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So, as I cozy up with my kerosene heater roaring, some blue cheese, nut bread, and a nice Sangria, I can honestly say I won't be doing any baking tonight. Getting toasted, though; probably yes. ;) At least a little as I finish my weekend. It's been a hard day's night indeed.
There must be another way!
New topic will be introduced much later today. Any further chat about the cast, characters, or speculation (no true spoilers, please; not even with spoiler tags) about SPECTRE is welcome today.
Oh, and I'll put this absolutely smashing photo of Monica here for you boys. This was on a couple of other threads, and I believe was taken in December.
A nice cast is what I expect of the franchise and they have never let me down yet, Monica Bellucci was long overdue but I suspect that the choice for her was very much lobbied by Barbara and she is right for once with the choice for this beautiful creature from Italy/France. In the case of Sedoux I hope EON can match her use as MI4 did just brilliantly.
2. With two girls of varying ages, what do I expect their character to be like?
As said before Bellucci will be sizzling hot and Sedoux will hopefully get as good a role as she got in MI4, only different.
3. Do I think Blofeld is part of the cast and my opinions on who should play him?
I like surprises so I do actually not mind not knowing who will play Blofeld as it will only drive the fans into discussions why this person is not fit to play the role. As the recent Q & M did show that there is life after a role has been done before.
I also rather prefer not to know who is playing Blofeld - it would be much more fun to be surprised when watching the film for the first time.
The following handy info is from David's own nice website, http://www.tjbd.co.uk/content/the-spectre-timeline-infographic.htm
I thought this was a great timeline about Blofeld.
Just wanted to share that with you all this afternoon. Good food for thought.
Cheers! B-)
However, for today, I'd like to revisit two great decades that were full of change, political and cultural, and including changes in big ways for 007: The 60's and the 70's.
First, The 60's (70's in a few days).
What are you thoughts about this decade? Here are some points to consider to get us rolling, but you can discuss other things about the 60's too. So no, you do NOT have to answer or respond to all of these listed; I just wanted to list some points to get us discussing this decade known as ...
THE 60's ("The Swingin' 60's!")
~ For those of you who grew up in the 60's, what is your overall impression of those times? From personal recollection, your own experiences and remembrances. Positive or negative.
~ Do you feel the 60's were full of change?
~ What were the biggest, most impactful, or influential things (people, events, cultural aspects) of that decade?
~ What are some of your favorite songs/albums/musicians from the 60's? Is there any one song from that time you can't stand, really never want to hear it again? And how do you remember listening to the music - on the radio? concert? TV? at neighborhood party? Or with the volume turned down low on your record player and towels stuffed under your bedroom door hoping your dad doesn't hear you playing Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" yet again? (Ok, yeah that was me.) ;)
~ What are some of your favorite films? And how was it back in the day without video, reruns on TV, dvds, etc. See it at the theater as long as it was in town, and that was it! (hard to fathom, I know; for me, too, even though I lived through that)
~ Changes in technology (including cars, planes, rockets to the moon, styles of telephones)
~ How did you go to school? (bus, walk, bike, skateboard)
~ Did you bring your own lunch in a lunchbox? Do you remember your lunch box? Do you remember the school cafeteria ladies? Or any particular school food? (I do!)
~ Do you remember your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?
~ What was your favorite food from back then?
~ What did you do after school? Hang out, play outdoors until dark, smoke behind the barn, etc.
~ Anything else under the sun that you'd like to have your say about concerning the 60's. Now is the time to say it! :)
AND as a special treat, I am also including here @BeatlesSansEarmuffs nice bit about that decade, written earlier when he was writing full (and entertaining) reviews of all the Bond films. Here is Beatles, and he may also inspire you to discuss something in particular. (The bolding in this piece is mine, not Beatles)
*******
Here are a few significant cultural and political signposts of the time (from an American perspective, as that's the only one I've got available to me...)
1962 Dr. No is released
1963 From Russia With Love is released
First Beatles records released in UK
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy is assassinated
1964 Goldfinger is released
Beatlemainia reaches the US as the Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan TV show
First episodes of the Man From UNCLE are shown on TV, the spy craze begins in earnest
Lyndon Baines Johnson elected President of the US by a landslide
Ian Fleming dies from his second heart attack
1965 Thunderball is released
1966 The first episodes of Star Trek (the Original Series) are shown on TV
1967 You Only Live Twice is released
Beatles release "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" Jefferson Airplane releases "Surrealistic Pillow," including "White Rabbit" (later released as a single,) perhaps the first significant pop song to reference drug use.
