What I mean is, do you look at those years as being part of the 1970s, or as being sort of the hangover from the 60s? Culturally, fashion wise, music wise, where does it fall for you?
Great question!
I see it as being both, a new decade of culture, fashion, music, etc, but with a hit of the 60’s still simmering in the background. For me, the 60’s and 70’s, represents a time like no other, and if there was a way for me to travel back in time, that’s where I’d be.
The 60s ended in 1970 with the break up of The Beatles. Further, the death of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix in 1970 was shocking I imagine; I was only 8 at the time. By the time Jim Morrison died in 1971 the icing was on the cake.
1970 and 1971 cemented the end of the 60s and ushered in disco music and fashion.
I was in college then (starting in 1969) so I tend to see those years as an extension of college and thus the '60s. Nixon was President, Vietnam was in full boom, and music hadn’t changed that much.
The Sixties to me is 1964 to 1974. Beatles to Watergate. LBJ through Nixon. Concurrent with the US odyssey in Vietnam. With the apex being 1969; Woodstock, Manson, moon landing. The Seventies didn’t start until Gerald Ford became president.
I was in grade 12 in ‘70-‘71 and from what I remember I recognized at the time there were great times ahead.
I’m against them, personally.
I hadn’t been born yet, but observations like this just indicate to me that using terms like “the Sixties,” etc., is essentially arbitrary, and really just a very subjective way of constructing interpretations about the past to fit whatever particular events, etc., stand out to any given individual.
And that’s fine; it’s not a criticism. But it’s just one way to talk about the past. I personally think we should be clear that when historians of the recent past do this, they pick and choose things precisely because these arbitrary choices are the only way that they can make such generalizations, which is their bread and butter.
I personally don’t see any real need in the first place to demarcate the “end” of “The Sixties” or the “beginning” of the “Seventies.” I believe that cultural trends in reality are more fluid than that.
I wouldn’t be able to have any more opinion of anything so vague as “the early 1970s” than I would of, let’s say, 2013-2014–probably as much as the OP would have if I asked, “What’s your opinion of 2013-2014?”
IMHO, the only reason people are able to do this at all is that over time, in the years that follow, narratives start to be told, and re-told, and handed down, in movies, documentaries, in popular discourse in general, that construct an identity of this particular period, and as each narrative is told, it reinforces that identity, choosing some things to focus on, and other things to ignore, until there is some kind of popular notion that is more about the people who have constructed the narratives than the actual time period itself.
It won’t surprise you to learn that my degree is in History. We (historians) like stuff that can be divided into tidy chapters.
Well, then you have my sincere admiration–as someone who likes to read about the past, and is also interested in HOW people talk about the past. And I have a question: If we could just get away from the use of decades to refer to periods, what names would you give the time periods we’re discussing here?
It by no means encompasses the whole, but maybe the “Countercultural Revolution”.
This. No decade has been so neatly defined as the sixties. They began the night the Beatles sang on Ed Sullivan, and ended with Nixon’s resignation. Everything before and after those dates was very different.
Oh, and for the decade after the Countercultural Revolution, I’d suggest the “Countercultural Appropriation”.
I was born in 1968 and thus I was too young to have a living memory, but musically, 1970/71 were great. A ton of great albums came out in those two years, some of them cementing what we now call classic rock, but also a great time for soul music, which became more and more socially aware in this time. Please don’t ask me to list every great album of that period, because that list would be too long for a reasonable post.
I agree but a quibble: My 60s stretched from JFK’s assassination to Nixon’s resignation - which also.marked my transition from reckless vagabond to serious citizen. I forget much of the 60s so I must have been there (per Robin Williams). Dead rockers don’t signal an era because occupational hazard, same as jazzbos.
I’ll note a techy kickoff of the 70s: the Intel 4004, world’s first microprocessor. Its 1971 release was IMHO the day the universe changed.
I’d put the start of the '60s at 11/22/63. The optimism that existed in the '50s ended that day.
The '50s by the way, started after the end of the Korean War.
I was finishing HS and starting college in 1971. I attended a couple of anti-war rallies in DC, a girl I knew wanted to go, and tried to keep up with the latest news and events while keeping up with life and school.
What I remember most about those years is the strain of change. Up until the late 60s, say 1968, most people still trusted the Government and the economy was humming. By 1969 both anchors were going or gone. Social mores were changing and the adults were no longer in control. I could tell you stories about going to my first caucus meeting after 18 yr olds got the vote. The old rules were gone and the new rules were just starting. For a 20 year old it wasn’t so bad, for those older or much younger, it was really tough. If you had any assets: a good job, a house, savings, etc, these were tense times. But the young people were the largest group of activists and they were setting the agenda. Everyone was dealing with tremendous change, and it was exciting for young people and a tough time for older folks. Of course now the older folks are mostly gone so all you hear from are the ex-young people. They tell part of the story.
So basically:
1953-1963 - Cultural 1950s in US
11/22/63 - 8/9/74 - Cultural 1960s
Maybe –
8/9/74 - 1/20/81 - Cultural 70s?
1/20/81 - 12/31/1991 - Cultural 80s?
1/1/1992 - 9/11/2001 - Cultural 90s
(I chose 12/31/91 as the end of the Cultural 90s because it’s the end of the final year in which the USSR existed - 1992 would be the first year since 1922 that the USSR didn’t exist, and the first calendar year which began without the Cold War)
Music was excellent, fashion sucked. Just look at these horrors: The Good, the Bad and the Tacky: 20 Fashion Trends of the 1970s
The mid 60’s saw the SR-71 and by the end of the decade we landed on the Moon as well as the first flights of the 747 and Concorde. It was a decade of technological achievement.