Too young to listen to 60s, soul and Motown?

“We are the mods. We are the mods. We are, we are, we are the mods.” These very words in the film Quadrophenia, showed how proud youngsters were in the 1960’s to represent their love of soul and motown. Four decades later and young people still have a place for it in their hearts. To some, it’s a dead era and its existence belongs only in the past but does this really matter? So what if the ‘golden age’ of music took off before some people’s time?! The fact that people still like it in this generation shows they like the music on their own accord, rather than being part of what was fashionable.

The loved artists in question include The Supremes, Isley brothers, Spencer Davis group, Curtis Mayfield, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Al Green. A lot of the popular bands people like today such as The Enemy were inspired by bands like The Jam, who in turn were inspired by this musical era. So it’s no wonder the soul and motown inspiration filters through music collections all over the world today.

Other singers with the soul sound are Duffy (whose been compared to Dusty Springfield), Amy Winehouse, Adele, Joss Stone and Corrine Bailey Rae. Infact, it seemed as if they all emerged at the same time, or at least a ripple effect was caused when Amy Winehouse became popular.
But why do people still love the 60’s era? Well it was a time of free love, peace and socio-political libertarianism. It was when music started to become a way of life. It was when different styles merged together to create unique sounds. Motown in particular was uplifting and knocked down racial barriers with people coming together through a mutual love of music. The Funk Brothers must be given the most credit for being the pioneers of Motown. People want to re-live that same laid back approach to life.

And it’s not just the music people want to re-live or retain, but fashionable vintage clothing remains as popular as it was all those years ago too. Any look at Sheffield town centre and you’ll find Freshmans, Cow and other smaller boutiques selling the era back to us. There’s the bi-annual vintage fair as well showing just how in demand vintage fashion is. Even shops like Fred Perry recreate the era with polo shirts galore. Laura, a Univeristy of Sheffield student says: “I wear vintage clothing because you can see something you really like and know nobody else will have it. It gives you a bit of originality. A lot of the vintage shops are cheap too so it just makes sense”.

It seems then that the era is not dead (far from it in fact) with people paying homage to it in some form or other on a regular basis. We simply can't move on: after all a lot of the music we like today had to come from somewhere, and you can bet a good percentage of it was from the 1960’s. Long live the 60s!

Kristiane Genovese