1968 Last episode of Man From UNCLE airs. The spy craze is officially over.
LBJ declines to run for re-election, primarily due to controversy over America's involvement in Vietnam.
Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinated
Richard Nixon elected President
1969 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is released
1970 The Kinks release “Lola," probably the first pop song to reference homosexuality and transsexuality.
I'm hoping this timeline helps provide some context for the public mind-set during the course of the release of the initial Bond films.
- If you want to understand why homosexuality could only be obliquely referenced in FRWL while it was presented front & center in DAF, listen to "Lola."
- If you want to get some background on the psychedelia presented in the brainwashing segments of OHMSS, listen to Sgt. Pepper and White Rabbit.
- If you want to get some context on the special effects for YOLT, check out Star Trek TOS, a weekly TV show with a substantially lower budget for special effects.
- And if you're at a loss to understand the youth movement's wholesale rejection of "establishment" culture in the late '60s, please understand that we'd only recently seen some of the most popular public figures of that time eliminated by shadowy forces that some are still trying to identify today. Where was James Bond when we REALLY needed him? Please tell me that Felix Leiter wasn't among the unidentified figures on that grassy knoll in Dallas!
Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in April of 1968, race relations in the United States fell to a new low. While the civil rights movement had included both white liberals and black people agitating for equal rights among the races, the Black Power movement of the post-King era held a strong element advocating in favor of black separatism. James Brown, a major figure in black music from the late 1950s onward, released a mega-hit anthem in August of 1968, “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.” Sly and the Family Stone, one of the only bands of the time with a membership that was integrated both racially and sexually, released the album STAND! in 1969 that included a track titled “Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey/Don’t Call Me Whitey, Nigger.” In this crucible of a fragmenting culture, the Blaxploitation films of the early-to-mid 1970s were probably inevitable.
*******
(Beatles then segues into the '70s, but I am leaving that part for our discussion of that decade in a few more days.)
Finishing today, as we get our head into the 60's, here is some of what SirHenry wrote in response to Beatles's nice post above:
SirHenry said (in 2013):
1966- Speaking of Sgt. Pepper, in 1966 the very first "concept" record called "Pet Sounds" was released by Beatles rival The Beach Boys. Sir Paul McCartney called "God Only Knows" his favorite ever song to the day, and admitted the record was a huge influence on their creation of their own Sgt. Pepper concept record. There was major respect and a solid friendship between both bands amidst the public debate on who was better, and I'm not taking sides there, but any discussion of Pepper should always acknowledge IMHO the equal genius of Pet Sounds.
My favorite concept album that to me beats any of them is Queensryche's 1988 "Operation Mindcrime". They could make a movie out of this one.
1969- Two fellow Americans are the first to walk on the moon. Can't forget that one either.
*******
I will give some of my thoughts and personal recollections on this fab decade later on. This is enough for us to be going on with. Dive right in, folks. It is nearly the Summer of Love in my mind, all over again (although that only portrays one part of that decade). Cheers! :)>-
no caption needed
(1966-Birth of Thunderfinger.)
I just wanted to spend a little time talking about this decade. Those of you who did not grow up in the 60's are still encouraged to talk about the decade, and ask questions that we Originals could perhaps give our thoughts on. And again, my list was just some "talking points". Feel free to chat about some of them, or just talk about anything else you'd like - including of course, the Bond films of the 1960's! When SPECTRE began. We can discuss SPECTRE in the novels, too. I do like that timeline very much; it lists the books as well as the films.
The Swingin' Sixties via my own personal roadmap ~ (do skip any parts you like, this is just my personal ramble) ...
My childhood was the 60's. I really matured in the early 70's (graduated high school at 17 in 1973), but the 60's were so formative for me. My early years looked on the surface to be rather like that portrayed in the U.S. tv show, The Wonder Years. At least the neighborhood houses, fashions, and school. I had what I call a "white bread, vanilla" childhood. I was fairly quiet in school, yet I was very much a Tomboy. I grew up firmly middle class in Tampa Bay area, Florida. I am an only child, but I grew up with good friends in my neighborhood and great cousins who came over often.
