Why did groups like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones have such a great impact during the 1960's?

Why did groups like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones have such a great impact during the 1960’s?

The 1960’s were a period of great change. Previous ideas were no longer ‘hip’ or ‘happening’. For many people the ‘swinging sixties’ began in 1963 with the release of the Beatles first single and No. 1 hit. The Beatles had an amazing impact on the sixties and on the future decades. It can be argued that they are greater than any other pop group including The Rolling Stones. There were a number of reasons why both of these groups had such an impact.

The Beatles were the first real group to start changing popular culture. Never before had one single ‘pop group’ become so popular. In fact before the Beatles there were very few pop groups. A new cult was created by The Beatles; people in the individual groups became icons for millions of people. Although the Beatles started harmlessly with songs like ‘Let Me Hold Your Hand’ but by the end of the sixties were writing songs such as ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’ which openly suggested use of LSD. The Rolling Stones added to a feeling of rebellion with songs that were about sex and drugs. The huge sales that these groups had benefited the British economy. Fashion was for the first real time influenced by pop stars. Many people began to copy the Beatle jacket and Beatle hairstyle. Fashions changed along with society throughout the 1960’s. If something grew old it was changed. With the growing popularity with the television and with the new music many new music programmes were created. Ready Steady Go was one of the most popular and became essential viewing for many teenagers. New pop magazines also came into existence as music became so popular. Melody Maker began in the 60’s and with teenage attitudes changing magazines like Cosmopolitan began. The first tabloid newspapers began often with celebrity gossip and pictures of the new stars. The Beatles were regularly in the papers as were The Rolling Stones for their drunken antics. Celebrities became super stars overnight and every one wanted to know their business. Even sport had its share of celebrities with George Best becoming a hero in the 1960’s. The sixties were different to any decade or period of time before it. It paved the way for modern society and many liberal attitudes we take for granted were formed.

In the late 1950’s and early 60’s Britain became a much wealthier country. Some of this money spread to the teenagers. They wanted new records, up to date clothes etc. Television and magazines meant that teenagers wanted a new style regularly. Fashions changed and a whole new market had been created. Businesses were quick to realise this and took full advantage. They advertised the latest fashions encouraging people to buy more. They had much more money to buy the latest albums and records. This helped the Beatles become so successful. Teenagers had the money to buy the latest single ...

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The 60’s were an era of rebellion. A lack of respect was created for traditional ideas and values. Politics, the Church and Monarchy all became subjects for comedy and satire. In 1961 Private Eye started which ridiculed public figures and politicians. It soon became very popular and is still in publication today. In 1962 television programmes began such as, ‘That was the week that was’ or ‘TW3’. These all helped produce an attitude that showed that the young people were tired of being told what to do by their elders. People began to think, say and do things that they would not have done a few years earlier. In 1963 the Profumo Affair became public and made the satire seem justified. The Secretary of State for War was found having an affair with a nineteen year old girl. Even government ministers seem to have succumbed to the sixties society. Things needed to be changed and the young people realised this and wanted it to happen. This helped the rebellious groups become so popular in the 1960’s, especially The Rolling Stones.

The Beatles first appeared in 1962/63. They wore strange jackets and sported odd hairstyles. The major thing was that they had come from working class backgrounds. They were ordinary people who had a regional accent. Many young people had wanted people on television and in music to represent them, not their parents. The Beatles wrote and performed their own music and had a completely unique style. The Beatles were different to anything that had come before. Their music had real and relevant lyrics that caught teenagers imaginations. They made having an accent acceptable, and became to seem to many people ‘just like the chap next door’. Teenagers wanted something different and The Beatles were the first group to give it to them. They became heroes; millions of girls had pictures of them on their walls. The Beatles represented the victory of youth over old age, of new against old. They started the trend for the rest of the sixties.

The Stones began as a smart looking band performing old favourites like Chuck Berry’s ‘Come On.’ This soon changed and their reputation as dirty and naughty boys grew. They grew popular with many people because of their rebellious nature. The older generation could not understand or bear the Rolling Stones. They had a bad tempered image and their hair was ‘longer than was acceptable’. They played at Blackpool, causing a riot where fifty people were injured. Their bad reputation grew and they thrived on it. The Beatles were slightly more acceptable to some adults but the Rolling Stones were definitely playing Rock’ n ’Roll. Songs like ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’ openly suggested sex which for many of the older generation was still a taboo subject. Others openly suggested use of drugs, like the later song ‘Brown Sugar’. For many young people and teenagers at the time, this was an amazing appeal. The Rolling Stones were new, rebellious and wilder than the Beatles. They ‘became celebrities in a way that The Beatles never did,’ due to their own personalities and frequency in the headlines. They were all arrested on various occasions for drunkenness and drug possession. Mick Jagger and his girlfriend Marianne Faithful were frequently featured in the new colour supplements. You could read about famous peoples lives for the first time in a newspaper. The Rolling Stones were young, wild and represented the youth culture of the 1960’s.

Due to the new music becoming so popular new radio and media needed to be developed. In the early sixties there was only one way of hearing non-stop pop music, Radio Luxembourg. “Who can forget the thrill of tuning into Radio Luxembourg in those rock famished days and hearing all the pop songs we could ever desire?” This was the view of many young people who wanted to listen to the new popular music that was so unpopular with their parents. This added to the feelings of rebellion against the establishment. In 1964 Radio Caroline began broadcasting as a pirate radio station. This played non-stop pop music and became very popular with teenagers. The whole format was so different that more teenagers tuned in just to be part of the crowd. In 1967 the BBC began Radio 1, which was especially designed for teenagers. Television picked up the new craze much faster. ITV began Ready Steady Go which proved to be immensely popular. “I’ll never forget the wonderful catch-cry, the weekend starts here”. This was the only chance teenagers had to see their favourite singers; if they missed this there would not be another chance until the next week. Top of The Pops was started by BBC but was less of a success. The new music proved even more appealing to some people because of the challenge of hearing it and the fact that their parents disliked it was even greater.

After Elvis Presley turned to the film industry there was a vacuum left in the music industry by America. Britain took up the challenge and filled it. There was little competition from abroad and the USA was willing to be influenced by Britain. In some ways Britain led the sixties in other ways we took our ideas from America. We were the first to have new rebellious music but America caught up quickly. Much of the fashions of the time were originally from America although Britain transformed them into its own. American musicians were as influential as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Unfortunately many of them didn’t survive for long due often to heavy drug use. Jimmy Hendrix was a major influence on the rebellious culture in England and America. He played many incredible songs and had very wild acts. He would often appear drugged and drunk on stage and was also seen having sex in public. His most famous performance was probably of The Stars and Stripes at Woodstock in America. This was the worst display of disrespect that many people had ever seen. The teenagers however, loved it. Unfortunately he died from a drug overdose as did others like Janis Joplin.

Businesses took over much of the music industry. Pop groups had not had managers etc. before. Colonel Parker took over Elvis Presley and Brian Epstein managed the Beatles. They were advertised and marketed as never before. It became a money making business and became an industry in its own right for the first time in the sixties.

The Beatles and The Rolling Stones had a major impact in the sixties. They were new and rebellious. The young people wanted something new and these people simply provided it. They too were living through the 1960’s and experimented and wanted the same things the young society did. They were not however, the only groups to provide an enormous impact on society.