60's In London
by Jeri Maier
November 2002 "Swinging London - a '60s phenomenon"
I lived in London in the mid 60's and I guess it was right in the middle of all the actions of that era. At that time, the whole world saw a revolution in fashion design, the art and music scenes, the pop scenes, the archetypal of the '60s hipster.
Who would think at that time, that all of the 60's scenes were going to be the big parts of the cultural icons and the "The Phenomenon 60s".
I read through this book for several times.
Each time I savoured all the great photographs in the book
because it brought back fond memories of my life in London.
The photos reminded me of all the fun I had while living there,
if only for a short 3 years.
I went back to London several times during the 70s and I always have great memories of London in the 60s. However, on one trip, I felt lonely for my London that I left behind, as they said that you can never really go back in time and I felt that something was missing from my fond memories.
When we think of London, we immediately think of
Tower Of London, Big Ben and River Thames.
We all heard about London and England by way of and
through The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and in the last few years,
from all the news of Princess Diana and The British Monarchy.
London has a lot to offer more than just what on the news but
you have to live through it or IN IT. So, how can this 40s American who never lived in London
wrote a book about the 60s in London??
He researched his subject very well plust he used caches of references and great collection of photographs. The format worked great for a book that is entertaining and informative.
Ready Steady Go was actually a popular British beat show
that was broadcasted from Rediffusion's London studio in Kingsway.
It was in the heart of the west end between Holborn and The
Aldwych, (and just around the corner from the
London School of Economics where Mick Jagger
had studied ). The show was hosted by Keith Fordyce
and Cathy McGowan. She quickly became a role model
and nominated the Queen of the Mods.
"The weekend starts here" was the proclamation
and for most British youth this was true. Digger Barnes's
Great Britain
In 1966 Time Magazine described London as a city ‘pulsating with half a dozen separate veins of excitement.’ Things were certainly moving and grooving in England after the 1950s, but most especially in London, England’s hip capital. It was there
The British film industry was responsible for introducing a series of unknown actresses who quickly became very popular. Large US studios began to finance Britain’s film Industry to cash in on the popularity of anything British. As a result filmmakers from all over the world flocked to Britain.
Many of the most popular models, actors and fashion designers came from Great Britain and because of this the country grew in popularity. In the early 60s the Union Jack image was very popular and was seen on all types of accessories like mugs, badges and shopping bags and was even incorporated into clothing.
Carnaby Street was a dusty Soho back street lined with empty warehouses, which would eventually turn into England’s hip and world famous shopping district. Shops that were situated in Carnaby Street in the sixties were trendy fashion shops and lots of John Stephen’s Boutiques for men.
Sixty Central Publisher's Press: "The British Invasion"
It’s the summer of 1966... The fundamental old ways: chastity, rationality, harmony, sobriety, even democracy: blasted to nothing or crumbling under siege. The city glows. It echoes. It pulses. It bleeds pastel and fuzzy, spicy, paisley and soft. This is how it's always going to be: smashing clothes, brilliant music, easy sex, eternal youth, the eyes of everybody, everyone's first thought, the top of the world, right here, right now: Swinging London.
In Ready, Steady, Go! Levy captures the spirit of the sixties in all its exuberance. A portrait of London from roughly 1961 to 1969, it chronicles the explosion of creativity — in art, music and fashion — and the revolutions — sexual, social and political — that reshaped the world. Levy deftly blends the enthusiasm of a fan, the discerning eye of a social critic and a historian's objectivity as he re-creates the hectic pace and daring experimentation of the times — from the utter transformation of rock 'n' roll by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to the new aesthetics introduced by fashion designers like Mary Quant, haircutters like Vidal Sassoon, photographers like David Bailey, actors like Michael Caine and Terence Stamp and filmmakers like Richard Lester and Nicolas Roeg to the wild clothing shops and cutting-edge clubs that made Carnaby Street and King's Road the hippest thoroughfares in the world.
Spiced with the reminiscences of some of the leading icons of that period, their fans and followers, and featuring a photographic gallery of well-known faces and far-out fashions, Ready, Steady, Go! is an irresistible re-creation of a time and place that seemed almost impossibly fun.
( Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Belfast, Newcastle and all )
Shawn Levy is a 40s American living in Oregon.
About the Author: .
Shawn Levy is the author of King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis and Rat Pack Confidential. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the London Guardian, Sight and Sound, Movieline and Interview. A former editor of American Film, he is currently a film critic for the Oregonian.
Buy The Book at Powells
Or at Amazon.com - with other British Books
LONDON (AP) — Adam Faith (news), a square-jawed British singer who was briefly a Cockney challenger to Elvis Presley (news)'s rock'n'roll crown, died Saturday. He was 62.
Adam Faith June 1940 - March 8, 2003
Faith suffered a heart attack in Stoke-on-Trent in central England, where he was appearing in a play, his agent Alan Field said.
Faith, who had a history of heart trouble, fell ill after Friday's performance and died later in a local hospital, his agent said.
Born Terry Nelhams in west London in 1940, Faith was a handsome teenager who was playing with a skiffle music group — a mixture of jug band, acoustic, folk, blues and country and western styles — in Soho coffee shops when he was spotted by producers of a British Broadcasting Corp. music program.
Adopting the stage name Adam Faith, he became — alongside Cliff Richard, Tommy Steele and Billy Fury — one of a crop of slick but unthreatening British pop stars of the pre-Beatles era.
Shirley Bassie's famous songs... Ofcourse Goldfinger is her most memorable to me....
Banana Boat Song, Kiss Me Kiss Me, As Long As He Needs Me, You'll Never Know, I'll Get By, Reach For The Stars, What Now My Love, I Who Have Nothing, Something, For All we Know, Never, Never, Never, Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever
By the way, when I said Swining London in it's original sense...LOL...
"While 1966 in Britain was the year of the miniskirt, the heyday of Swinging London, in which Biba's, Kings Road and Carnaby Street decreed outrageous fashions, garish colors and the "tramp" look..." Jean Shrimpton
Remember Twiggy??
More 60's Music Scenes
The Groups: The Rolling Stones, The Moody Blues, Caravan, The Animals,The Dave Clark Five,The Tornadoes, The Zombies, David &Jonathan, Tom Jones, The Zombies, Herman's Hermits, Donovan, Gerry & The PacemakersFury, The Four Pennies, The Bee Gees, The Foundations, Adam Faith, Marianne Faithfull, Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames, Chris Farlowe,
Lulu, Manfred Mann, The Marmalade, Joe Meek, Joe Cocker, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Renaissance, Van
Morrison, The Move, The Nice, Peter & Gordon, The Kinks, The Pretty Things, Alan Price, Spencer
Davis Group, Petula Clark, Freddy and The Dreamers,The Kinks, Cream, The Who, The Searchers, The Merseybeats, P.J. Proby, Swinging Blue Jeans, The Ivy League, Billie Davis, Matt Monro, Gene Pitney, Sandie Shaw....
Oh, yeah, don't forget PINK FLOYD, they are cool!
Dec 23, 1966 saw first of the UFO Club evenings,
held every Friday night in an Irish Ballroom on Tottenham Court Road.
The Floyd got the music and lights contract and became
the house band. UFO became the "in" club of the burgeoning
London underground scene and together with The Soft Machine,
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and Tomorrow,
they were the archetypes of the new wave of "psychedelic rock" groups. => From Peter Houweling's Pink Floyd site.
60's Scenes
David Bailey, avant garde art dealer Robert Fraser, Beatle manager Brian Epstein, actor Terence Stamp, fashion designer Mary Quant, hairdresser Vidal Sassoon. the actor Michael Caine, the model Twiggy,
The most successful British TV of all time -- THE AVENGERS, starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg.
Today In Rock History - 29 August, 2003
1964 - Billboard reports guitar sales in both the
U.S. and U.K., in the wake of the British Invasion,
have hit their peak since 1957,
when Elvis Presley sparked a boom.
Rob Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" is released.
1966 - The Beatles perform their last public concert.
