1960's Britain had not yet developed its own style and was still in America's shadow. Britain was dominated by 1950's fashion and traditional values. But there were elements of change developing in radio, TV

1960's Britain had not yet developed its own style and was still in America's shadow. Britain was dominated by 1950's fashion and traditional values. But there were elements of change developing in radio, TV and theatre and this is what I'm going to explore. At the beginning of the 1960's music was still heavily influenced by America. During the 1950's everyone was listening to Elvis Presley but by the late 1950's / early 60's new elements entered the music industry including new British artists. In 1959 Billy Fury, Cliff Richard and Adam Faith all appeared in the charts. They started to produce records basing their songs and styles on Elvis and his rockabilly music, but there was a new style of music emerging. In 1954 Lonnie Donegan had started to record his new-style songs which were called Skiffle. Skiffle started to become especially popular at the end of the 50's / beginning of the 60's.Another aspect of British life held by America was fashion. During the 1950's children's fashion was identical to their parents. But in 1960 new fashion ideas were introduced and children started to rebel. Jackie Kennedy became a new fashion icon, wearing shifts and A-line dresses which had been designed in 1954/5 but not worn till 1960. They soon became popular. It gave women a new sense of freedom and allowed them to dress in their own way. Mary Quant opened her first shop in Carnaby Street which soon became very popular. She opened the way for a new generation of British fashion. The third type of popular culture controlled by America was film. The British film industry was in decline. Most films in the cinema were American, such as 'West Side Story' and 'Psycho'. A new brand of film featuring pop stars interested lots of teenagers. 1960 saw the start of something new in cinema, the 'Carry On' films. They showed a new British humour which people had never seen in films before. Other films were gritty and realistic, that showed the working class and set the scene for what was to come. In Britain, radio was also starting to show are more distinctive style. It became one of the main sources of entertainment with shows like 'The Goon Show'. This surreal comedy became very popular. Another well liked radio show was 'Beyond the Fringe', a satirical comedy that criticized the way the country was run in a light-hearted comedic way. But this made people think more about politics and changed the way people thought.TV was also starting to become very popular because the young people had more leisure time. In 1960 the first ever episode of 'Coronation Street' appeared into black and white TV sets all over the country. 'The Avengers' also started which led to new fashion developments as the Avengers girls were no longer copying American fashion but dressed in their own style. The third TV show that became very popular at the beginning of the 1960's was 'Jukebox Jury'. It was a jury based show that commented on new singles enabling people to make their own decisions about it. This entertained young people and it brought out new styles of music. Lastly there was theatre. British culture started here very rapidly in the form of regional accents. The plays also developed more by mirroring real life. A writer particularly prominent in this era was John Osbourne. He wrote about real life situations including 'A Taste of Honey' which depicted working class people. This also helped to break down class barriers. In conclusion much of Britain's popular culture was a mix of American and 1950's Britain but changes were beginning to develop which would lead to a new British culture and a new era.

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The 1950's were different from nowadays. People were still recovering from WWII. Life was strict, there was a shortage of money and teenagers were none existent. Teenagers were regarded as adults and treated like so. But during the 1950's job flourished and so did affluence, playing a big part in Britain's developing 'youth culture'. Children would leave school at fourteen to begin working- since then they were socially regarded as adults but not legally. Affluence meant that money became plentiful to the youth, which meant teens gained spending power. This money meant manufactures targeted them so the fashion industry boomed from them, as well as music and leisure- as teenagers demanded their 'own' entertainment. This and new media influences such as the BBC programmes, showing pop-music and film's staring James Dean in 'Rebel without a cause' started to highlight, teenagers were not adults but a new group, the youth. Teenagers began to rebel because of their newfound independence and music encouraged this, 'to stay out till broad daylight'. This rebellion led to youth groups being formed by the mid/late 1950's. The best known group in Britain emerged from South London in 1954, the Teddy boys. Teddy boys wore long Edwardian jackets, thick crepe soled shoes and 'drainpipe' trousers. They all had their hair long, greased and swept back. This relaxed style of dress shocked parents of Britain. American artists like Elvis Presley and Bill Hayley who performed Rock and roll influenced the music they listened to. It was very rebellious music. Italian migrants also influenced Teddy boys. They drank coffee at bars opening jobs for the Italians, other work included hairdressing and fashion- the Teddy boys helped in them and 15000 migrants arrived in Britain in the mid 50's. By the late 50's and early 60's youth culture of the Teddy boy's was evolved, and centred on motor bikes. This new group listened to the same music as the Teddy Boy's but dressed in jeans and leather jacket- a relaxed dress, this group was named 'Rockers'. But youth culture continued to expand and grow by the early 60's. A rival group was formed in 1963 called the 'Mods'- they drove Italian scooters instead of motorbikes. Their hair was carefully cut and their clothes were tailored. Where as before girls had more strict dress form, they began to wear very small mini skirts. 'Mods' listened to Blues, soul and rhythm that had come from America- artists like: Diana Ross. 'Mods' were materialistic, which brought a change in economy. Prices went up as well as wages rising by 34% by 1960. These groups were all mostly male working class teenagers. Young women were mostly 'Beatniks', they listened to jazz music. They rejected establishment and hated materialism, many even participated in the protest against nuclear weapons use. But they soon died out by the late 50's, a group similar to them re-emerged in the 60's. Overall you can see that much had changed by the late 50's and early 60's. Youth culture in Britain began to expand between these years and slowly became accepted as the norm. Teenagers began to break away from the strictness of British life, the life their parents led. Youth culture was all about breaking away from authority and making teenagers establish an identity. Over the late 50's and early 60's this happened a lot. In some respects it started popular music, fashion and a rise economy. Youth culture changed Britain's youth forever.

1960's Britain had not yet developed its own style and was still in America's shadow. Britain was dominated by 1950's fashion and traditional values. But there were elements of change developing in radio, TV

This is a preview of the whole essay

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