More shops and mail order companies were beginning to sell the new fashion but the fashions didn’t seem to last for very long with the mini skirt lasting a few years then the trouser suits came and went and then the hippie and flower power clothes came.
The same happened with hair styles, girls were pleased to get away from the back combed buffon look of the 1950’s and swap it for their hair cut in geometrical shapes but this didn’t last for very long either.
Teenagers attidudes were changing as well there was a lack of respect for traditional ideas and values. These included Politics, the Church and the Monarchy all became targets for comedy and satire. One of the first attacks was a revue by four under graduates Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Johnathan Miller and Alan Bennett who made fun of Harold Macmillan, The Church of England and The Royal Family.
Some Tv programmes like Private Eye and TW3 shared simlar opinions and made fun out of the Priminster one of the main targets of fun and The Royal Family. These programmes nearly got banned and taken off the air.
The revouloution of popular music started in the 1950’s but the technology was improving with the seven inch single released. It became very popular as it was light, cheap and easy to use, you could also play them in a jukebox. Also the price of the Gramaphone had become a lot cheaper and most house holds could now afford one.
Coffee bars was the place to socialise with friends, have a drink and listen to the latest singles from your favourite artists. Coffee bars also sold 2nd hand singles from the Jukebox at a fraction of the cost of a new single.
The real breakthrough pop group of the 1960’s was the Beatles they were different to many bands because they wrote their own songs, and preformed their own music creating their own style. They used imaginative lyrics that sparked the minds of millions of teenagers across the globe. Teenagers now had another form of way to exspress their feelings in their own taste of music.
But then influences of the Beatles went far beyond their music they followed the latest fashion trends the hairstyles, their clothes and their attidudes. The impact of the Beatles was unbelivable they weren’t just singers but heroes.
The Beatles were one of the first groups to actually enter the American charts, and made it cool for a while to put on a Liverpulian accent. To enter the American charts was a great success as not many bands had done it before, so it was a real acheivement. They were the band everyone wanted to be apart of.
People loved their concerts they felt it was like one big party. The only problem was you couldn’t hear the music over the crowd screaming even if you were on the front row.
At the beginning of the 1960’s radio and television paid little attention to pop music. Television was originally created for Educational purposes and the BBC wanted to keep it that way but eventually gave in. The first Tv music programme was Six, Five Special but this didn’t cater for teenage taste.
Radio was the same although a few pirate radio stations exsisted like “Radio Caroline” and “Radio Luxembourg” but these were on long wave so you couldn’t get a very good signal these stations were filled with fizzing and pops. The best thing about Radio Caroline was that it played non stop pop and had a completely different format to everything else even the presenters were young. These radio stations were aimed just at teenagers.
Eventually the BBC decided to give in and created a radio station just for teenagers called Radio one. Radio One hired many of the presenters from the pirate radio stations. The BBC also started a music programme dedicated to teenage music called Top of the pops and Ready, Steady, Go. Top of the pops and Radio one are still going strong today while Ready, Steady, Go has died.