My school and neighborhood - I went to school with the same group of kids for elementary through jr high, then we split to two different high schools. I remember the cafeteria ladies (I did not bring my lunch) and a favorite meal was called "potato turbate" for some reason. I just liked the gravy on the mashed potatoes. There was some grayish (not very brown as I recall) ground beef in that gravy, too; all just scooped onto a heap of mashed potatoes. And very good, fragrant, fresh baked soft dinner rolls. We girls had "bloomers" for our P.E. outfit; like a one piece blue romper, cotton, with elasticized shorts. Yuk. A required course in jr. high school was "Am-Com", American vs. Communism. Our jr. high school had a Spring Concert - I always performed some basic tumbling/gymnastics with a group. I couldn't sing correctly to save my life, so while some of my friends belted out songs from "West Side Story," I stuck to what I knew best: walkovers, dive rolls, and handsprings. My world was relatively safe. There were dangers back then, but none really prominent in our lives, not like today's children face. We used to play outside after school until dark, roam the neighborhood freely, bike/skateboard/rollerskate everywhere (and I even had a unicycle that I rode around our neighborhood), and used our imaginations a lot. No video games at all. I didn't watch TV until very late afternoon or early evening, and not every day. Though watching Sat. morning cartoons, while eating my Cocoa Puffs or Captain Crunch cereal (rarely Trix or Fruit Loops), was a regular habit (I enjoyed several - Bugs Bunny of course and most definitely Rocky and Bullwinkle, probably my favorite). There were about 10 kids in my immediate neighborhood that hung out together. None of us smoked or drank alcohol till we started high school. We actually did some stereotypical things like build a fort/tree house in the nearby woods, played games like kick the can and "arrow" (one person with chalk draws arrows around the neighborhood for the others to follow), kickball, softball (these were all played in the street or in our driveway), war games, usually just called "army" (I did not want to be a nurse, I remember that), along with jump rope (single and double dutch), volleyball, badminton, swimming (my home had the neighborhood pool), and ... yes ... put on a show! I remember doing a "show" in my garage with my friends, when I was about 9 or 10. We acted out a small sketch and I clearly remember us pretending to be The Beatles as we sang along with their songs ("She Loves You" and "Till I Saw Her Standing There"). I played a cardboard guitar. Badly. And I can't sing, but we were drowned out by the record anyway. :D
Some of the most memorable films of my childhood (in theaters) were: Father Goose (fell in love forever with Cary Grant), A Hard Day's Night (changed my life), Help!, My Fair Lady (Audrey forever!), The Sound of Music, Oliver! (I left the theater literally dancing through the parking lot and singing), The Pink Panther, A Shot in the Dark (I wanted to be Elke Sommer), Georgy Girl, The Dirty Dozen, Romeo and Juliet (I remember a jr. high school teacher recommending it; I did love it), and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (so different, fun, and cool!).
Some fav TV shows were: The Ed Sullivan Show (I have to mention it simply because they had The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and other musical groups; did not care for much else on it), Petticoat Junction, The Man from UNCLE (huge crush on David Macallum), the Girl from UNCLE (crush on Noel Harrison and wanted to be Stephanie Powers), and It Takes a Thief (wanted to marry Robert Wagner).
So I had fun yes, but the political and cultural changes did filter down to me, albeit probably more of a trickle down than if I lived in, say, New York, Chicago, or San Francisco. I remember being told by my mom that President Kennedy had died, while getting into our car to go somewhere. I was in third grade. I just remember freezing, pausing as I opened the car door, and trying hard to realize what that meant. It was totally bizarre to my 8 year old mind. No other strong memories of that, except everything was colored a bit differently and felt dampened in spirit for some time - a more subdued Christmas in quiet moments, though our extended family did have mostly its usual boisterous get together.
1967 - The Summer of Love :x
Yeah, man. The cultural phenomenon known as the Hippie lifestyle, and burgeoning flower power music rolled into one big interesting wave that summer. The Mamas and The Papas put out "San Francisco" (wear flowers in your hair) and although this was definitely not happening in my neighborhood or even close by, I was well aware of it due to this being splashed all over the news. I did (and do) enjoy a lot of the music from that time. The Montery Pop Festival was seminal and gave us astounding new sounds and acts like the one and only Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding. Just fantastic. I'll let our own @Beatles talk more about the music scene throughout the sixties (he is far more knowledgeable about that time than I am). It seemed like such a groovy, peaceful, nicely evolving thing. Jefferson Airplane - oh yes! Somebody to Love and White Rabbit; classics that are rather immaculate, in my opinion.
1968 ... that year came around with horrid disasters.
