The term Swinging London applied to London in the 1960s, from all the fashion, music and basically pop culture that emerged in the land of Big Ben, :). This happened mainly after WWII, when England basically got the hell bombed out of them. What did they do to deserve getting bombed?
Here are some of the musicians of that time who gave Swinging London a soundtrack:
The Beatles
I like George the most!!!!!
The Who
- In America, when these musicians came to the US, it was referred to as the British Invasion, which is cool, because that time gave us some of th best musicians in the history of music. And a good majority of these musicians did actually come to the US, such as the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who
- How most of this music got airplay was through pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, Wonderful Radio London, Swinging Radio England.
Fashion and photography became very big, in magazines such as Queen and it drew attention to people like Mary Quant, a fashion designer during the Swinging London times.
- Jean Shrimpton was one of the first supermodels as well as another big icon. She was the one to introduce the miniskirt. And her sister was an actress just like Jean, and she was known for her relationship to Rolling Stone front man Mick Jagger when he was attending the London School of Economics and Steve Marriott of the Small Faces. Shrimpton was called the Face of the 60s, and became the big icon of Swinging London.
- Other big models of this era included Twiggy, Veruschka, Peggy Moffitt, Penelope Tree. Twiggy was called 'The Face of Mod', along with Cathy McGowan, who hosted the TV rock show Ready, Steady, Go! from 19664-1966.
- The so called 'Mod' fashions are what started very fashionable areas like Carnaby Street, King's Road, Chelsea. This area was big for 'mod' youths. What got these areas underway was the introduction of the miniskirt by Jean Shrimpton.
- The British Flag, aka the Union Flag or Union Jack, was a big symbol of the 1960s for London, and it became so as part of the 1966 World Cup when England won, and also the Mini Cooper became taxis with advertising that served as the paintwork.
- Mods- here's some elements to this little world:
- Fashion- tailor made suits
- Music- black Soul music, Jamaican ska, British beat music, R&B
- Scooters.
- After the mid to late 1960s, the term mod was used to describe anything modern.
For the minskirt, thank this awesome woman! Jean Shrimpton
Twiggy
Peggy Moffitt
Penelope Tree
Yeah, somehow, movies got made about this era. Some celebrated it, while others may have mocked it.
- Blowup-1966
- Darling-1965
- The Knack...And How to Get It-1965
- Alfie- 1966
- Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment-1966
- Georgy Girl-1966
- Modesty Blaise-1966
- Casino Royale-1967
- Smashing Time-1967
- Bedazzled-1967
- Up the Junction- 1968
- if...-1968
- Performance-1970
- Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery-1997
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me-1999
- Austin Powers: Goldmember- 2002
- The Boat That Rocked-2009
There were also shows that took place during this groovy time. Sorry, just had to throw that one in!
- The Avengers. This one is the biggest one that showed Swinging London, with it's 2 characters John Steed and Emma Peel
- Take Three Girls(1969)
John Steed and Emma Peel. Strangely enough, I have never seen this show, but I know who they are. When my dad was growing up, he watched this show.
This could be the Small Faces, although the one with the light hair looks like Rod Stewart!
