Music was one of the key areas dominated by the USA at this time. Most of the music in the late 1950’s was by American artists. This was because the British music industry was out of touch with its audience as it only focused on London and not the rest of England. This was the start of distinctly British style of music. ‘Skiffle’ was a popular type of music, in the 1950’s and 60’s, which was introduced by Lonnie Donegan. He was a very influential part of the pop music scene during this time. In the cities outside London, a distinct musical culture was definitely growing, especially in Liverpool. Newly arrived immigrants who imported ‘rare’ American music (R&B) influenced this music. Northern bands were beginning to have an impact on the rest of the country. The Beatles were becoming popular in Liverpool around 1961-62, Lonnie Donegan was one of their main influences and they developed their own ‘Mersey beat’ style.
Books and plays were a big influence at the beginning of the 1960’s. A writer named Alan Stillitoe wrote a number of books and plays, which include ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’ and ‘Key to the Door’. Some of his work was made into films, which were popular especially with the working class. John Osborne was another author who was very popular. He wrote a number of plays and other works such as ‘Look Back in Anger’ and ‘The entertainer’. The style was focused on ordinary people’s lives-they were working class, real life drama.
Television was just starting to become available to the working class as well as the rich, which meant it was quite popular. T.V sitcoms were developing and they were popular as the themes were based on the working class people’s lives. Steptoe and son were one of the most popular situation comedies in British television history. The reason it was so popular is because, like the novels, it was based on real life.
In conclusion, I think that popular culture in Britain at the beginning of the 1960’s changed rapidly.It was very different to the 50’s as people’s interests were changing and people’s views on life were also changing.
