20 Things You Somehow Missed In Back To The Future
3. Johnny B. Goode
While Marty plays Johnny B. Goode, he emulates as many rockstar tropes as possible. Viewers will recognise these traits but it's hard to pinpoint which ones belong to which musician. The duckwalk that Marty performs was popularised by Chuck Berry; the creator of the song, Johnny B. Goode. It's also worth noting that this scene takes place on November 12th 1955. On this day, Chuck Berry was named Billboard's Most Prominent R&B artist.
At one point, he violently taps the guitar string, much like Van Halen. When Marty plays the instrument behind his head, this is a homage to Jimi Hendrix. He kicks the amplifier just like Pete Townshend from The Who. He wriggles on the ground like Angus Young from AC/DC.
Although Michael J. Fox didn't play the guitar in this scene, he was taught how to hold the instrument by the musician, Paul Hanson, so his performance appeared more natural. Hanson cameos as one of the members of Marty's band, The Pinheads.
It's also worth mentioning that the guitar Marty plays wasn’t invented until 1958, which is three years after this scene is set.