Swinging Sixties

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Swinging London
)

Swinging Sixties
Part of the Counterculture of the 1960s
A scene from Carnaby Street, in London's West End, c. 1966
Date1960s
LocationUnited Kingdom
Also known asSwinging London
OutcomeChanging social, political and cultural values

The Swinging Sixties was a

sexual liberation movement.[1]

Music was an essential part of the revolution, with "the London sound" being regarded as including the Beatles,

British cinema, which according to the British Film Institute "saw a surge in formal experimentation, freedom of expression, colour, and comedy", with films that explored countercultural and satirical themes.[1] During this period, "creative types of all kinds gravitated to the capital, from artists and writers to magazine publishers, photographers, advertisers, film-makers and product designers".[2]

During the 1960s, London underwent a "metamorphosis from a gloomy, grimy

postwar economic boom.[2] Following the abolition of the national service for men in 1960, these young people enjoyed greater freedom and fewer responsibilities than their parents' generation,[2] and "[fanned] changes to social and sexual politics".[1]

Shaping the

popular consciousness of aspirational Britain in the 1960s, the period was a West End-centred phenomenon regarded as happening among young, middle class people, and was often considered as "simply a diversion" by them. The swinging scene also served as a consumerist counterpart to the more overtly political and radical British underground of the same period. English cultural geographer Simon Rycroft wrote that "whilst it is important to acknowledge the exclusivity and the dissenting voices, it does not lessen the importance of Swinging London as a powerful moment of image making with very real material effect."[3]

Background

The Swinging Sixties was a

youth movement emphasising the new and modern. It was a period of optimism and hedonism, and a cultural revolution. One catalyst was the recovery of the British economy after post-Second World War austerity, which lasted through much of the 1950s.[4]

"The Swinging City" was defined by Time magazine on the cover of its issue of 15 April 1966.[5] In a Piri Halasz article 'Great Britain: You Can Walk Across It on the Grass',[6] the magazine pronounced London the global hub of youthful creativity, hedonism and excitement: "In a decade dominated by youth, London has burst into bloom. It swings; it is the scene",[7][8] and celebrated in the name of the pirate radio station, Swinging Radio England, that began shortly afterwards.

The term "swinging" in the sense of

Sunday Night at the London Palladium. In 1965, Diana Vreeland, editor of Vogue magazine, said that "London is the most swinging city in the world at the moment."[9] Later that year, the American singer Roger Miller had a hit record with "England Swings
", which steps around the progressive youth culture (both musically and lyrically).

Music

The Kinks in 1967

Already heralded by

the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Traffic
grew significantly in popularity.

Large venues, besides former music halls, included

BBC Radio One.[12][13]

The Rolling Stones' 1966 album Aftermath has been cited by music scholars as a reflection of Swinging London. Ian MacDonald said, with the album the Stones were chronicling the phenomenon, while Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon called it "the soundtrack of Swinging London, a gift to hip young people".[14]

Fashion and symbols

See also: peacock revolution

During the Swinging Sixties, fashion and photography were featured in Queen magazine, which drew attention to fashion designer Mary Quant.[15][16] Mod-related fashions such as the miniskirt stimulated fashionable London shopping areas such as Carnaby Street and King's Road, Chelsea.[17][18] Vidal Sassoon created the bob cut hairstyle.[19]

Carnaby Street, c. 1968

The model Jean Shrimpton was another icon and one of the world's first supermodels.[20] She was the world's highest paid[21] and most photographed model[22] during this time. Shrimpton was called "The Face of the '60s",[23] in which she has been considered by many as "the symbol of Swinging London"[21] and the "embodiment of the 1960s".[24]

Like

Veruschka, Peggy Moffitt and Penelope Tree. The model Twiggy has been called "the face of 1966" and "the Queen of Mod", a label she shared with, among others, Cathy McGowan, the host of the television rock show Ready Steady Go! from 1964 to 1966.[26]

The British flag, the Union Jack, became a symbol, assisted by events such as England's home victory in the 1966 World Cup. The Jaguar E-Type sports car was a British icon of the 1960s.[27]

In late 1965, photographer David Bailey sought to define Swinging London in a series of large photographic prints.[28] Compiled into a set titled Box of Pin-Ups, they were published on 21 November that year.[29] His subjects included actors Michael Caine and Terence Stamp; musicians John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and five other pop stars; Brian Epstein, as one of four individuals representing music management; hairdresser Vidal Sassoon, ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, Ad Lib club manager Brian Morris, and the Kray twins; as well as leading figures in interior decoration, pop art, photography, fashion modelling, photographic design and creative advertising.[28]

Bailey's photographs reflected the rise of working-class artists, entertainers and entrepreneurs that characterised London during this period. Writing in his 1967 book The Young Meteors, journalist Jonathan Aitken described Box of Pin-Ups as "a Debrett of the new aristocracy".[30]

Film

The Mini became an icon of 1960s popular culture, and featured in the 1969 British caper film The Italian Job.

