In terms of popular music, the 1960's
is regarded as the benchmark to which
all other decades are compared,
despite the fact that very little of
enduring note occurred in the decade's
first three years. The Twist? A
passing phenomenon and typical of the
way that the music industry encouraged
obsolescence. It could be seen in the
careers of America's and Britain's
rock icons, Elvis Presley and Cliff
Richard, who were clearly steered away
from rock'n'roll and towards what was
termed "family entertainment". At the end of 1962, The Beatles
arrived and conquered Britain, but it
would take over a year with three flop
singles and a dormant album before the
USA would capitulate to the
Liverpudlian charmers with the pudding
basin haircuts, but when Beatlemania
gripped America, it heralded the
longest period of world rock influence
that Britain has yet experienced. Where was the Dungeon Master at the
very time the music world exploded?
Well folks, right in there with it,
I was in my teens and keen on
getting a slice of the action. I
played rhythm guitar with a few lads
of my own age and we called ourselves
THE MUSTANGS. We never really made it
anywhere though, a few gigs at some
local church halls playing to giggly
12 year old girls gave us the
confidence to audition for the local
pubs. "Sorry," was the general reply.
"Keep trying lads but don't give up
your daytime jobs just yet." Job wise, unlike today, things
could not be better for young folk,
there was jobs chasing people. I
remember the very hot month of July
1962 when I walked out of no less
than five different jobs, collected
my pay and moved on to another only to
do the same. August 1963 was a
great month for me, I passed my
driving test and brought my first
car, a 1955 Chevvy Impala, albeit
a left hooker. Wow, was this a real
piece of heavy bird pulling shite or
what? (See the piccy elsewhere on this
page) There she sat in my parents driveway
all waxed and polished with two tone
red and cream shiny paintwork looking
the bee's knees and the interior
looked even better with all white
LEATHER upholstery. Electric aerial,
windows, seats, RECORD PLAYER and a
commodity only seen today in very
expensive cars, AIR CONDITIONING! Yes Crypties, that was a real mean
piece of kit, Blow yer modern day Ford
Escort XR3i or Sierra Cosworth, my
Chevvy despite of weighing nearly two
tons with her 5.3 litre lump could
piss the 7 second quarter mile, no
joke! Fuel consumption? Don't even
dare to ask! I did do a check one
month and it blew my mind, or was it
my wallet? 12 mpg or LESS... Mind
you folks 5 star petrol was only half
a crown a gallon in them days, yeah
12p per gallon.. eat yer hearts out! Meanwhile whilst me and a car load of
mates were out burning rubber and
chasing girls the revolution began as
The Beatles and The Rolling Stones
independently began to find a fast
growing audience for their live
performances of songs by Chuck Berry.
Blues, rock'n'roll, R&B, call it what
you like was what they played before
they started writing their own songs. Between 1964 and 1966 dozens of
British groups made fortunes, both
here and in the States, some like the
Dave Clark Five and Freddie & The
Dreamers doing better in the USA
rather than at home. My Chevvy blew up, my wallet was empty
from trying to fill up its gas tank, I
brought a "sensible" vehicle, a '57
Standard 8. I even got myself a steady
job and a girlfriend and sat back and
enjoyed the decade. An apocryphal statement frequently
quoted in the 1990's suggests that
anyone who claims to remember the
Sixties could not have lived through
the decade. This is plainly incorrect
as Sixties influences in fashion and
music are arguably even more prevalent
today than they were in the decade in
which they first appeared. If this
were not so, why would I have written
this article and why would we have
featured a RETRO edition of THE CRYPT?