I didn’t live through the 1960s; I wasn’t even born during that decade and yet that era has had such a big impact on me that I feel I should share a little essay on the subject. Of course this is where I should define exactly what the subject is. One decade is a fairly big subject; just what aspect of a 10 year period am I considering and is it really 10 years. Is it really so clear cut?

To be precise, I’m talking about the Sixties as a creative influence, a constant reference for what has come afterwards in the Arts. It’s an odd thing, since nobody ever taught me that there was something ‘better’ about the 1960s in the context of the 20th century- I kind of taught myself that truth. If indeed it is one.

Growing up in the ‘70s involved lots of good cultural reference points for one to reminisce about in later yeas, but the ‘70s seemed grimmer and more about ‘making do’. Like the morning after a great party. Or is that just the way I chose to see it?

I think I became aware at a relatively early age that a lot of my favourite TV heroes were from a slightly earlier age. The Magic Roundabout crew and Doctor Who were veterans from that previous decade and a lot of the ‘70s kids shows were obviously created by ‘60s hippies gone ‘straight’. Some of the more surreal aspects of "Bod" and "Crystal Tips and Alastair" need no further explaining!

But what is it that has me still obsessed with the styles and sounds of the decade four removed from our own?

There was the post war optimism and the seeds sown in the 1950s reach full bloom. There was certainly less worry for youth, who were having a whale of a time by all accounts. Barriers being brought down and we could all read "Lady Chatterley’s lover" too! Also, at a time when political scandals are ten a penny it’s odd to look back and see Christine Keeler in her model pose behind that chair. A lot of things were new but the novelty wears off after a few decades of the same (or similar). No wonder the top 40 singles chart often looks like a tired concept. Not everyone is (literally) singing from the same song sheet. Top of the Pops isn’t the same must-see show.

Style wise the 1960s was the future as it never really was. The radical (now dated but not unfashionable) designs were a space age vision that has never quite gone away, but lingered as a subliminal influence. Most older people at the time probably detested Panton’s chairs, Lava lamps and inflatable furniture. But for the kids it made perfect sense. It was style for the here. For the Now. There was only the 1960s and that was Modern. The Here and Now.
Of course it went the way of all utopian vision. When everyone has money it all looks and feels better, by the early Seventies the political and Social landscape had changed.

At the end of the classic British comedy film "Billy Liar", based on Keith Waterhouse’s play, the character Liz leaves for London and Billy stays. Liz, in the form of Julie Christie, epitomises the young woman at the beginning of the sixties. She was carefree and ready for new adventures. A stereotype perhaps, but the shift in attitudes and outlook was fast changing for both sexes amongst the young. Liz probably bought her clothes from Biba or from a boutique on Kings Road and furnished her flat from Habitat. It was a corporate world, and industry had found a new market- youth. Ironic that the ‘60s pop culture later associated with radical thinking and ‘free love’ was just as fuelled by money as ever. Pop Art- the art most connected with this era- was inspired by consumerism and consumer goods. Look at Andy Warhol’s gaudy celebrity screen prints or Lichtenstein's pulp comic homage's. Much later, the Woodstock festival was essentially a business enterprise, and all the artists got paid.

The nostalgia and revivalistic aspects of the ‘60s perhaps first came into play in the early ‘80s (I remember short lived chart toppers Tight Fit even released an album called "Back to the Sixties’) "The Avengers" began re-runs on Channel 4 and Hartnell’s original Dr. Who was back on the BBC after 15 years, spearheading a repeat run.
But beyond the aesthetics of it all. The "Cleopatra" inspired hair and make-up, the mini skirts and kinky boots, the stylish cars, the Pop Art exuberance and the damn good music I can’t define why I’m constantly fascinated by the period. London may well have "swung" for the rich and famous but people still got on the tube and went to work in the morning.

And that’s the thing to make clear about the time. People were happily getting on with their lives but I think, even to the most uncultured and uninformed, there was a feeling of optimism and growth. ‘Growth’ wasn’t the first word I normally think of when considering the 1960s, but it’s probably very true. "You’ve never had it so good", us Brits were told in 1963, the same year that Christine Keeler was getting given it real good, thank you very much.

One of the most useful documents of the time will always be television as it shows how the styles and attitudes were changing. BBC presenters in the early ‘60s still had a ‘stiff upper lip’ quality, even when faced with big news like the Perfumo Scandal. Yet by and large, television (like cinema before it) was gaining confidence and getting ready to influence the world.

