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Introduction |
| As the music
of 1960s slides 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 business of music has never been about historical accuracy. "Back in the day," agents routinely invented birthdates for performers to make them appear younger than they were. And the value of the songs lured many into the practice of inventing authorship to benefit someone who could help get the song recorded. |
| In studying this era, keeping track of "who did what when" becomes fundamentally
important. It is one thing to spin stories about the past. It is quite another for us to accept
these stories 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 first compiled and
posted 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 Record Retailer. When these dates were unavailable, I have substituted 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 were
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. The later in the decade, the more variety of dates appear as iconoclastic independent record companies sought to shake up the status quo. |
| 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 neglects 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). 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. |
| This site continues
to change and I apologize for the inconsistencies between years. Hopefully the changes make the site easier to use. |
| 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. |
| Each month also has link to the contents of the New Musical Express as a way to provide a balance to the purely chronological listings. |
| Chronology
Index | Acknowledgements | Sources |
This
is a living document. I welcome corrections and suggestions.
Gordon
Thompson  Department
of Music Skidmore
College |
| Copyright
© 1995 —
January 2009, Gordon Thompson |