1968 brought such changes to my world, our American way of life. I remember being distraught learning about Martin Luther King's assassination. My world shifted and changed a lot with that. I could hardly believe it (another assassination!) and was horrified. I did feel like the world kept becoming stranger and more threatening. Earlier that year and after King's murder, I saw Bobby Kennedy on TV several times, and I really liked him. I was just starting to form my own opinions regarding politics of any kind (I was 12). When Bobby Kennedy was killed, it did feel like a part of me was altered, ripped apart inside, and I was forced to grow up abruptly. Those deaths were somber markers of that period and certainly affected me in many ways, including subconsciously.
Music kept morphing. The Beatles were great for many reasons, one of which is that they changed and developed and grew. How I love their music! And along came the funky, rockin' and rather psychedelic soul group that always made me want to get up and dance: Sly and the Family Stone. They hit their stride in '68 and '69 (Dance to the Music and Stand!).
Woodstock 1969 - I was just a tad too young to go, much to my chagrin later when I learned about what went on there (especially musically). :)>-
The news reports on TV were showing more and more of the Viet Nam war. I remember my mom turning it off, because we always ate dinner during the news broadcast and it just got to be too much. Hardly good accompaniment for a family dinner. My parents did not discuss politics with me. They still tried to shelter me from that, I think. But at school and in my neighborhood of course, we talked about everything. I was very fortunate in that I did not lose any friends' brothers or relatives to that War.
For most of my childhood, I yearned inside to be part of the London scene. I so enjoyed the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton and other models I saw on TV and in magazines. I loved the mini-skirted London fashion. I was a sucker for a British accent. I adored Sherlock Holmes and Charles Dickens' stories. Meanwhile, I was dodging sandspurs, alligators (slight exaggeration, but they are found in local ponds, too), eating excellent fried grouper sandwiches and enduring sweaty, hot, humid summers. I was a barefoot Tomboy as much as possible (the model turned actress Lauren Hutton and I shared a similar environment growing up).
Still to this day, if I could live anywhere, it would be in England; though probably in the countryside (I love nature) but not too far from London.
I watched the astronauts landing on the moon with my mom and dad, all of us in awe of it and very excited indeed. It seemed that anything was possible.
I finished the 60's still in love with my main loves, that never changed, but also a bit freer and quite ready for more Led Zeppelin, bell bottom jeans, hot pants, halter tops, tiny braids in my hair framing my face, and a gentleman who would indeed change my life further, in every good way: Bond. James Bond. 8-> In Diamonds Are Forever. But that is for the next decade we look at, in a few more days.
That's my growing up in the 60's story, and I'm sticking to it. ;)
Anything you'd like to share about that entire decade is very welcome indeed. Brief is fine! I just rambled on a bit.
Ask any questions of the Originals (some of whom saw Connery as Bond in the theater earlier than I did). Please join us in this pleasant romp through the twisting, morphing, musical, colorful, and at times very volatile, 1960's. Cheers!
He had several hits later on ("You are So Beautiful", "Up Where We Belong"). He had a very special, soulful voice, and will be warmly remembered always by so many people around the world. Just reading tributes to him on other websites now. Please let me share this video, taken from his performance at Woodstock, singing one of my favorite Beatles' songs, making it wholly his own and this is way I remember this song best:
God bless you and Rest In Peace, Joe. You gave us so much.
But in my own little world I watched Batman, Green Hornet, Lost In Space (my surrogate family), Star Trek (my role models), Jeannie (my pre-teen pin-up girl), Tarzan (how come he never had to shave??)...
I walked the half-mile to school. Sometimes in four feet of snow (Y'know, before the climate change stuff). I had a metal Batman lunchbox with a drink cooler that broke.
"Downtown" was my first cool 60's song, but I somehow totally missed The Beatles!?!
My favourite 60's move was Fantastic Voyage on TV. We were at a friend's who had COLOR TV!!! But we had to leave before the end.
I have a hazy memory of my Mom being upset at someone's assassination...
When I was 9 they landed on the Moon. My inner Trekkie was so thrilled.
But by that time I was also aware of the Vietnam War and the term "meat grinder".
Bond would be on my radar two years later....
You mentioned some things that were definitely part of my growing up. I loved the TV show Jeannie (not the way you did, though). ;) I enjoyed Batman very much, Star Trek, and Fantastic Voyage too. Oh and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. And Gilligan's Island! How could I forget that?
I clearly remember "Downtown" as a song - it was everywhere!
Both my parents chainsmoked, also. That was enough to put me off; I have never smoked. They didn't have valium, though. Plenty of hi-balls, oh yes.
