Swinging 60s Timeline

The Swinging 60s

A revolutionaRy era

New music bands : The Who and The Troggs

The BBC first broadcast of their music chart television programme Top of the Pops

D.H. Lawrence found not guilty for the publication of suplhurous Lady Chatterley's Lover

The Beatles

First publication of the Rave Magazine and Fabulous

The Rolling Stones

Birth of the Women's Liberation Movement

The Animals

The Civil Rights Act in the USA

End of the National Service for young men

Invention of the audio cassettes

Labour Party Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister

1960

1962

1964

1961

1963

The Profumo Scandal

First publication of the satirical news magazine Private Eye.

Prime Minsiter Harold MacMillan resigns

Introduction of the contraceptive pills.

First broadcast of rock/pop television programme Ready Steady Go!

New music bands : The Kinks and The Yardbirds

The Swinging 60s

Small Faces

Invention of the Compact disc (CD)

First colour televisions

David Bailey's photopgraphies of the Swinging Sixties, Box of Pin-ups

The first men stepped on the Moon

Sexual Offence Act

The Concorde Maiden Flight

Invention of the miniskirt by Mary Quant

Abortion Right Act

Age of majority lowered at 18

Abolition of Capital punishment

Contraceptive Rights extended to all women

Bernadette Devlin becomes the youngest female Member of Parliament

1965

1967

1969

1966

1968

Ford women workers' strike

England wins the football World Cup

Race Relation Act

First publication of Petticoat magazine

Theatre Act abolished censorship on the stages of English theatres

The Troggs

The Who

Ready Steady Go!

History has declared Ready Steady Go! a cultural landmark. The pioneering 60s pop show left an indelible mark on the entertainment industry either with its informal style or electrifying atmosphere in invloving the audience as dancers in the show. It also actively contributed to the vibrant British pop scene influencing audience in featuring the most famous bands and championing new talents. With its youthful spontaneity gleefully shambolic (bordélique), it was in the heart of this cultural revolution driven by a new generation of teenagers with money in their pockets for clothes and records and going out, compared to its BBC rival, Top of the Pops.

David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups

David Bailey captured the most iconic stars of the Swinging 60s - the idols of a whole generation. From Music stars to Supermodels, they all posed before his camera - Mick Jagger, the Beatles, Andy Warhol, Jean Shrimpton, TMichael Caine, Terence Stamp and many more. His 36 prints not only participated in the beginning of the modern star system we know today, inspired by the new trend of consumerism, but also protrayed the Pop Culture scene of the Swinging 60s, defining Pop Culture as a new form of Art among the others.

The Audio Cassette

Shaped like a deck of cards (or a pack of cigarettes), the cassette tape was a mini revolution in itself. It was cheap, portable, easy to use, and eminently shareable. UNder the same roof, adults and kids could listen to diffrent types of music which increased the generational divide. Usually, looked down upon by audiophiles like parents, the audio cassette became the major instrument of the youth community for a musical generation. The cassette inaugurated an era when it was possible to control one’s private soundscape,” something we all take for granted now. Suddenly, anyone with a cheap tape player could record music, sequence it, distribute it, or listen to it.

Private Eye

The satirical news magazine Private Eye was first published in London in 1961, while comedian Peter Cook opened The Establishment comedy club the same year. Both took to lampooning* politicians and people of apparent authority.The publication is widely recognised for its prominent criticism and lampooning (tourner en ridicule, en dérision) of public figures hihlighting the hypocritical behaviour of politicians and the establishment. It is also known for its in-depth investigative journalism into under-reported scandals and covering a wide range of current affairs.

An Affluent Society

This idea of having “never had it so good” earmarked (réserver, assigner) an age of affluence that many historians feel drove social change in the next decade. After the economic hardship of the 1930s and the massive strain* caused by World War Two, Britain was moving from post-war austerity to a society of affluence, mass media and entertainment. By the end of 1962, people felt able to celebrate the prospects of more prosperous times ahead.

The emblem of this pervading sense of optimism and affuence was the TV set that invaded the inetrior of British households. During the decade, the number of colour television licences grew from 275,000 to 12 million. Colour televisions unabled to capture on screen the lively and colourful atmosphere of the 60s inspired by pop culture. n this newly consumerist society, living standards improved and people could spend more time on leaisure activities and entretainement.

The Rolling Stones

Ready Steady Go!

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The Beatles

Small Faces

The Women's Liberation Movement

The 1960s and 1970s saw the emergence of the second wave of feminist movements in western societies. The publication of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedman challenged the traditional role assigned to women in conservative societies and finished to convince women to deliver their truth-telling about the reality of being a woman in the British society. A new feminine press emerged to voice women's feeling of injustice as well as the ideas and issues they were willing to discuss promptly in the British society of the 60s : the expansion of women in higher education, equal pay and job opportunities or financial independence from their husband. Women brought to the table major feminine concerns such as teh questions of conctraception and abortion rights.Itheir intention was to open up the world to women.

Mary Quant's Miniskirt

In the 60s, Fashion began to reflect the pervading liberal mood. The iconic fashion trends was designed by Mary Quant’s : the miniskirt. The miniskirt truly did ‘spearhead* a revolution’, as this lower priced label was available to purchase in 160 department stores , which meant for the first time, due to mass production, fashion was not just for the wealthy woman. Women’s roles were changing socially, economically and politically and their dress changed accordingly. What one wears does not just reflect their personal identity, but mirrors the society in which they were created. In a sense the miniskirt was a form of rebellion for women characterises the sexual, social, cultural and political changes of the period. It indicated a paradigm shift from conservatism to a free-spirited, liberal society, newly found for women.

