Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think that the Sixties more or less end with SLA shootout, they were the last belch of the revolutionary element of the counter culture. The Vietnam War had ended in early '73, so the toleration of romantic Mickey Maoists evaporated with the cause. The mod element lingered a bit longer in the form of long hair, wide collars, finally reaching the ultimate idiocy with the "leisure suit." That part wasn't extinguished until 1980. The shortest lived of the three counter cultural elements was the hippies. That is unsurprising in that they had nothing in the way of an economic base to sustain them, or at least nothing legal. They peaked with Woodstock.
Some say the 60's ended somewhere between Sharon Tate murder and the dreadful Altamont concert in December 1969. This is when all the idealistic peace and love sentiment of the 60's really began to turn sour. Also don't forget the Moon landing that year which definitely marked a new chapter in history. All in all I see Woodstock as more or less the last Hurrah of 60's.
Musically I see 80's as characterized by New Wave and marking the end of disco and classic rock. I always thought of "Funky Town" as being one the last major Disco songs
There are two types of 'decades.' The actual or chronological decades, 1950-1959, 1960-1969 etc, and the 'cultural decades'. By this I mean periods when an identifyable trend or 'feel' of a decade existed more. For example, the 80s are associated with New Wave/synths/electro/hairspray.etc, and the 60s with mods, hippies etc. The early 60s may be 60s chronologically, but in terms of fashion, music, mindset they were more 50s.
Here's my breakdown of the decades, feel free to comment, add your own opinions:
Musically I see 80's as characterized by New Wave and marking the end of disco and classic rock. I always thought of "Funky Town" as being one the last major Disco songs
Yes, I agree, "Funkytown" was the last disco song, which was recorded in 1979 and released in January 1980.
There are two types of 'decades.' The actual or chronological decades, 1950-1959, 1960-1969 etc. ...
Chronological decades, as well as chronological centuries, begin in years ending in '1' and end in years ending in '0'.
Because the Christian calendar, the basis for the civil calendar, did not have a year '0', the first decade was from January 1, 1 to December 31, 10. The next decade began on January 1, 11 and ended on December 31, 20. And, so on and so forth.
Thus, the decade of the 1950s began on January 1, 1951 and ended on December 31, 1960 and the current decade began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 2010.
Twenties 1919 to the October 29 stock crash.
Thirties, the crash to Pearl Harbor in Dec 41.
The forties (really a hybrid decade involving WWII and the height of the Cold War) which lasted from Pearl Harbor to the censure of Joe McCarthy in 1954.
The fifties which began in 55 with the easing of the worse of the Cold War and lasted until the Beatle invasion in Feb 64.
The sixties which began with the Beatles (and even more so with Vietnam) and ended with the resignation of Richard Nixon in 74.
The seventies, a period of drift from 74 to the election of Reagan.
The age of Reagan from 1981 to 2008 which may yet have a few more years to run. Stages include:
The Terror (to liberals like me) 1981 to 1988
The watchful peace 89 to 1994
The era of Newt from 94 to 2000 ( a second, milder terror)
The age of chaos, the reign of Bush II
The last few years....
Twenties 1919 to the October 29 stock crash.
Thirties, the crash to Pearl Harbor in Dec 41.
The forties (really a hybrid decade involving WWII and the height of the Cold War) which lasted from Pearl Harbor to the censure of Joe McCarthy in 1954.
The fifties which began in 55 with the easing of the worse of the Cold War and lasted until the Beatle invasion in Feb 64.
I'd say November 22, 1963 - a convenient historical event to peg the end of an era on. Although aspects of '50s culture lingered on for awhile afterwards. (Cultural aspects of decades usually do.)
The Philip Larkin poem "Annus Mirabilis" comes to mind (although Larkin's poem doesn't explain how many of us, including myself, came into the world )
The Beatles and Rolling Stones certainly represented a cultural break from the '50s (despite both in their early days heavily relying upon the Chuck Berry songbook, the Stones even more than the Beatles).