Walking in snow? That was not easy, I'm sure. Have you reminded your son of that? Oh, I think so. ;))
I have yet to see Mad Men. I'll have to correct that.
Who's next? :)>-
You are right about love. It is the one thing that can overcome.
My memories of JFK’s assassination are quite curious. I was in the third grade, and at school one morning, while we were diligently applying ourselves to the ordinary tedium…the principal’s voice came over the loudspeaker. Would the teacher in each classroom please send one student to the principal’s office immediately? My teacher chose me. I left the classroom in a state of mild puzzlement. What was I, and the various other representatives of each class, being singled out for? Were we to be punished for some unknown slight? Had we lost some cosmic lottery? At the principal’s office, each of us was given a sealed envelope, and instructed not to open it, but to give it to our teachers, who were to open it, read the message inside, and act accordingly. Back at my classroom, my teacher read the note to herself…thought for a minute…and then addressed the class. “The President has been shot.” Utterly mystifying news. What did it mean? … how could this be? There were no details, no word as to his state. Was it a fatal wound? Was it something survivable? We had no idea. All schoolwork, everything came to an abrupt halt. We sat there in befuddlement for a few eternal moments. Then the principal’s voice again came over the loudspeaker. The President was dead. School was suspended for the day, we were all sent home. I walked the few blocks between school and my home, numb and uncertain what the impact of this event might be on my own life. When I reached home, I was surprised to find that my mother was not there. She had been out on some errand when the event occurred. When she retuned home, she put the car in the garage…brought in the groceries…and asked me to go outside and play. I don’t have any memory of seeing her cry on that day, but I suspect that once I was safely out of view, she did just that.
Television, usually the placid indicator of date and time, with game shows and soap operas during the weekday afternoon, became a hellish Black&White blur of assassination news & its aftermath. Our usual primetime programming was suspended, as we wallowed in our collective grief that long, hideous weekend. The fingering & capture of Lee Harvey Oswald…Oswald’s death in a Dallas Police Station, in full view of a camera crew, shot to death by nightclub operator/low level underworld figure/police informant Jack Ruby… the mournful funeral procession, capped by the sight of little John Jr. placing the wreath on his father’s grave…it was all too much for the eight year old me. “When is this all going to be over?” I wailed silently. “When is this assassination junk going to be over so we can have our TV back again???” With the resilience of youth, I was already done with the grieving, and selfishly I wanted my safe, normal world back again. At least I was canny enough at that age to not give actual voice to my callow, selfish desire for the comfort of television’s satisfying routine that sad, eternal weekend. Ed Sullivan, Walt Disney and Bonanza would not be aired on that bleak Sunday night.
By Monday, routine began to reassert itself. Life went on…and wonderful, exciting events aplenty were just around the corner…but “safe” and “normal” were only temporary refuges from that point on, as more assassinations lurked ahead as well, and political unrest roiled the USA on several fronts. First Bobby Kennedy, and then, mere days later, Martin Luther King were to be removed from this world by forces whose intent and actions I never really understood. While I don't care to embrace any particular conspiracy theory, it seems barely credible to me that these two Kennedy brothers (as well as the man whose Dream of equality moved millions toward a better future) could be erased from the world stage within a few short years by "lone gunmen." Perhaps my dissatisfied mind just can't rest without trying to find a larger picture for these tragic events. And so the idealism that had seemed so integral a part of the safe, normal world most of us had known in the first few years of that turbulent decade, the sixties…grew to encompass a certain degree of world weary cynicism…
COMING SOON: How I Learned to Stop Worrying About the World and Embraced Pop Culture Instead....
One thing that I'm really interested in though is the role the USSR played for people growing up. I was born in '80 and thus the Soviet Union was a major part of what happened in the world. First Reagan's agressive stance towards the Soviets, then Gorbatsjev's peacefull reactions and Glasnost and Perestrojka (the first Russian hero since Gagarin), and the fall of the wall. But in your days the USSR must've been far more threatening then the unknown, but maybe now friendly bear that was so intreguing and scary at the same time.
OK, we're both right. :)
The 60s were a blur to me, mostly because I was too young to remember them. I'll share my thoughts about the times of the hippies ruling the planet later on and maybe some childhood memories.
My exposure to the 60's has primarily been through history class, Mad Men and yes, ironically, James Bond.
However I have always been fascinated by it, because it seemed to have so much going on. Aesthetically, I primarily think of well tailored suits, bowler hats, and well dressed women. For me, it just seemed to be a very active decade, a colourful one and an optimistic one. Like anything was possible. I don't get that same feeling about the 70's (another era I can hardly remember as I was too young, and which I know mainly through the movies).
