when youth rebellion took music away from the staid BBC
At the start of the 1960s , at least in the UK, popular music was in a pretty bad way. It was controlled by the marketing men and the young stars had do what they were told. Some rebellious music had started such as skiffle and The Twist. There was no legal alternative to the BBC whose policy was to ignore such trends. Light entertainment and big comedy shows such as ‘Round The Horne’ would often feature two musical breaks because the audience couldn’t concentrate for long. Typically one would be a brassy song from a Musical or Standard, and the the other would feature some trio trying to turn a traditional song into jazz. Radio Luxembourg and illegal offshore pirate radio would play the then emerging challenges to the BBC who finally introduced Pop radio in 1967.
Until 1962 most popular music was catchy little tunes or big ballads all adhering to the same safe formula with an orchestra of ex World War 2 marching traditions. Then there was the scramble to sign up any four people who could get together and form a group. And hence the British Invasion which challenged the status quo in the USA.
As at summer 2025, Music today, especially in USA is in the same position today. Identical tunes by identical singers sticking to the same formulas as the 1980s. Only this time written by 17 writers or ChatGPT. The mavericks have been British, Amy Winehouse and Adele being the classic examples. They would never have been home grown from the USA.
If you go into any café, restaurant or bar today they are playing music from 1960s, 70s, 80s and occasionally the 90s . It would be unimaginable to have gone into a café in the 1960s and listened to the songs of 1910 and 1920.
Bad Bunny, Olivia Dean and RAYE
In the mid sixties music crossed over from having white people making sanitised versions of black music to the real thing , with Motown leading the way. It has now become segregated again.
Personally I still collect Cds (I got rid of the Vinyl years ago), though I think I only have two which were recorded this century. And listen to new streamed music from Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift and the slightly more original Chapelle Roan and its totally derivative and safe (except for the provocative videos). Bring on Bad Bunny, at least it’s got some fire in it’s belly. And find some new folks as original as the Beatles came to be.
Postcript: This article was written in summer 2025. A lot has happened since then, at least for me: America is still loving the droning from Lana Del Rey and Billie Eillish but elsewhere there is magic from Rosalia, Olivia Dean and above all RAYE. All these have rebelled against the management, particularly RAYE whose new album released on 27th of March got a 5 star review. It will become the third CD I have bought with music actually recorded in this century and like Rosalia cannot be considered as easy listening . If you listen you too will have the challenge of which of her songs to practice for karaoke (answer none- they are all impossible). Where the music contains hope, and success comes to those strong enough not to follow their advisors requirement for safety.
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Written by David Rigby © 2026 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd
