CAUGHT UP IN A YOUTHQUAKE | EUROPE OF THE 1960s

22 CommentsEntertainment, From the Archives, History, Life, Memoir, Music
Carnaby street, Youthquake headquarters, London England
Jean-Philippe Delberghe

YOUTHQUAKE
a 1960s fashion, musical and cultural movement.

The term was coined by Vogue’s editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland in 1965. London, England was the centre of the movement. Teenagers dominated the fashion and music scene, towards the end of the“mod” era, 1965-69. London became synonymous with fashion, music, and pop culture in those years, and was often referred to as “Swinging London.” In turn, mod influence spread throughout the rest of Europe and around the world.                   

Living in Germany and Switzerland during those years, I was totally caught up in this culture, thanks to British pirate radio stations, Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg, British Forces radio and RAVE magazine, which I read faithfully.

This was a fun movie! Brought me right back to the good old days.

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The fashions back then were colourful and fun! Picture this: A green, pink, yellow and orange striped shirt, with matching striped belt and green plastic buckle. Add a wide green tie, green miniskirt and green hexagonal earrings.

YOUTHQUAKE, Mod Stripes
Mod Stripes

Finishing touches? White lipstick, fringed purse and plastic Go-Go boots. This was one of my favourite outfits at the time. 😀 Wish I had a photo! Well, these are the boots, at least:

Spring, 1968 – age 13 ©

Even Barbie got her groove on!

Mod Barbies, Youthquake, Europe in the 1960s
Image by RomitaGirl67 on Flickr  Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
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Visions of “Swinging London” danced through my head!
Top row, L-R: 1. Carnaby St, The Fashion epicentre / 2. Piccadilly Circus, Theatre and shopping district
Middle row, L-R: 3. Mary Quant, mod fashion maven / 4. Twiggy, model du jour. Skinny was in! / 5. George Best,Tabloid King. Bad boy of soccer
Bottom row, L-R:  6. Soho, Where the action was! Dining and nightlife. / 7. The Beatles, crossing Abbey Road
/ 8. Radio Caroline, pirate ship

 Photo Credits: 1.    2.    3.    4.    5.    6.   7.   8.

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A little taste of music from that era, not likely known on other continents.
All of these are part of my vast vinyl record collection :

And, did you know that Peter Frampton got his start at the age of 17 with a band called The Herd? Betcha didn’t! 😀
You can read more about that HERE.

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In June of 1969, my father and I visited London for a week. It was a short, 70-minute flight from Düsseldorf.

Flying to London, England
Flying to England, June 1969 © Sadly, all other photos of this trip have been lost. 🙁

Even though I didn’t get to meet the Beatles, it was a wonderful experience.

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Are you familiar with the Youthquake movement?
Did you wear crazy clothes, too?

Looking forward to your comments!

Debbie

From the Archives, The Doglady's Den
Originally published Apr. 29, 2015, for the April A to Z Challenge, Theme “Favourite Words”
podcasts by debbie d.
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22 thoughts on “CAUGHT UP IN A YOUTHQUAKE | EUROPE OF THE 1960s

  1. We referred to the Go-Go boots s “Hullaballoo” boots, because the girls on that show all wore them. Mary said she had a pair. Never said anything about white lipstick, though…

    1. “Hullaballoo” sounds familiar, although I haven’t seen it. Oh yes, white lipstick was ALL the rage, popularized by The Ronettes and others. 😀

  2. I was in the middle of all of this. The music, the clothes the free spirit. It was a wonderful time.

    Have a fabulous day, Debbie. ♥

  3. I was not old enough to grasp what was going on until about 1968. That was the Summer I turned 12. I had some older friends who were wannabe hipsters. Hey, good times, Debbie.

    Love your London picture, btw.

    1. Those were some interesting times and a great era for music! 😀 I’m glad you like the photo. It’s a real bummer that the others were lost, though. 🙁 My parents moved to California a few years later and an entire box of home movies and photos disappeared.)

    1. The clothes were fun! 😀 Yup; Peter Frampton was a teen idol back in the day. Not my taste. You’re right – he looked much better in the 70s, with that long, thick mane of curly hair. Kind of ironic (and a little sad) that he’s bald now.

  4. 1- Dave Dee et al I have learned of doing Time Machine, and the Herd wasn’t a surprise, but the others were unknown to me.

    2- Judging from that particular picture, a shame indeed!