Of course, the 60's is the first decade which was captured mainly in colour, and TV, as TV shows were becoming more prevalent then. Therefore, it is the earliest that many of us get to see a past era in the way we are used to seeing it now, namely in Technicolour and through somewhat contemporary movies. So it is the first experience of romantacized nostaligia for a lot of younger people. In a way, the 60's has an advantage over the 50's/40's for that reason....it has better marketing due to important advances in technology that occured at this time.
A few things I have noticed as an outsider with no first hand knowledge, and perhaps someone can chime in and correct me, is the following (and this is purely conjecture):
1. It seems like the American experience was a more troubling one compared to other countries. Assassinations, political and rights issues, Vietnam, the draft, the Cuban missile crisis, and of course, capped off with the Manson murders which must have killed innocence forever. Does anyone who lived elsewhere have that impression?
2. It seems like England in particular had a more calmer go of it, with less emotional trauma. There appear to be less major scandals. Also, it just seems to me that culturally, England defined the way that era is fondly remembered with the Beatles and Bond in particular. The swinging 60's so to speak......maybe English culture just happened to dominate that era?.....perhaps it was a bit of escapism and so easier to hold on to in minds?......perhaps it was more impactful?.....I don't know.
3. The James Bond movies do not seem to reflect the uncertainty and perhaps darkness that must have pervaded the US scene during that decade, with the assassinations and the like. When I watch Bond movies from that era they still seem optimistic and culturally similar. They don't even demonize communism or the Soviets, although they are adversaries. So I assume (and it's just an assumption - feel free to debate) they must have reflected first and foremost the English mood.
4. Even American movies in general seemed optimistic and sure-footed. I don't recall too many defeatist movies, or movies with unclear endings. I have come across a lot of those from the 70's (nebulous endings etc.) but not from the 60's. I'm not sure why, given all the bad things that happened during that time, particularly politically. I wonder if movies made at that time were just escapist in nature, and moviemakers had not yet decided to tackle the troubling political issues of the day, because I see a lot of that from the 70's.
5. I too am interested in the impact of the Soviet Union on that time in particular, as they were an important part of that decade.
I remember watching only three channels...a few favorite shows....some songs on the radio...Growing up on the east side of San Antonio..those long and enjoyable hot summers.
favorite shows: Jonny Quest, Gilligans Island, Bewitched, Mannix, Carole Burnett show, Time Tunnel, and Lost in Space. Star Trek came on opposite Bewitched on thursday nites and it was just too "over my head" so we never watched it back then.
Songs: Light My Fire, Dock of the Bay, Love is Blue, Mrs Robinson, People just Want to Be Free, a little Help from My FriendsBands/Singers :Beatles, Rolling Stones, Temptations, the Supremes, Otis Redding
Movies: Bonnie and Clyde, Midnight Cowboy, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and of course The early Bonds....
Sock Hops in the School Gymnasium
And of course finally realizing that girls were not so bad afterall...and quite fun to be around.
If I had to pick a favorite year it would be 1968. Historians have called it the most violent year since the end of World War II and aside from the bad news across the country and from the jungles of Viet Nam but personally, I have more fond memories and had more fun that time than I can remember. The music, the television, having my first real crush on a girl and the heartbreak. I still remember her name and at times I wonder what she's doing now...
I was 14 and she was 12, that innocent puppy love thing. Her mother used to pick her up from school driving a green Ford Fairlane. I used to walk her to the car and was always careful to avoid any contact with her mom.
Thanks for the nod to the Pink Floyd song, @Kerim. I did not remember that one. That was the first, surely, to reference cross dressing.
@OHMSS69, how I loved Jonny Quest! It was a must with me. There were plenty of really great films in the 60's, weren't there? Later on I found an old adventure series written for kids (geared towards boys, but I loved it) called Rick Brant. Like "Rick Brant and the Rocket's Shadow". Jonny was clearly based on this series. Sort of harmless fun like Nancy Drew, but for boys and with a slight scientific bent to it. Hey, I just found this website: http://io9.com/5198036/rick-brant-making-mysteries-sort-of-scientific-since-1947 I'll go read more about that later.
The 60's were a tumultuous decade that did have huge changes in politics, culture, and technology. I know there is naturally change in every decade, but the 60's (in America, as that is always my frame of reference here) had more than the usual, in my opinion.
