Tom Brokaw on 60s music - HISTORY

Tom Brokaw reflects on the music of the 1960s.

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Tom Brokaw reflects on the events of the 1960s.

This History channel video covers games and toys of the 60s like Etch a Sketch, Game of Life and the most popular games of Slip 'n Slide and Twister. See why the game of Twister skyrocketed to over 3 million sales in one year. It also covers such games as Mouse Trap, Air Blaster, The Superball, Battleship, Hot Wheels, Big Wheel, and Operation.

Why were college campuses seed-beds of revolution during the 1960's? Steve Gillon explains how the Baby Boom generation is the answer to this question, in his Ask Steve segment. So many young Americans were entering college in the 1960's because of the Baby Boom. In fact, 41% of the American public in the 1960's was under the age of twenty. At the start of the 1960's, 3 million people were in college, and by the end of the decade that number skyrocketed to 8.6 million. Now there were a lot of young, radical people, all in the same place, who were afraid of such things as the draft. However, not all college campuses were scenes of protests. Most protests took place on the campuses of elite, private, and major research universities. This all boils down to the fact that this generation was divided then on issues like the Vietnam War and still remain divided today.

The influence of rock and roll music on young people in the 1960's is examined in this Ask Steve video. This rock and roll music grew up simultaneously with the Baby Boomers, and was used as a way to differentiate themselves with their parents. Steve Gillon talks of rock and roll beginning with Elvis shaking his hips on the Ed Sullivan Show, and the lyrics of music switching from topics of romance and heart-break to topics of rebellion. For example, Bob Dylan sang of anti-war and pro-civil rights feelings, and psychedelic rock promoted the use of drugs and sex. Even the appearance of The Beatles changed as the rebellion moves through the 1960's. Music in the 1960's gave the generation permission to rebel and exert themselves as different from their parents.

In reaction to violence that broke out at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley defends his city's police, blaming instead the anti-Vietnam War demonstrators for the clash.

On May 14, 1968, New York's public television station aired a "Newsfront" program featuring an interview with the Beatles' John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The songwriting duo discuss their role as superstars.