The 1960's: Music, Memories & Milestones

Culled from American and British newsreel archives, this montage of moments and music from the '60s features a good mix of the sublime and the ridiculous. Opening with a clip of 23 British students packing into an Austin (going for the world's record), the program shifts to the inauguration of Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs debacle. The soundtrack plays the appropriate "Monday, Monday" by The Mamas and The Papas. In another eerie juxtaposition, the M & P song "California Dreaming" plays while aerial footage of Vietnamese huts burning fills up the screen. Arranged chronologically, the tape covers all of the major events (with running subtitles at the bottom of the screen) of the '60s, including the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, Neil Armstrong's landing on the moon, the plague of assassinations, and the war for Algerian independence. But there are many light moments too, reflected in the fashion shows, an interview with a sex-change couple, and (gasp!) the marriage of Paul McCartney--which left many a Cockney lass in hysterical tears. And the music is primo: besides M & P, the tape features such classics as "House of the Rising Sun," "Wipeout," "Eve of Destruction," and Tom (the hips) Jones' "It's Not Unusual." No, Tom, it is unusual; especially for the children of today who wonder what on earth their parents went through during the days of love beads and peace medallions. Recommended. (Available from most distributors.)