@Beatles, thanks for all of your info. You definitely remember far more about Kennedy's assassination than I do. We were not told at school. Other than my brief memory, it is a blur for me. We were both in third grade, different states. I do not remember it being on TV (though I know it was) and I must conclude that my parents sheltered me from that. I was already heavily involved in two main pursuits: reading and playing outside (climbing trees was a favorite). I think I must have indulged in that a good deal during that somber and definitive time.
Definitive is a good word I think. Kennedy's assassination defined and changed our country almost immeasurably. Total shock. Nothing like that had happened since President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 (and yes, I had to look up the date for that). Assassination was not on our minds, believe me. We had come out of WWII determined, optimistic, ready to charge ahead and be a productive country with a good standard of living for its citizens. We had a more youthful and inspiring president. We now had the Peace Corps and a space program going full bore. We had gotten through the Bay of Pigs scare (high potential of a missile war with Cuba - bomb shelters, parents having plenty of serious "no children allowed, go play outside" talks, etc.). Kennedy's death was an utter, horrifying shock. In my world, it is a tiny frozen moment, and then life continued on close to what went before, but with that somber seed planted in me, too, no matter how sheltered I was.
The Russian's are Coming! The Russians are Coming! :D (a totally hilarious 1966 movie that I enjoy to this day; it so well sums up our country's mood at times during the 60's!). I'll post my thoughts on the Cold War, impact of U.S. and Soviet Union relations on my childhood world in a short while.
@bondjames, those are good talking points and I will come back soon to give you my thoughts on each of those. Thanks! :)
Born at the arse-end of '61 I have vague recollections of this decade, the 70s were where it's at for me - glam, punk, teen years, leaving school etc.
But the sixties, well I certainly wasn't aware that there was anything special or different about that decade as I grew through it. What do I remember?…BatMan on telly (I thought it was serious - and to me it was!), Lulu singing 'I'm A Tiger', The Virginian on Saturday afternoon telly, my father watching the Wrestling (British, not the vulgar showbiz American stuff we have these days).
I never liked The Beatles, but there is a tape of me and my brother singing Hey Jude somewhere, I remember my oldest brother getting his first motorbike (a James that had to be bump started) his Stones albums, Bob Dylan, long hair coming in, sweaters being worn under shirts (!), hooking thumbs through belt loops and being cool. Dr Who, the Cybermen (always way scarier than the Daleks), the Yeti in the London underground, cybernates, those iconic opening titles and the ground-breaking theme tune.
Going to Infants, and then Primary School. Getting into trouble on the first day of school for running and sliding across the classroom - my mate got us both into trouble -, first use of a urinal, trying to see who could pee the highest, my teacher Mrs Bell who must have been 100 and had a silver 'tash! School milk, and dinners, walking to school with my mates, no parents taking their kids to school then, we just got on with it.
Long summer days spent in the garden, playing in the road - very few cars back then, I can only remember two families owning cars on our road, now every house has at least one and some two.
I can remember we used to have a mono record player and very few records, but one we did have was Tom Jones's The Green, Green Grass of Home, which I played to death much to the annoyance of my father. And getting my very first 45, Georgie Girl by The Seekers, we had to got to the electric shop in our small town, place our order and wait about a week for it to come it. I can still remember going down to Provis's to pick up our records, my one and my brothers also had one each, Silence is Golden by the Tremeloes (1967) and I can't remember what my eldest brother got now, probably a Stones tune.
I wasn't really aware of the sixties ending, but I was very aware of the 70s starting…but that's for another day.
Going to Infants, and then Primary School. Getting into trouble on the first day of school for running and sliding across the classroom - my mate got us both into trouble -, first use of a urinal, trying to see who could pee the highest, my teacher Mrs Bell who must have been 100 and had a silver 'tash! School milk, and dinners, walking to school with my mates, no parents taking their kids to school then, we just got on with it.
Long summer days spent in the garden, playing in the road - very few cars back then, I can only remember two families owning cars on our road, now every house has at least one and some two.
I can remember we used to have a mono record player and very few records ...
Your recollection of your teacher is hilarious! Great Bond association name, too, come to think of it (LALD). Did she ever fly in a small plane, I wonder? ;) As for going to school, "we just go on with it." I can so relate to that. As for cars, our neighborhood probably had one each, and I remember a few record players we had, mono. Buying a new album was exciting, a big decision, and involved a trip to the record store. I didn't special order them, though, like you did. I still have my original Meet The Beatles album (they are my favorite group of all time) stored in Florida. I remember Lulu best for "To Sir With Love" a good song and a good film.
