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The 60's music scene, the media would have people think, ended
in 1970; but as many of us know, this isn't the case.
New music scenes have come and gone, but the 60's story
carries on.
After the Rock n Roll years of the 1950's and early 60's, the market was mainly USA led, that is
until four lads from Liverpool, England called The Beatles came along.
Thoughout the 60's they went from a rock
n roll band to beat, and the Sgt Pepper days, and so on, and with that The Beatles changed music forever.
Other
English acts followed such as The Searchers, Swinging Blue Jeans, Merseybeats, Troggs, Yardbirds, Stones ... the list goes
on.
Many of these acts are still touring today: The Rolling Stones (from time to time), The Searchers (now with
lead singer Spencer James), Mike Pender's Searchers (former lead singer with the Searchers) The Swinging Blues Jeans (still
led by lead singer Ray Ennis), The Merseybeats (fronted by the two main founding members Billy and Tony, and the Fortunes
(fronted still by the orginal lead singer).
There are also many others but it would take a while to write all
of them out.
Each year more 60's related tours sell out across the UK, performing not only for the orginal fans
but also fans of all ages, showing how popular the 60's recordings remain. At these shows you will find people from
ten and up coming to support the performers and enjoy a great concert.
I recently heard Marty Wilde saying that he tours more today
than he did back in the 60's.
60's recordings are also used around the world in advertising.
I first got into 60's music by watching The Monkees reruns
in the 80's (not, at the time, thinking of it as from the 60's).
Then one day I came across The Monkees album
Pool It and that was it. Since then I've collected all things Monkees and have seen them in concert three times.
Also
what helped open the flood gates to other music acts in the 60's was when one day I was going though my Mum's records and
I came across The Beatles' Greatest Hits.
Their music hit me and I haven't looked back.
The Beatles led to The Beach Boys and in turn other acts from
both the UK and USA.
I get to as many tours and solo concerts as I can and because of this, in 2002, I put together
my website, The Swinging 60's Zone, which was at first just a small fan page. The media give acts from the 60's a hard
time and so the site has since evolved into a base to promote the ongoing acts from the Sixties along with other friends from
around the world.
Many of the acts from the UK have recorded new songs, but without the media behind them only
fans at concerts or with other connections get to hear them.
As Sonny Bono sang, "The Beat Goes On." And
many fans of many ages agree with me: "Music has nothing to do with age."
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