THE 60s, 70s AND 80s IN THE UK

THE 60s, 70s AND 80s IN THE UK

THE 60s

The 1960s saw dramatic shifts in attitudes and values led by youth, especially because of bands like The Beatles and The rolling stones. Customs, traditions and morals were subverted in the Swinging Sixties.

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THE 60s

The swinging Sixties

-The Swinging Sixties, a youth movement emphasising the new and modern.

-Modernity, freedom, hedonism, transgression.-The sexual revolution, that changed sexual morals and attitudes.-The women's liberation movement. -British Invasion, that spread the ideals outside the UK.

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THE 60s

The cultural impact

The enormous success of some groups influenced the society and some of them took advance by their popularity to send social messages. "a form of protest against the adult world" "a religion of teenage culture"

THE 60s

The British Invasion

The British Invasion was a phenomenon started from Britain after the huge success of some english artists such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, etc.

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THE 70s

SOCIAL CLIMATE

Decade of social and economic crisis

• There was a strong distributive conflict between capital and labor;
• The price of raw materials and food was growing sharply;
• Productivity was declining;
• Inflation was causing an impoverishment of the middle classes with dependet work
• The English working class felt the need to devise forms of protest and rebellion.
• It was a decade of strikes : postal workers, miners and dustmen;
• The working class and all the people felt the need to express themselves, and the emotion giving life to their own music.

This was the beginning of the punk movement.

THE 70s

THE PUNK MOVEMENT

the revolution that changed the history of music

• Punk was born in England and it was characterized by an aggressive, dirty and violent sound;
• This movement is aimed at enhancing the "ugly" components of society: the bad, the dirty, the savage.
• It was born as a breaking movement;
• Punk boys are mad at the world and they show this suffering with a rebellious lifestyle, with a shocking way of dressing and styling their hair;
• Since 1975 bands like Sex pistols, Clash or Damned begin to emerge.

THE 70s

THE IRISH QUESTION

• The period in the history of Northern Ireland which goes from 1969 to 1999 is called “the troubles”.
• The irish question is the name by which the "low intensity war" is called;
• Ireland was divided in two parts, the Northern Part was catholic and against England and the Southern part was Protestant and they wanted that England continued to rule Ireland;
• Catholics were discriminated against and they decided to found the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and the I.R.A.
• The Irish Republican Army and loyalist groups clashed severely, resulting in thousands of deaths.
• The epicenter of the protests was the city of Derry, when we remember the Bloody Sunday;
• In 1972 the British government has decided to suspend the parliament of Northern Ireland by assuming direct control of Northern Ireland.
• The conflict continues for many years until it arrives on April 10, 1998, in the Good Friday Agreement. since then, despite some episodes of violence, the issue has calmed down

THE 80s

Historical context

-The 80s are known as the Thatcher's era -In 1979 Margaret Thatcher, known as the "Iron Lady", was elected Prime Minister She was reelected in 1983 and in 1987 (resigned in 1990)

-She healed the UK's economy (economic liberalism: deregulation, privatisation), but her policies led to a rising unemployment -She supported an active climate protection policy -She gained popularity thanks to the Falklands War's victory -She died of a stroke in 2013

THE 80s

Historical context

Thatcher decided to close inefficient coal pits in order to grow the economy

Miner's strike (1984-1985)

-The mineworkers protested against the closure of 20 coal deposits NUM (National Union of Mineworks) vs NCB (National Coal Board) -Eventually the closure of only 5 pits was postponed

THE 80s

Musical context

Thatcher's strict and conservative government brought about an atmosphere of anger and discontent

Artists started writing Protest songs

They criticized her policies (from high unemployment rates to the Falklands War), attacked her on a personal level and also envisioned her death e.g.

-"Between the wars", Billy Bragg -"Trump the dirt down", Elvis Costello -"Ghost town", The Specials

THE 80s

Musical context

-It was a period of musical experimentation

The use of synthesizer increased

-It is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals -It was invented by Robert Moog in the early 1960 -It gained success thanks to a bestselling album of Bach compositions arranged for synthesizer by Wendy Carlos -It was adopted by pop and rock groups in the 1960s and 1970s

THE 80s

Musical context

-It was born the SYNTHPOP (synthesizer+popular) -It is a subgenre of New Wave music -The synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument -Lyrics deal with traditional subject matter for pop music (e.g. romance, escapism, aspiration) -Some famous artists of SYNTHPOP are the Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, Wham, Tears for Fears... -MTV arrived from the USA (birth of video clip)

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

• Single was released by Sex Pistols on 27 May 1977 (Queen's Silver Jubilee)

• A lot of young people felt alienated by the rule of the old-fashioned royal monarchy

• Assault on Queen Elizabeth II and the monarchy

• Johnny Rotten has explained: "You don't write 'God Save the Queen' because you hate the English race. You write a song like that because you love them, and you're fed up with them being mistreated."

• The BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority refused to play the song

• Anthem for the punk movement in England

Lyrics: "God save the queen She aint no human being There is no future In England's dreaming" "Oh god save history God save your mad parade Oh lord god have mercy All crimes are paid"

THE FLETCHER MEMORIAL HOME

• song by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd (The Final Cut, 1983)

• The song is about Waters' frustration with the leadership of the world since World War II

• he wants to criticize the Falklands War, a military conflict fought between Argentina and the United Kingdom

• according to Roger, Margaret Thatcher's decision to go to war was designed to give her a boost in popularity

They can polish their medals and sharpen their Smiles, and amuse themselves playing games for awhile. Boom boom, bang bang, lie down you're dead.

Lyrics: Take all your overgrown infants away somewhere And build them a home, a little place of their own. The Fletcher Memorial Home for Incurable Tyrants and Kings.

THANK YOU!

Minuzzo, Maineri, Corradin, Chebbab