to take for granted the ignorance of
nonfans. This common sense of rock fandom has had a constricting effect on the development
of rock theory: the huge number of words devoted to rock in the consumer press matched by
the few words devoted to it in the intellectual press