1960s Music

The music scene of the sixties was a time of dramatic changes, reflecting the changes taking place in society at large, as well as being an instigator of some of those changes, and the epicenter of the beginning of the music that defines the sixties was Britain. Before the Beatles, the nascent British music scene was percolating in London and the North, working class youth and art school drop-outs in the early sixties were engaging in factions of Mods and Rockers, rioting over rival stylistic choices. Leaders of the Mod music scene who went on to become major internationally known acts were bands like The Who and The Kinks, and the very early Rolling Stones, who were fashion icons of that scene.

The music was an outgrowth of the skiffle band scene of the Fifties, but American R & B was an enormous influence, making it unique and distinct from its antecedents. The fashion of the Mod scene was all about pegged pants, Chelsea boots with pointed toes and Cuban heels, tight suits and well-kept bowl haircuts, shorter dresses and hair for woman, and designers such as Mary Quant were big. Favored transportation were highly customized Italian scooters, laden with lights and mirrors. It was a more conservative look when compared to the Rockers, who were emulating American bikers, influenced by icons like Marlon Brando and James Dean. The Teddy Boys, also known as Edwardian's, wearing velvet waistcoats and brothel creepers, were also part of the Rocker side of things. American Rock & Roll and R & B, and big motorcycles, were preferred by Rockers and Teds.

By 1964, The Beatles were dominating music internationally, and spawned imitators by the dozens, as well as influencing already established artists. At first fairly conventional British pop music, The Beatles became increasingly more conceptual and controversial as the decade wore on, with recordings like the White Album and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band intended to be received as a whole, rather than a vehicle for hit singles. This was new to pop music, and influential on British and American artists alike. Even The Rolling Stones competed in this field with the album Their Satanic Majesties Request, to mixed critical reception.

There was increasingly more drug use associated with the already notorious music business, again reflecting and influencing the changes in social mores everywhere, as well as exploration of spirituality taking place, both of which influenced popular music. British artists were in particular fascinated with sects of Hinduism, and many made pilgrimages to meet with various spiritual leaders, with very mixed outcomes, though the inclusion of a more international array of instruments, styles, and musicians had a generally positive outcome in the longer term.