The 1960s: A Decade of Experimentation and Revolution

Pop music had started to take shape and gained its own pace with the cultural, political, and social uprisings typical of the decade: the 1960s. It began its shift from being a simple, commercial affair to become something dynamic-a medium of artistic expression as well as a vector for social commentary. That was the period when artists gave the challenge to what was still possible in music and where one could go with that to satisfy artistic expression, reflecting the changing forces around the world.

The most feverish phenomenon of the 1960s was the British Invasion of The Beatles and, of course, The Rolling Stones. Concretely, the Beatles revolutionized pop music by unifying catchy melodies with thought-provoking lyrics and innovative production techniques. From the early hits like Love Me Do to their latter more experimental works in such powerful masterpieces as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles spread before the world that pop music could well be commercial yet artistically ambitious. Being successful on both sides of the Atlantic, they were globalization within pop music beyond cultural and geographical barriers.

America experienced Motown Records in the limelight as a force of pop, to discover legendary artists such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. At this co-mixture of soul, pop, and R&B, everyone could identify Motown as being useful for blending across racial divides during the American Civil Rights Movement. Dancing in the Street and Ain't No Mountain High Enough became posters carrying messages of hope and determination deeply resounding within listeners' minds.

Pop music also became creative in the 1960s like it had never been before. There was multitrack recording, pioneered by Phil Spector. This has allowed producers to create multiple-layered sounds with many instruments and vocals at different times. Psychedelic pop found birth from the use of mind-altering substances and countercultural ideas. They included some of the most outrageous sonics heard throughout history in groups such as The Beach Boys and The Doors.

This decade also spawned the concept album, in which records were to be listened to as unified works of art instead of collections of individual songs. Classic examples include the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and the Beatles' Revolver, in which the potential of the album format as an artistic medium is most clearly seen.

Actually, cultural festivals like the Woodstock of 1969 seemed to give an expression to the close relationship that seemed to exist between the popular music of the time and the social movement. Woodstock was more than just a concert; it epitomized peace, love, and music with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Who entertaining the large crowds. It established pop music as something integral to cultural and political movements.

Though creativity was rich in the 1960s, that decade was also a year of tragedy and loss. Jimi Hendrix's death, Janis Joplin's, and Otis Redding-all celebrity icons at the peak of fame-served as sobering reminders of the intense pressures and indulgences of fame. Such losses seemed to throw a shadow over optimism on the decade but formed part of the mythology of pop music as being a transforming, almost transcendent art form.

Pop music exploded into a totally new entity by the end of the 1960s, branching off from its feel-good, innocuous beginnings into an incredibly powerful force for artistic self-expression and social change. Innovations of this decade defined pop as a genre that touches people at their depth, placing it high on the mark of creativity. With the turn of the 1970s, pop music was bound to change further as it transformed from the grounds of those artists and movements begun in the 1960s.