|
|
| CS |
BOOKS
1966! The Coolest Year in Pop Culture History
By Hal Lifson
Bonus Books
1966: It was a very good year
By COREY LEVIAN
A single year saw the release of the two best rock albums in history: The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and the Beatles' Revolver, which continue to dominate critic and fan lists debuted in 1966.
What a coincidence, I used to think. Ditto the fact that Bob Dylan released his career's best that year, too, Blonde on Blonde. And the fact that 1966 was when Simon and Garfunkel uncaged "The Sounds of Silence" and the Rolling Stones introduced "Under My Thumb" and "Paint It Black" to the radio airwaves that still carry them.
Then I cracked a new book by former KRLA-AM radio host Hal Lifson, 1966! The Coolest Year in Pop Culture History (Bonus Books). It identifies not only a definitive '66 phenomenon, but tracks it across all entertainment fields. In fact, two TV shows debuted that year whose names just happened to be Star Trek and Batman.
The year 1966 had its average share of news headlines -- the escalation of the Vietnam War, the Miranda decision, the placing of the first direct-dial international call.
But in pop culture, there was nothing average about it.
"It's definitely the biggest pop-culture year of the 20th century," Lifson says. "I mean, you can't put anything from the '70s or '80s next to '66."
There's always the argument that we overvalue the culture that dominates our childhood, and Lifson was six years old in 1966.
But I grew up in the '70s, not the '60s. And even though my eyes might mist when I hear David Soul's "Don't Give up on Us" or flip past an old episode of Fantasy Island, I was still acutely aware that everything in my pop culture pretty much stank.
So, was there something in the water in 1966?
Well, yes, sometimes it was in the water. Sometimes it was on the back of postage stamps.
The year the drug counterculture exploded was '67, of course, with its summer of love. But the psychedelic influence on pop culture began trickling in a year before. And it was how exactly this trickle commingled with the lingering innocence of the previous era that made 1966 so special.
"In '67, drugs became almost mainstream for young people," Lifson says. "But in '66, it was still closeted, only hinted at in the media. There was kind of a mixture of conservative business elements with drug culture and experimental thinking from collegiate and intellectual circles."
In the Beatles' world, this meant creating music that spoke more deeply, in more spiritual and artistic ways, yet still maintained a lifeline to the joyous and commercial melodiousness of the mop-top years. The result was "We Can Work It Out," "She Said She Said" and "Eleanor Rigby."
"It was the elements clashing," Lifson agrees. "That's why 'Good Vibrations' was such a masterpiece single. It had psychedelics but also a fun, happy, optimistic message."
Of course, if a little of something is good, a lot must be great. And by 1967, nearly everything in pop culture was dominated by a promise that had overgrown into a dead-end fad. That's why the Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Flying Nun seem so dated now, while 1966-era Beatles and The Monkees remain fresh. (Accordingly, revisionist history has flipped Revolver ahead of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as both the best and most influential Beatles album.)
As Lifson pointed out, psychedelia was introduced to TV in 1966, too. The utopian view of a greedless, essentially peaceful future promoted by Star Trek, the most successful sci-fi brand name ever and still a viable movie and TV franchise, paralleled the goals of the flower-power movement. And the show's scripts dripped with indirect social commentary on civil rights and the Vietnam War, among other hot anti-establishment topics. (TV's first interracial kiss involved Capt. Kirk and Lt. Uhura, and who can forget the episode when Spock became a hippie?)
The way Star Trek looked was psychedelic, too. Color TV was new, and networks were looking for artistic ways to exploit the technology.
"If you look at TV from 1966 as opposed to 1965, the drug influence was clearly evident," Lifson says. "Batman is another example. It used a completely existential reality, and mixed an adult level of satire in with comic books and pop art -- things brewing in the earlier '60s -- Roy Lichtenstein's artwork and Warhol."
The question is why something similar hasn't happened since. Why haven't different cultural elements commingled to produce an equally prolific burst of creativity?
"First of all, because you can't become innocent again," Lifson responds. "And pop culture now has become so fragmented that we don't discover areas that we're not interested in.
"In '66, KHJ-AM played the Tijuana Brass in between the Beatles and the Byrds. It was all mixed together, whereas now, even hip-hop, urban and old-school R&B are all separate.
"But I'm not saying we can't ever have another year like 1966 again. In fact, I hope we do." -- Copley News Service
|
|
|
| CS |
Loot '66: How much cool stuff can come from one year?
ALBUMS:
Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys.
Revolver, the Beatles.
Blonde on Blonde, Bob Dylan.
Aftermath, the Rolling Stones.
Sounds of Silence, Simon and Garfunkel.
Got Live If You Want It! the Rolling Stones.
SINGLES:
"Good Vibrations," the Beach Boys.
"Wild Thing," the Troggs.
"Sounds of Silence," Simon and Garfunkel.
"You Can't Hurry Love," the Supremes.
"Paint It Black," the Rolling Stones.
"Summer in the City," the Lovin' Spoonful.
"Paperback Writer," the Beatles.
"When a Man Loves a Woman," Percy Sledge.
"Monday, Monday," the Mamas and the Papas.
"Rainy Day Women No. 12 and 35," Bob Dylan.
"I'm a Believer," the Monkees.
"Under My Thumb," the Rolling Stones.
"You're My Soul and Inspiration," the Righteous Brothers.
"We Can Work It Out," the Beatles.
"Reach Out I'll Be There," Four Tops.
"I Want You," Bob Dylan.
DEBUTS:
Star Trek
Batman
The Monkees
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
MOVIES:
Blow-Up
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
A Man for All Seasons
Fahrenheit 451
Our Man Flint
The Endless Summer
-- Copley News Service
|
|
|
| CS |
... and "Charlie is my Darling" (1966) the first film about the stones |
|
|
| sasca |
Yeah, it's right up there, though I think '73, '67...could be claimed as equal. And the year's best album was surely Aftermath? |
|
|
| Soul Survivor |
No
Even us being stones fans know that Aftermath shouldnt be ahead of Revolver |
|
|
| sasca |
Fair enough if you don't but for me they have a fairly equal number of great songs (Under My Tumb, For No-one, Out of Time, Taxman) and not quite great songs (Think, Got to Get You Into My Life). |
|
CHAT ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
RESTROOMS]