And @OHMSS69, you mentioned: The music, the television, having my first real crush on a girl and the heartbreak. I still remember her name and at times I wonder what she's doing now ... I was 14 and she was 12, that innocent puppy love thing. Her mother used to pick her up from school driving a green Ford Fairlane. I used to walk her to the car and was always careful to avoid any contact with her mom.
Just to say I can remember most of my gang from jr. high and high school, but we did not keep in touch after high school graduation, unfortunately. Everybody went their own way, some far away. I reconnected with two friends from that time and one from my neighborhood years later, which was very nice. The whole growing up, hormones kicking in, first crush on a boy (for me; girl for you guys), first kiss, that whole shebang ... it was very ordinary in my world, and I was a late bloomer. I made up for that in a way, once I got going, but my jr high and high school days were not filled with dating as such. Group get-togethers were common and fun, though. The first boy who kissed me was one I grew up with. One day, after years of playing and roughhousing and fighting and annoying each other since you were both little kids, you just look at each other and something stirs that was not definitely there before. ;) Ahhh, teenage hormones! Makes the world go round. And he still does not realize he was my first real kiss; I may have to clarify that with him, just for old times' sake, since we are back in touch these days.
Also hope that I haven't offended about my Beatles remark. At a push I would say I like some of their stuff and I can appreciate their place in music history…it's just that when there is a retrospective of the Sixites it just seems to be Beatles, Beatles, Beatles. And there was so much more going on, put aside American greats like Dylan, and just concentrating on the British scene, we have The Rolling Stones, Mannfred Mann, The Kinks (surely the most 'English' of the British bands), The Yardbirds, Led Zepplin, Jethro Tull (one of my favourite bands of all time), and a one point in the mid-Sixties outselling everyone one was Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, of The Legend of Xanadu fame - which I certainly remember seeing on Top of The Pops, the bouffant hairdo, crazy clothes and that whipcrack! Brilliant. Anyone not familiar with this tune check it out on YouTube.
Just different strokes, for different folks (as Sly and the Family Stone sang). But they were honestly the biggest musical influence in my life and still have the most music that I truly love; it is somehow in my blood and DNA now, I just know it.
I do wish I could have seen Top of the Pops growing up. We had two music shows, Shindig and Hullabaloo. I do remember watching them and dancing like crazy. ;)
I am a big fan of Led Zep, the Stones, the Kinks, Dylan, Eric Clapton (in any form or group), the Yardbirds, and Tom Jones. Many British acts were game changers (T Rex, Bowie - more on them when we discuss the 70's in a couple more days ...) and so much fun. The British Invasion of America was huge. Britain led the way in fashion, music, and culture during that decade, although America had its strong influences obviously too: the whole Flower Power culture scene, artists like The Mamas and the Papas, Bob Dylan, and Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone; and early on The Beach Boys, who were a huge influence on many others. Also a fantastic Canadian named Neil Young. :) The fashion sense coming from Britain was off the wall different. Just look at the late fifties and very early sixties then boom! It all exploded: mod, cool, minis, and later truly psychedelic.
"Everyday People"
Sometimes I'm right but I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I'm in
'Cause I am everyday people, yeah, yeah
There is a blue one who can't accept the green one
For living with a fat one, trying to be a skinny one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and Scooby dooby doo-bee
Oh, sha sha, we got to live together
I am no better and neither are you
We are the same whatever we do
You love me, you hate me, you know me and then
You can't figure out the bag I'm in
'Cause I am everyday people
There is a long hair that doesn't like the short hair
For being' such a rich one, that will not help the poor one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and Scooby dooby doo-bee
Oh, sha sha, we got to live together
There is a yellow one that won't accept the black one
That won't accept the red one, that won't accept the white one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and Scooby dooby doo-bee
Oh, sha sha
'Cause I am everyday people
'Cause I am everyday people
'Cause I am everyday people
'Cause I am everyday people
At the time we had black and white TV's color TV's were expensive and no one in my neighborhood had one. It was so strange finally seeing the episodes in all their brillant colors. They had to have been remastered because at 50 years those episodes look just great.
Do you all miss the old varity shows like Carole Burnett? these shows were the rave throughout the sixties and all the christmas specials we were treated to back then. And yes, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer was a holiday favorite as was Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carole.
Yes, Man From UNCLE.......I forgot that was actually a 60's show....
I used to watch reruns of that show growing up as a kid and loved it. Along with reruns of Get Smart & I Dream of Jeannie.