The phenomenon was featured in many films of the time, including

Baby Love (1968), The Magic Christian (1969), The Touchables (1968), Les Bicyclettes de Belsize (1969), Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969), Performance (1970), and Deep End (1970).[32]

The comedy films Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), written by and starring Mike Myers, resurrected the imagery of the Swinging London scene (but were filmed in Hollywood), as did the 2009 film The Boat That Rocked.[27]

Television

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wakefield, Thirza (15 July 2014). "10 great films set in the swinging 60s". British Film Institute. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  2. ^
    History. AETN UK. Archived from the original
    on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  3. ISBN 978-1-317-04734-6
    .
  4. ^ "Going Platinum: The UK's 70 years of change". HSBC. Retrieved 11 October 2022. 1950s and 1960s: the post-war investment boom. When the Queen came to the throne, the UK economy was still in its post-war boom period
  5. ^ "TIME Magazine Cover: London – Apr. 15, 1966". TIME.com. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  6. ISBN 978-1-4094-8887-3
    . Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  7. ^ "The Diamond Decades: The 1960s". The Daily Telegraph. 10 November 2016. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
  8. doi:10.1179/174963206X113089
  9. ^ Quoted by John, Weekend Telegraph, 16 April 1965; and in Pearson, Lynn (2007) "Roughcast textures with cosmic overtones: a survey of British murals, 1945–80" Decorative Arts Society Journal 31: pp. 116–37
  10. ^ "Absolute MacInnes: British identity and society". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  11. ^ Ira A. Robbins. "British Invasion (music) - Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  12. ^ "BBC says fond farewell to Top of the Pops". BBC. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  13. ISBN 0-85112-072-5
    .
  14. ^ Norman 2001, p. 197; Moon 2004, p. 697; MacDonald 2002; Margotin & Guesdon 2016, p. 136.
  15. ISBN 978-1-4027-6976-4
    .
  16. ISBN 978-1-84724-026-2
    .
  17. ^ Armstrong, Lisa (17 February 2012). "Mary Quant: 'You have to work at staying slim—but it's worth it'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  18. ISBN 978-1-84788-563-0
    .
  19. ^ "Telegraph obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  20. ^ Burgess, Anya (10 May 2004). "Small is still beautiful". Daily Post.
  21. ^ a b "The Girl Behind The World's Most Beautiful Face". Family Weekly. 8 February 1967.
  22. ^ Cloud, Barbara (11 June 1967). "Most Photographed Model Reticent About Her Role". The Pittsburgh Press.
  23. ^ "Jean Shrimpton, the Famed Face of the '60s, Sits Before Her Svengali's Camera One More Time". 30 May 1977.
  24. ^ Patrick, Kate (21 May 2005). "New Model Army". Scotsman.com News.
  25. ^ Hibbert, Tom (1982). "Britain invades the world: Mid-Sixties British Music". The History of Rock. Available at Rock's Backpages (subscription required).
  26. ^ Fowler, David (2008) Youth Culture in Modern Britain, C.1920–c.1970: From Ivory Tower to Global Movement – A New History p. 134. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008
  27. ^ a b John Storey (2010). "Culture and Power in Cultural Studies: The Politics of Signification". p. 60. Edinburgh University Press
  28. ^
    ISBN 978-0-451-20735-7
    .
  29. ^ Bray 2014, p. xii.
  30. ^ Bray 2014, pp. 252–53.
  31. ISBN 978-1-84150-484-1
    .
  32. ^ "10 great films set in the swinging 60s". BFI.org. 10 November 2016.
  33. ^ "Patrick Macnee: five things you didn't know about Avengers star", The Week, 26 June 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  34. ^ Dominic Sandbrook (2015). White Heat: A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties. Hatchett UK
  35. ISBN 978-1-86105-874-4
    .
  36. ^ "Man in a Suitcase (1967–68)". CTVA. Retrieved 10 November 2016

Bibliography

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swinging_Sixties&oldid=1211944861"