The 1960’s was a decade where people started to break free from the social constraints of the previous age through extreme deviation from the norm. This was a time of sudden change in the society, attitudes, fashion, and entertainment especially music. The American culture was greatly impacted by many events that occurred during this era. John F. Kennedy had victory over Richard Nixon during the 1960’s election. They were the first to appear on television and have a debate. Fashion was also affected by this because the president’s appearance to his inauguration ceremony without a hat caused hat sales to plummet. Men no longer felt the need to wear hats anymore. On the other hand, the sales of hats for women skyrocketed because women wanted to mimic the style of Jackie Kennedy who made an appearance to the ceremony with a pillbox hat. The civil right movement and segregation were huge problems in the society during the 60’s. Prominent leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X conducted two different streams of black leadership. One took on a nonviolent approach while the other preached black power and created a group called the “Black Panthers” who believed in violence for peace. During this time, directors and producers highlighted themes that focused on drug use and increased sexual freedom. Movies such as "The sound of music", "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", "Gypsy", and "My fair lady" all succeeded on screen and also became some of the best onstage musicals. The 1960’s was the last great period of musicals. Nonmusical theatre continued to touch on popular topics such as homosexuality, mental retardation, and family alienation. The “British Invasion” in 1963 greatly impacted the American view and interaction with music. British rock bands and pop artists found mainstream success in the United States and also worldwide. The male group “The Beatles arrived on the music scene during this time and dominated the charts worldwide with their rock music. They were seen as the most influential group during the 1960’s. In the 60’s, popular music genres started to have a huge effect on the people in the society. These popular genres would include many styles of rock like rock and roll, pop rock, blues rock, and psychedelic rock, beat, country, folk, gospel, soul, funk, heavy metal, rhythm and blues and many more. Some of the groups and artists that served as major influences in society during this time were Janice Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Mamas and the Papas, The Supremes, and Elvis Presley. Due to these musical influences, many subcultures of people started to form. These subgroups consisted of hippies, surfers, bohemians, beat knicks, Goths, and several others. The people of these groups began to associate their style of dress, attitudes, and ways of living with the different musical influences, which made a connection between the two (Beck & Parsons, 2007; "Music Played", 2013; Editorial team, 2008). Sources
Beck, J., & Parsons, J. L. (2007). Twentieth century dress in the United States. New York: Fairchild Publications. Music Played in the 1960's Popular Music From the 60s. (2013, January 1). 1960's Music played in the 60's Bands groups singers memories from The People History Site. Retrieved March 27, 2014, from http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/60smusic.html Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Culture in The 1960s. Shmoop.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014, from http://www.shmoop.com/1960s/culture.html
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