It's in front of 25,000 faithful at Candlestick Park
in San Francisco. The boys played 11 songs in just
over a half an hour, opening with "Rock & Roll Music"
and closing with "Long Tall Sally."
The show is filmed by Beatles press officer Tony Barrow,
though the film is never released.
"The British Invasion" .. It’s the summer of 1966......
There is so much talk about the 60s and The British
Invasion. We all know the stories about The Beatles,
and other British Bands Cliff Richards and The Shadows,
The Dave Clark Five, Herman Hermits etc.
I went to a sold out Brenda Lee's concert in a theatre
in Wembley. She sang for almost 3 hours non-stop -
incredible.
Here are some of the names on Top Of The Chart in London
in 1964 and 1965:
1964
"Oh, Pretty Woman" - Rob Orbison's
It's Over - Rob Orbison's
The Supremes -
Where Did Our Love Goes?
You Cant Hurry Love,
Every Brothers - You're Lost That Loving Feelings
Brenda Lee's concert full house 3 hours 20+ songs?
Ray Charles
The Drifters - Under The Broadwalk
The Papas and The Mamas
Lesley Gore
Henry Mancini
The Searchers
Jim Reeves
Dean Martin
The Nashville Teens
The Bachelors
The Beach Boys
Louis Armstrong
Elvis Presley
Dionne Warwick
Brian Poole and The Tremeloes
Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas
Louis Armstrong
Frankie Vaughan
Chuck Berry
The Applejacks
Millie
My Guy -Mary Wells
The Swinging Blue Jeans
Little Richard
Kathy Kirby -You're The One
Chuck Berry
Gene Pitney
Freddie and The Dreamers
The Ronettes
Ricky Nelson
Big Dee Irwin and Little Eva
Frank Ifield
Dave Berry
P.J.Proby?
65 Top Chart
65
The Seekers
Sonny and Cher
Bob Dylan
Joan Baez
Andy Williams
Keep Searchin'- Del Shannon
You've Lost That Loving Feeling The Righteous Brothers
Leader Of The Pack - The Shangri-Las
King Of The Road- Roger Miller
Trains And Boats And Planes -Burt Bacharach
Trains And Boats And Planes - Billy J.Kramer and The Dakotas
The Ivy League
You've Got Your Troubles -The Fortunes
Everyone's Gone To The Moon -Jonathan King
Got You Babe -Sonny and Cher #1 in September 65
Love Her - The Walker Brothers
Make It Easy On Yourself - The Walker Brothers
(The Walker Brothers were three men in
their early 20's who formed a group on the West
Coast in the mid-60's then went to the United Kingdom,
where they enjoyed more success than they did in the
United States.)
Eve Of Destruction -Barry McGuire
Almost There -Andy Williams
Tears -Ken Dodd
Hang On Sloopy -The McCoys
That's The Way -The Honeycombs
In The Midnight Hour -Wilson Pickett
1-2-3 -Len Barry
Don't Bring Me Your Heartaches -Paul and Barry Ryan
Let's Hang On -The Four Seasons
(Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons)
65 Top Chart
In 1965's Paul Simon tored around Britain and
played a string of folk clubs in the north.
It was while waiting on Widnes station
platform for the milk train back to London
that he began writing 'Homeward Bound';
feeling sad at being away from his Kathy,
worried that his songs would come back
and haunt him 'in shades of mediocrity',
it remains one of the rock and roll road's
finest milestones.
Simon & Garfunkel
American song-writer's soft spot for Britain
WIDNES STATION IMMORTALISED
Hercule Poirot
Wow, I loved to read Agatha Christie's novels when I lived in London
The Agatha Christie's books:
The ABC Murders, Death in the Clouds, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Peril at End House and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Lord Edgeware Dies, Murder in Mesopotamia and Evil Under the Sun.
From 1962 to 1969, before he was granted a license to kill, Roger Moore delighted action and adventure fans on the small screen with his portrayal of THE SAINT, the enigmatic hero created by the writer Leslie Charteris
Adam Faith June 1940 - March 8, 2003 
Julie Andrew
Jackie De Shannon