    1. I don’t think Dave Dee & Co. were generally known in North America. Most of their stuff was pretty lightweight, but I still like “Soho”, probably their most profound number. You knew about The Herd? Well, since you spend a lot of time studying foreign charts, that makes sense. Yes, I was bummed out about the photos. When my parents moved to California, a lot of stuff went missing, including a box of home movies and pictures. 🙁

  5. DEBBIE, I was too young to do drugs at that time, therefore… I remember it well. 😉

    Indeed, I did know about Frampton and The Herd, although I was a big Monkees fan at that time. (Davy Jones was my favorite.) It was Monkees everything for me back then – Monkees guitar, talking Monkees hand puppet, Monkees on my birthday cake! HA!!

    That photo of me on my BOTB blog, playing the part of “Sikike Phteven”, that was my very favorite outfit from that era. The loud paisley pattern with fringed leather vest over the top – Wow! – I thought I looked so cool. Hilarious!

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

    1. I’m surprised you know about The Herd, Stephen. I didn’t think their popularity extended to North America. I was a Monkees fan too, but by 1968, they were starting to fade. Your outfit was definitely cool for the times. Can’t go wrong with paisley and fringes! 😀 Thanks for coming by

      1. HiYa, DEBBIE!
        It’s not that I was aware of Frampton and The Herd at the time they were together and playing. But in my late teens and very early 20s, I did a lot of reading about Rock music and the artists. And that’s how I became aware of Frampton’s “previous life” in The Herd. It was just information I got from books and magazines way back when.

        ~ D-FensDogG
        STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

  6. Wow, a girl after my own heart! I loved everything about this era – clothes, hairstyles, etc. I lived in Orlando, FL and during that time, Orlando was nothing like it is now and hadn’t quite caught up with the rest of the world.
    But there were those of us that followed the newest trends.

    Thank you for sharing the great pics, fabulous music and a blast from the past!

    1. A man of few words! 😀 Thanks for dropping in, Cranky. Have you heard the term “Youthquake” before? Are you a fan of Peter Frampton’s? Did you know he started out as a teen idol? Don’t be afraid to expound a little! 😉

  7. Oh. Oh. Oh! Yes all of this. What an exciting time this was to be in the UK. Sigh. Life is so different for young people now. I feel so sad for them that they will never know the thrills we knew of growing up in such colorful times, The emerging music , the fashions the rebellion – it was all so new. Although I was born on 1956, I was very much aware of what was happening in the 60s because I have a sister who is four years older and she was at the cutting edge of fashion and music. I used to steal her single records and hide them in books in my bedroom, In fact she has just given me a The crate of all her records (singles). They have been in her loft/attic for the last 40 something years and are covered in dust. They are finally legitimately MINE! ?It’s almost painful going through them because of all the memories that flood back and I long to go back to that time. And yes, The Herd! Oh how I loved Peter Frampton – I had a poster of him on my bedroom wall that I used to kiss!!!! And Dave Dee, Dozy Beaky, Mick and Tich! I was mad on them and I had forgotten about Last Night In Soho. This was typical of songs back then when we were too young to know WTF they were singing about but were intrigued by the seemingly dark glamour of the lyrics. Oh Debbie, I could write so much more – I left the UK for Toronto just as it was all giving way to the punk era and I only really remember the punk scene through my mum and dad’s letters from home and what I experienced on my visits back here. Thanks for this bit of nostalgia! Oh and that film you mention – it has a different title over here, it is called The Boat That Rocked. What a fabulous film! Bill Nighy is my favourite actor and he was superb in that. Radio Caroline was moored just off the coast where I lived back then and it was seen by our parents as a massive cultural threat to us young people! We sometimes have an exhibition down on the seafront here reminding us all of the politics that surrounded the pirate radio stations that were considered a threat to the fabric of society. And Radio Luxumbourg – yes! We had our transistor radios that we took everywhere and we drove the grownups mad. And Radio London – I remember making a protest poster when it got taken off air. Oh the memories Debbie, youth club, discos, boys asking girls to dance, being ‘walked home’ by a boy and wondering if he would kiss you goodnight. Such innocent times and all very easily brought back by the soundtrack of the day. How lucky we were to live through all that. Wouldn’t want to be a teenager now!

    1. Those were some heady, exhilarating times, weren’t they? 😀 Younger people have absolutely NO IDEA what pivotal coming of age stories we experienced! And the music was fascinating. Funny, but I thought Peter Frampton was too “cutesy” and The Herd became too commercialized after their first album, which is why he left after two years to start Humble Pie. Your sister gave up her records? 😮 I can’t imagine ever doing that! I have a couple of turntables, and every now and again, stack up the 45s for a blast from the past. Times are much rougher now and I wouldn’t want to be a teenager either. Thanks for coming by, Gilly. I thought you would enjoy this post! 🙂