I think that’s one reason why my taste in television is quite happily stuck in the past. When I watch the titles to the first colour season of "The Avengers" you see Steed use his umbrella rapier and Emma Peel use her gun. But Steed catches himself a rose and Emma shoots the top off a bottle of champagne. It’s party time. So whilst "The Avengers" was the oddest little show on TV within it’s genre anyway, it pretty much defines the irreverence of the ‘60s spy and detective shows. You wouldn’t get away with such exuberant wit now. You have to get down to dealing with the lowest common denominator of the audience expectations.

In 1990 I discovered the so-called "Acid rock" scene of the late ’60s. American rock isn’t the most subtle form of pop expression, but there are some real gems from that era. The soundtrack from "Easy Rider" alone is emotive enough, but Jefferson Airplane’s "White rabbit" sums up the era in one concise single. A slightly odd and deranged little song, that was also had a wonderful feeling of forbidden magic. It suited 1967 so well, as the song was clearly Alice takes Acid on the way to Wonderland. After all, wasn’t that how you got there?

By then the underground elements of drug use had reached the mainstream (although it’s interesting to note the differences between then and now, when drug references are almost obscenely prominent). It was exciting music, with the electric guitar sounding in it’s element. Some of it was incredibly naive as well. No wonder the hippies and ‘Free love’ became a joke by the end of the sixties. It was such an easily lampooned scene, that by the time "Sgt. Pepper" came out, the real hippy crowd were probably hiding in shame.

It’s also interesting to note that Monterey Pop in 1967 was arguably the first truly big gathering of the ‘peace and love’ crowd, and the Grandaddy of the modern rock festival. Youth had never looked so dangerous by being so positive. Given the channel of pop music and culture the youth of the ‘60s did what any kids do- turn their back on the world of their parents. A world of material values and war. Of course it didn’t last, and after the wonderful fluke of Woodstock, the ‘60s festival dream ended in America with the tragic events of Altamont. The Rolling Stones led festival ended in violence and death after the Hells Angels hired as security took things too far. The Summer of Love suddenly seemed a long way away.

By the time 1969 was on the way out, Rolf Harris was at no.1 singing "Two little boys". It was like the ‘60s had never happened and the ‘50s had never ended.

The 1960s was a time that had to happen for all our sakes, it just happens to have occurred during the 6th decade of the 20th century. No that these changes were always accidental. Barriers sometimes need bringing down and conflicts often need fighting and hopefully in the long run it’s all for the better. My rose tinted spectacles may have fallen off some time in the last ten years but I still look towards the ‘60s as generally so damn stylish. Being young, free and single was never a more attractive option.

It’s the stuff of history now, and it’ll be interesting to know which songs on my "No.1s of the ‘60s" CD are still being played in another 40 years time. But there’s my argument. Maybe the 1960s is the decade the 20thc century will be most remembered for, more than any other. A big claim, I know, but perhaps it will be. After all when we think of the 18th century we tend to think of the French revolution, and the 19th century is perhaps "Great expectations" or Conan Doyle. It’s just an idea. Perhaps the 20th century will be forever Carnaby street 1966. It’d be a nicer image than all those wars, even if it’s not as poignant or meaningful.

Style never goes out of fashion you see, and I think the pop ‘60s had lots of style. A lot of kitsch as well, but that can be fun. And the spirit of the early pop pioneers can be kept alive and well as it finds it’s way into the DNA of a future generation. Then So perhaps the idea of the ‘60s is as important, because it gives some of us inspiration to keep up the good work and also ensure a future for the memories of a time that only happened once, but made the world more exciting.

We’re still living in the legacy of the ‘50s and ‘60s and good music is still being made. So are big social changes. In some ways, it’s still happening and the spirit of the 1960s has never completely gone away.

As Dickens said in the previous decade, at the beginning of one of his most popular novels, "It was the best of times and the worst of times". Perhaps the Pop Tale of two cities then was between London and San Francisco. The best and worst too. The horror of Vietnam alongside the optimism of Woodstock. And some of us "had a dream", and decades later the idea of tolerance and love between people of any race and creed remains at the forefront of the news.

The 1960s can’t happen again- the pop culture was the blueprint for today and came out of a unique series of events that are time and place specific. History has been written and the party is over. But the legacy lives on.




Keep on rockin’