Quote:
The sixties which began with the Beatles (and even more so with Vietnam) and ended with the resignation of Richard Nixon in 74.
The end of the Vietnam War, IMO. Although the end of Vietnam, the Oil Crisis, and Watergate did all go together.
Again, events that happened in the same general period of time.
Quote:
The seventies, a period of drift from 74 to the election of Reagan.
The age of Reagan from 1981 to 2008 which may yet have a few more years to run.
IMO, the present is a transitional era. To what I really don't know. The declines of empires are usually unpleasant even relatively orderly ones.
I think that the beatles and the british invasion reflects more of what people now think of as the sixties than any single event. The sixties was unusual in having several well defined periods that were signficantly different from each other. Rarely are there so many twist in one short period. 660-63, 64-66, 67-69 might as well be seperate ages.
Rarely has any nations been so incredibly optimist as in 64-66 and so utterly in turmoil as 67-69.
I think that the beatles and the british invasion reflects more of what people now think of as the sixties than any single event.
Pinpointing February 1964 as an exact date, even though there is good reason to choose that date (the Beatles touring America and the Rolling Stones' first US release) over others, is still somewhat arbitrary.
There definitely WAS a big change right about that time but it's hard to pin down an exact date.
Quote:
The sixties was unusual in having several well defined periods that were signficantly different from each other. Rarely are there so many twist in one short period. 660-63, 64-66, 67-69 might as well be seperate ages.
Rarely has any nations been so incredibly optimist as in 64-66 and so utterly in turmoil as 67-69.
The Cuban missile crisis and the Kennedy assassination were the only interruptions in a six year period of optimism.
Remember that '68 was a tumultous year around the world, not just in the US. Student protests in Europe, Asia, and Latin America would also flare up to the point that the stability of several countries was threatened. The end result of this for Western Europe would be no more De Gaulles and no more Francos (a good thing IMO and probably in your opinion also), no more "sweeping history under the rug" in Germany, etc.
Any date chosen to begin or end an era is arbritary.
I think that the sixties were, outside the south, highly optimistic from 60 to 66, but particularly 64-66. Several factors contributed to that.
First, the music was highly optimistic and up tempo - nearly uniquely in US popular history.
Second there was a sense, fostered by tv and the space program, that technological breakthroughs were transforming the world in a highly positive sense. The negative views of technology that were to become so common after 1970 were largely unknown. Television itself was largely new and contributed signficantly to the sense of wonder of the period. This was also the last period in US history where people believed that growing administrative expertise in government could transform the US (positively that is).
Third, the economy was booming - the greatest gains for the bulk of the population in US history. This was central to the optimism.
Fourth, there was a huge increase in the number of young people. This both fed the other phenomena mentioned above, and contributed in its own rights.
These began to change somewhere in 66, but the true transformation was in 67. Again several things contributed to the transformation. Vietnam, a growing social discontent tied to the view that much was wrong with existing society, urban riots and the growth of violent militant groups, the ilegal drug phenomenon, perceived failures of both technology and government programs, all contributed to the transformation. At heart it was a rejection of youth of the existing reality. There simply were a lot more young people relative to the total combined with unique historical circumstances.
The highly materialistic, extremely individualistic culture from 1980 on (which for exampe exalted business and wealth and denied that poverty was a significant issue in the US) was nearly the exact opposite of the late sixties values. Its remarkable that the US changed as quickly as it did in not much more than a decade.
First, the music was highly optimistic and up tempo - nearly uniquely in US popular history.
.
Yeah, right. '65 and '66 featured slap happy tunes such as Barry McGwire's "Eve of Destruction" and Janis Ian's "Society's Child." Then there was The Animal's "We Gotta Get Outta This Place", The Beatle's "Nowhere Man", The Stones' "Paint It Black", Simon and Garfunckle's "Sounds of Silence", Barry Sadler's "Green Beret's" where the dead father's legacy to his son is to enlist and get killed like him.
I guess you took these to be dance tunes.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) 