The Animals

End of National Conscription

Young British men were no longer state-mandated enlisted in national military service.

Abortion Right

The 1967 Act legalised abortion in the UK, for women who were up to 24 weeks pregnant. The consenting doctors had to agree that continuing the pregnancy would be harmful either to the woman's physical or mental health, or to the child's physical or mental health when it was born.

Lady Chatterley's Lover

Penguin publisher won a ‘not guilty’ verdict against the Crown, which had brought an obscenity prosecution against D. H. Lawrence’s novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. In the trial, the novel was accused of loose morals and osbsecinity, narrating the adulterous relation of an upper-class woman with her husband's gamekeeper (garde-chasse). The novel figured some sexually explicit materials. This legal victory was quite telling at a time when the British society was entering a more "permissive and liberating" era.

Race relation Act

In 1968, the British Parliament voted the Race Relation Act. Thanks to this act, Post-war immigrants had more rights than before. The act made it illegal to refuse housing, employment, or public services to a person on the grounds of colour, race or ethnic origins. It also created the Community Relations Commission to promote 'harmonious community relations.

Concorde Maiden flight

The supersonic plane Concorde made its maiden flight (vol inaugural) on 2 March 1969. The Anglo-French plane took off from Toulouse and was in the air for just 27 minutes before the pilot made the decision to land. This first flight represented a major technological achievement for the British power reassessing its role as leading and dominant power across Europe. It contributed to spread of a spirit of positivism and progress in society.

The Kinks

The Yardbirds

Sexual Offence Act

1968 remains a historical touchstine for the British gay community. The Sexual Offense Act of 1968 decriminalized homosexuality, liberating all the gay men and women in England.This major victory shows how the British society was becoming a more liberal and permissive society, though homophobia had not disappeared. It was a first step towards social progress which paved the way to the first Gay Marhc in the streets of London in 1970.

Labour back in Power !

Harold Wilson became the youngest Prime Minister in 150 years. This was the first Labour government in 13 years, and with it came a wave of social change. Home Secretary Roy Jenkins introduced a number of liberalising legal changes that decreased the states role in people’s lives. The Labour government focused on social reforms, workers’ rights, civil liberties, housing, healthcare and education for all.

Ford Mechanists' strike, Dengham

In 1968, 850 women machinists at the Ford factory in Dagenham went on strike over equal pay. They disputed the classification of their work as unskilled - a label which seemed to justify them being paid less than their male colleagues. The Ford women’s strike in Dagenham is an example of women’s growing awareness of the blatant injustice that affected them and which marked a turning point in the fight for equal pay. When the Minister of Employment, Barbara Castle, became involved in the conflict she was “outraged” to discover the injustice of the pay grading in many industries. The end result of the strike was a partial victory for women as the increase in pay achieved was 92% of the men’s rate. The strike paved the way for the 1970 Equal Pay Act.

Contraceptive Rights

The contraceptive pill was launched in 1961. In 1961 it was available to married women only. The impact was revolutionary for women and men but also revealed that sexual liberation did not always mean women's liberation, as Beatrix Campbell describes.

Compact disc

The First Step on the Moon

By the end of the decade, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin achieved the impossible by becoming the first men on the moon in 1969. It ended the decade on a note of exceptional optimism and the ability to dream for something bigger and better, anything became possible.The first step on the Moon perfectly crystalizes the revolutionary and positivist feelings of the time.

The Profumo Scandal

The Profumo Affair, a scandalous mix of sex, spies and government, captured the public’s attention in 1963. The Secretary for War John Profumo was discovered to be having an affair with Christine Keller, a young aspiring model, a woman who was also seeing a Russian military spy. At first, Profumo had denied the affair, but later admitted that he had lied to the House of Commons and resigned (démissioner). Yet, the damage were done, the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan was forced to resign after this political scandal. The affair changed the relationship between government and press forever and seriously undermined (sapé, ébranlé) the public’s trust in politicians. It marked the beginning of the waning (decline) of the establishment, the political and cultural conservative elite of the country.

Abolition of capital punishment

The Murder Act of 1965 abolished the death penalty in Great Britain. Prior to that one of the most common mode of executing death sentenced prisoners was by hanging them. The Murder Act is one of the many progressive reforms undertaken by Harol Wilson's Labour government.

England wins the Football World Cup

In 1966, over 32 million people watched on TV the first victory of England at the football World Cup. The victory was the celebration of a whole nation united around their football team spreading a sense of positivism and national pride and communion in Britain.

Petticoat

A magazine published during the height of the Swinging Sixties in the UK in response to the emergence of more liberal teens and young women. The magazine offered fiction, popular culture, fashion news, and advice from it’s highly controversial advice column known as 'agony aunt' on love, sex, healthy eating, hair, and make-up. Petticoat also promoted the Mod fashion, known to be innovative, creative, and bold for the times. Petticoat had many female contributors, including Annie Nightingale, the first female presenter on BBC Radio.

Labour back in Power !

Harold Wilson became the youngest Prime Minister in 150 years. This was the first Labour government in 13 years, and with it came a wave of social change. Home Secretary Roy Jenkins introduced a number of liberalising legal changes that decreased the states role in people’s lives. The Labour government focused on social reforms, workers’ rights, civil liberties, housing, healthcare and education for all.

Fabulous and Rave

During the high pop 60s, between 1963 and early 1967, Britain had an incredibly vigorous pop and teen press about their favourite pop stars and youth cultural concerns. It participated to the thriving of a mass youth culture which voiced a clamouring new generation. Teen magazines were the voice of the youth, for the youth and about the youth's favourites subjects: telly and pop stars, fashion and music.