HIPPIES AND SKINHEADS

Read some information about informal groups of young people and find the difference between them.

1. Towards the end of the 60s a new group appeared, whose ideas started in California, in the USA. The Hippiespreached a philosophy of peace and love, wore necklaces of coloured beads, and gave flowers to surprised strangers on the street. The name comes from the fad that drugtakers in Asia and the Far East used to lie on one hip while smok­ing opium. Hippies didn't use opium but they smoked mari­juana, and took powerful drugs such as LSD. Music, espe­cially under the influence of the Beatles, began to include strange sounds and images in an attempt to recreate the "psychedelic" or dream-like experience of drugs.

Hippies wore simple clothes, blue jeans and open san­dals, and grew their hair very long. They often lived to­gether in large communities, sharing their possessions. This was their protest against the materialism of the 60s and also against the increasing military involvent of the United States in Vietnam.

However, the dreams of peace and love disappeared in the early 70s as the mood of society changed. People's at­tention turned to life's more basic problems as the world price of oil increased, causing a fall in living standards and rising inflation.

2. Skinheads were racist, violent, and proud of the fact. The "uniform" worn by most of them consisted of trousers that were too short, enormous boots, and braces.As their name suggests, they wore their hair extremely short or even shaved it all off. As unemployment grew throughout the 70s, groups of skinheads began to take their revenge on immigrants, who were attacked on the streets and in their homes.

Exercise

What group is this information about?

1. They are racist, violent, and proud of the fact.
2. They wore simple clothes, blue jeans and open san­dals, and grew their hair very long.
3. They often lived to­gether in large communities, sharing their possessions.
4. They wore their hair extremely short or even shaved it all off.

5. They attacked immigrants on the streets and in their homes.

6. They protested against the materialism of the 60s and also against the increasing military involvent of the United States in Vietnam.

ROCK MUSIC

Read some information about the history of rock music. Find out what the first groups were.

When the American rock-and-roll singer Chuck Berry first sang "Roll over Beethoven and tell Tchaikowsky the news!" in the 1950s, he was telling the world that the new music, Rock-'n'-Roll, was here to stay. Over the last forty years it has had an enormous effect on people's lives, and especially on the kind of clothes they wear.

The first group to be seen in the newspapers in the late 50s were the Teddy Boys. Their clothes weresupposed to be similar to those worn in Edwardian England: long jackets with velvet collars, drainpipe trousers (so tight they looked like drainpipes!) and brightly coloured socks. Their shoes had very thick rubber soles and their hair was swept up­wards and backwards. Before the arrival of the Teddy Boys young people had usually worn what their parents wore. Now they wore what they liked.

In the mid 60s the Mods, (so called because of their "modern" style of dressing) became the new leaders of teenage fashion. Short hair and smart suits were popular again. But perhaps the Mods' most important possessions were their scooters, usually decorated with large numbers of lights and mirrors. They wore long green anoracks, called parkas, to protect their clothes.

Exercise

Anwer the questions:

1. What is Chuck Berry famous for?
2. What was the first group to be seen in the newspapers in the late 50s?
3. What were their clothes like?
4. Why were the Mods called so?
5. What were the Mods’ most important possessions?

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1107