1966: the year the decade exploded

Abstract

1966 was a year of noise and tumult, of brightly colored patterns clashing with black and white politics, of furious forward motion and an outraged, awakening reaction. There remains an urgency that marks the music and movies of that year, counterbalanced by traces of loss, disconnection and deep melancholy.

Contents

Part 1, Acceleration. -- January. A quiet explosion : CND, protest and the conspiracy of silence -- February. 19th nervous breakdown : British teen culture and the madness of swinging London -- March. The ballad of the Green Berets : the Vietnam War in America -- April. The third eye : LSD and its discontents -- May. Walkin' my cat named Dog : The feminine mystique and Female independence -- June. I'll be your mirror : The Velvet Underground and Warhol's America -- July. Land of 1000 dances : Tamla, soul and the March Against Fear -- August. Do you come here often? Joe Meek, gay rights and a summer of violence -- Part 2, Explosion. -- September. 7 and 7 is : provocations, shadows and a new language -- October. Winchester Cathedral : times past, present and future -- November. Good vibrations : Motown and soul in the UK, the Beach Boys and the Sunset Strip -- December. My mind's eye : dreams of freedom, a prophetic minority and the return to childhood.