By Jessica Hazel

Those of you who find yourselves in the big smoke this January should take a trip to the National Portrait Gallery before the months out for the last chance to check out over 150 photographs of England’s finest rock ‘n’ roll treasures, from Beatles to Bowie and Hendrix to the Stones, it’s well worth a look as at least 100 of the images have never been seen before.

‘Swinging London’, as it was known, might have happened fifty years ago, but this doesn’t detract from the classic glamour, edge or style that this exhibition celebrates or how image, music, fashion and performance all played equal parts in generating the most exciting decade of the 20^th Century of which London was proud to be the epicentre. The photos sit alongside ephemera such as vinyl sleeves, illustrated sheet music and magazines such as ‘Fabulous’, ‘Town’ and ‘Rave’ which are arranged in ten different sections, chronologically covering each year of the decade.

Highlights of the collection include rare and unseen images of The Kinks, the Rolling Stones, The Who and The Beatles, the rivalry of the Stones and The Beatles taking centre-stage, as well as early portraits of singers such as Cliff Richard, Billy Fury, Marianne Faithful, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie. Photography from the established greats of the era such as Cecil Beaton and Norman Parkinson sits alongside the work of younger, aspiring photographers such as Fiona Adams and Philip Townsend. Photographs aside, a photo-essay by Don McCullin on Marc Bolan as a mod before he was famous and Norman Parkinson’s pictures for ‘Queen’ magazine of Adam Faith demonstrating the Madison dance with top models are definite gems of the exhibition. Other sections of the gallery are dedicated to US artists who moved to England to start their career such as P J Proby, the Walker Brothers and Jimi Hendrix.

On the fashion-front, the collection reveals how female British singers such as Cilla Black and Lulu became important role models for the women of the time and helped designers such as Caroline Charles develop their careers, it also investigates how artists such as Sandie Shaw used their pop status to develop their own fashion lines.

‘Beatles to Bowie’ also demonstrates how pure pop was replaced by progressive music and psychedelia by groups such as Pink Floyd as the decade went on, there are also a few examples where current affairs and politics influenced the hit records of the time, such as when man’s first step on the moon led to the first hit by Bowie which was ‘Space Oddity’.

All in all, this exhibition is essential viewing for anyone wanting to reminisce the glory days or to get a crash course in all that made your parents heydays something to really boast about.

Pictured:

Cliff Richard, 1960

By Cornel Lucas

National Portrait Gallery, London

© Cornel Lucas

The Beatles, 1964

By Robert Whitaker

Robert Whitaker Archive

© Robert Whitaker

Marianne Faithfull

Battersea Park , London , 1965

By Tony Frank

© Tony Frank

Sandie Shaw

Regent’s Park, London , 1965

By Tony Frank

© Tony Frank

David Bowie, 1966

By David Wedgbury

National Portrait Gallery, London

© National Portrait Gallery, London

David Bowie, 1969

By David Bebbington

David H. Bebbington

© David Bebbington/Retna Pictures

The Who, 1966

By Colin Jones

National Portrait Gallery, London

© Colin Jones

Tags: 60s, Beatles, Exposed, National Portrait Gallery, Pop, rock, rock and roll, sixties, swinging London, the Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Who