Introduction

1960s British Rock and Popular Music
A Selected Chronology

Introduction

As the music of 1960s slides from active memory and into historical memory, commercial and personal interests are eager to retell the story the way they remember it and how they want it remembered. Who can blame them. The press of the era (probably the press of any era) regularly got things wrong, although the press agents feeding them information must share the burden of responsibility. In studying this era, keeping track of "who did what when" becomes fundamentally important. It is one thing for the participants to spin stories consistent with their construction of the past. It is quite another for us to accept this as the only truth. Of course, in popular music, hyperbole and exaggeration were no less commonplace in the 1960s than now. My purpose here is to lay out a framework upon which we might build a better understanding of what happened and to arrive at some conclusions about what it meant (and means).

I compiled and "published" [as a webpage] this chronology in 1995 as contextual support for courses on 1960s British rock and pop music first at Regent's College, London, and subsequently at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. I continue to work on these materials and add references as I research the era, talking with musicians, songwriters, producers, and others as well as re-reading contemporary news accounts. However, this chronology cannot be all-inclusive. I have prioritized some performers and performances and I admit to personal preferences. However, I have attempted to include recordings and events that were commercially and/or historically significant. Clearly, I have sometimes made selections because others selected them for inclusion in their bibliographies, discographies, and histories. I welcome recommendations for additions and corrections.

Various kinds of information are included in this chronology including recordings, performances, and political, social, economic, and biographical information. The first is obviously very important here. I have prioritized original British dates (release and recording dates and dates reflecting chart entry) and include North American release dates for reference. Note that the chart date here (often slightly abbreviated to "chrts") actually reflects the date upon which a publication such as New Musical Express or Record Retailer reports the sales standing. My principle source for chart dates has been Guinness's British Hit Singles compiled by Gambaccini, Rice, and Rice (1995) who have put together a strong reference source for this research. The release dates are more complicated. Sometimes, the precise dates for releases are available in discographies. I have supplemented these with the dates announced in the New Musical Express and, when that is lacking, the date upon which a review appears (presuming that the reviewer had an advance copy and actually got around to listening to it in time for the release date). Obviously, I will have some release dates that are a week or two off (usually later than they actually ere issued). On the bright side, this does provide an approximation of about when the release took place. In general, British releases in this era took place on Fridays (unlike the US), although Thursday and Saturday releases.

I have often found conflicting information, but I hope to be able to reduce these problems. I welcome corrections and additions. (Yes, I also find I have made typographic errors and sometimes mistakenly placed information on the right day, but the wrong month, or the right day and month, but the wrong year, etc. Hey! I'm human!) If you send comments, please (if possible) include the source from which they came so I can corroborate that information.

This is not a "British Invasion" chronology and the orientation is British, not American. My attempt here is to present this cultural milieu from a British perspective. Nevertheless, any discussion of this era that neglected the importance of American performers and the American market would miss what the participants clearly understood: America was where the money was. The 200-lb. gorrilla has a presence.

One of the first things you will probably notice is that I have included more than just 1960 to 1969. While the most exciting material is from the decade of the sixties, the people and cultural developments that contributed to this epoch came out of the aftermath of WWII. My own inclination is to focus on the years between 1956 and 1968 with an important dividing point in 1963. This is not to belittle what came before and after, but rather to recognize where the cultural currents pertaining to this great flourishing of pop culture are the strongest. January 1956 marks the beginning of British skiffle. January 1963 is the point at which the Beatles score a number one and the commencement of the Beat era (however one wants to define that). And by 1968, the luster was gone from the rose, most notably in the shift away from the 2:30 pop single and towards live performance models. Perhaps the most telling event of that year was the uproar over the use of session musicians on "Everlasting Love" by Love Affair and the introduction of eight-track tape decks..., but more about that later in another context.

This site continues to change and I apologize for the inconsistencies between years. For example, for the year 1964, you will find a link from each of the months to a table of contents for issues of New Musical Express of that month. This will allow you to compare events on the chronology with what writers in NME were saying. As we (the students and I) complete more of those pages I will link them to their respective months in this chronology. You are welcome to look through an incomplete listing of the contents of the New Musical Express by following this link. [Be forewarned: work in progress.] As a matter of consistency, I use American spellings and punctuation since the courses for which I originally prepared this chronology have largely been for American institutions and students. Information on British culture appears in red print, the top-selling or really important British singles in blue print, and almost everything else in black. I have placed material that relates to American contexts in a grey print. I have also in some strategic cases placed American artists whose recordings figured importantly on British charts in brown print.

Finally, I have heard from some of the people directly connected with the events listed here. I have welcomed their comments and (hopefully) been able to modify the chronology to reflect their impressions and memories. Thanks for the comments. I look forward to more in the future.

Chronology Index | Acknowledgements | Sources

This is a living document. I welcome corrections and suggestions.
Gordon Thompson

Department of Music

Skidmore College