Swinging London

By: Ryan Estabrooks

Swinging London, the mainly youth-driven culture that exploded in the 1960’s, gave birth to some excellent films, music, and fashion. New, revolutionary, hip, hedonistic, optimistic, modern: all terms that are associated with this scene. The term itself was popularized in the 15 April, 1966 issue of Time magazine. Psychedelic music grew in popularity, no doubt in part to pirate radio stations like ‘Swinging Radio England’ and America became exposed to what it termed the ‘British Invasion’ of rock. Twiggy became a house hold name, pop art became popular and mod fashion became the norm.

Key Albums of Swinging London
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The Beatles – “Revolver”
The Yardbirds – " Roger the Engineer"
The Zombies – “Odessey and Oracle”
The Rolling Stones – “Aftermath”
The Kinks – “The Village Green Preservation Society”
The Small Faces – “Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake”
The Who – “The Who Sell Out”
The Creation – “We Are Paintermen”
Cream – “Disraeli Gears”

Key Books of Swinging London
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Absolute Beginners (by Colin MacInnes)
The Bang Bang Birds (by Adam Diment)
Bomb Culture (by Jeff Nuttall)

Key Figures of Swinging London
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Cathy McGowan
Twiggy
Brian Epstein
The Beatles
Mary Quant
Michael Caine
Marsha Hunt
Jane Asher
Julie Christie
David Bailey

Books About Swinging London
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Ready, Steady, Go!: The Smashing Rise and Giddy Fall of Swinging London (by Shawn Levy)
Sixties Britain: Culture, Society and Politics (by Mark Donnelly)
White Heat: A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties: 1964-1970 (by Dominic Sandbrook)

Below you will find several films that showcase Swinging London as it’s own special time and place