You Say You Want a Revolution?: Records and Rebels 1966-1970

So much has been written about the popular culture of late 60s that you might well ask what yet another coffee-table book can add. Published to tie in with the forthcoming exhibition at the V&A, You Say You Want a Revolution takes a road well-travelled: Lots of lovingly reproduced psychedelic posters and album sleeves, chapters on fashion, the US West Coast and Detroit music scenes, the counter-culture and the Beatles, mixed with serious-minded summarising of the US political upheavals of the time. All present and correct. And, as this book is published by the V&A, design, fashion and style is strongly emphasised throughout.Leafing through the book, half a century on from the period in question (1966-1970), it’s hard to dispel the feeling that, however visually arresting it is, we’ve seen this all before. The individual topics of most of the chapters have been the subjects of many books in their own right, books which have dug into the detail to a much greater depth. Nevertheless, the 9 chapters (by different authors) are well-written, if a touch more worthy and restrained than the era deserves. Not much new is uncovered and much is rehashed (yes, there is a (very readable if well-trodden) chapter on pop and LSD by Jon Savage). However, a few of the book’s different angles make a purchase worth considering by anyone who hasn’t already bought too many big shiny books about the 60s.For example, Victoria Broackes’ chapter on the Beatles concentrates on the projection of their image through their album sleeves and clothes, rather than their music. Broackes makes a good case for their album sleeves signalling the youth cultural movements of the times. She traces the growing psychedelic derangement of youth culture, in the visual journey from the subtle distortion of the Beatles’ sleeve photograph and bubble typography of Rubber Soul, through the chaotic monochrome montage of Revolver, to the full-blown Technicolor excess of Sgt Pepper’s cover, inner sleeve and card insert. She then follows the transitions from psychedelia to radical politics to back-to-basics philosophies, mirrored by the austere minimalism of the White Album and the resigned simplicity of the Abbey Road and Let it Be sleeve photographs.Fred Turner’s chapter on communes and computing does bring to light some little known connections made in the 60s. He claims a pivotal link was the Whole Earth Catalog, a hybrid manual, directory and mail order catalogue for commune-dwellers and alternative technologists, in whose pages the emerging counter-culture overlapped with the consumer society. He quotes Steve Jobs’ statement that the Catalog “was like Google … 35 years before Google came along.” Turner may be stretching things a bit by claiming that it also “showed computer scientists could adopt the same collaborative, anti-hierarchical modes of organization that characterised the counter-culture”, but it is true that the early days of computing science and R&D were imbued with a sense that anything was possible, a sense philosophically closer to hippie beliefs than to those of the military-industry complex. Turner reports that the inventor of the computer mouse/keyboard/screen combo, Douglas Engelbart, invited the founder of the Catalog to film its first public demonstration.But of all the chapters, Alison J Clarke’s examination of consumerism and design is possibly the most revealing. Rather than the story of “a booming industry buoyed by the rise of disposable income and heady explosion of styles competing for the attention of a new consumer generation” which, as Clarke says, might have been expected, it reads like a history of an intense political struggle and a battle of conflicting beliefs, culminating in physical skirmishes such as the occupation of the Milan Triennial Design exhibition by student activists in 1968. This chapter exposes how deeply odd late 60s culture could become.In an effort to put the period 1966-1970 into historical context, some of the chapters have postcripts on what has happened since. These are short but revealing, and more on how the explosion of ideas in the 5 years under review influenced (or has been rejected by) the West in the subsequent 50 would have been welcome.There are not many unnecessary compromises made to reflect the fact that the book is primarily an exhibition catalogue and not a stand-alone publication. The images and text do not appear particularly skewed by any limitations of what was available to exhibit. The only omission, unusually for a European exhibition, is the lack of much on the events in Paris in May 1968, beyond the reproductions of a few posters and a pamphlet. It’s surprising that Situationist and Provo literature and posters, which have had a substantial impact on graphic design subsequently, do not feature more strongly. But this is a minor quibble. The only major false note is struck in the first chapter by two weird and trite (imaginary?) diaries of residents of London and San Francisco from 66-70, which get the book off to a shaky start. You suspect that these “diaries” will make more sense in the context of the exhibition.On balance, at its current price here (35% reduction on list), You Say You Want a Revolution is worth it if you’re looking for an all-in-one glossy (and admittedly beautiful) well-written and thoughtful summary of the late 60s culture, viewed through societal and design lenses. As that might be a bit of niche market, the book will most likely sell to those who attend the exhibition, as a souvenir, which is a shame, as it definitely deserves a wider audience beyond those able to get to the V&A.

A catalogue to accompany the V&A’s brilliant exhibition: more of an experience than an exhibition based firmly on the template used for ‘David Bowie Is’ a couple of years ago.Most exhibition catalogues are dire with boring essay after boring essay written as if the reader is doing a degree in the subject. This is accompanied by an attempt to save printing costs by reducing the size of images as much as possible.The good news is that this catalogue is not one of those! Only the section on commercialism and advertising is dire and turgid. The rest of the articles are well written and help to develop the issues raised by the exhibition by offering more contextualisation; I particularly liked the section on US politics. The lay out of the catalogue is very attractive as you would expect from the V&A and images are big and well printed.This is a wonderful insight into one of the most fascinating periods of modern history, both politically and culturally. The exhibition introduces it brilliantly and this book is the perfect companion to take it further. It can also be enjoyed as a standalone book for those who can’t make it to the V&A.

You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966-1970 was the best exhibition I have EVER seen at the V&A. As a child of the 60s I am biased, but the energy of that era was astounding. This book captures some of the themes of 60's American and Britain & Europe, not as well as the exhibition itself of course, but it is a helpful reminder of so much early youthful promise

A superb book in all respects. I went to the exhibition so having the book was essential. It is packed with photographs and very informative articles about the period. Many of the books published about the sixties do not bring anything new to our understanding of the period. I guess that this book falls into that category but it is set out in such a way as to make interesting the things we already know. This book is ideal for those who wish to find out about the period and also for those, like me, who lived through it and want to walk down memory lane!

Arrived as described after I saw the exhibition - brilliant reminder of things I never knew

Fantastic book - gave it as a Christmas present and the whole family were fighting over it to have a look. But there is so much in it, I think it will keep everyone happy for many many months

Fantastic book of the exhibiton from the second half of the 60's - well worth buying - and the exhibititionwas great and the CD brilliant.

Buy it if you did not go to the exhibition