0:00:07 > 0:00:09They say, if you can remember the '60s, you weren't really there.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11But in this series,
0:00:11 > 0:00:14we meet Welsh people who definitely were there,
0:00:14 > 0:00:16and remember it all - vividly.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20I remember buying With The Beatles and thinking,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23I will never be unhappy again...
0:00:23 > 0:00:25because I have this!
0:00:27 > 0:00:30I get to my O-levels, and I haven't done anything.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34They were teaching me about 1066 and I wanted to know about Route 66.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Seeing all these people dancing around with flowers,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43at first I was thinking, "What's going on? That's very odd!"
0:00:43 > 0:00:45But it was fantastic.
0:00:47 > 0:00:53Spit-and-paste mascara - it did make your eyelashes look really good.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58The family, they hadn't seen anything like this before,
0:00:58 > 0:01:00because we were the new generation.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03We didn't want our mothers to tell us what to wear -
0:01:03 > 0:01:04I certainly didn't!
0:01:08 > 0:01:10This is the extraordinary story
0:01:10 > 0:01:13of the rebellion by the younger generation
0:01:13 > 0:01:15that grew up in Wales in the 1960s.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30The '60s generation was born into a Wales little changed in decades.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Its old institutions and industries seemed
0:01:33 > 0:01:35more and more out of touch to many children.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Their parents and grandparents belonged to generations
0:01:47 > 0:01:51brought up in the old chapel way of life.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54But now, children struggled to connect with the religious passion
0:01:54 > 0:01:57that had helped build the chapels in Victorian times.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Joy King remembers Sundays growing up in Morriston.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09It was a bit boring, because the minister,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12when you thought that he'd finished his sermon,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14he'd shut the bible
0:02:14 > 0:02:16and you'd think, "Oh, good, he's finished now."
0:02:16 > 0:02:19He was only getting second wind then, you know!
0:02:19 > 0:02:23He was just into his stride then, really. And he'd start up again.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26'And as a child, I actually thought that God
0:02:26 > 0:02:30'WAS Mr Evans, the chapel minister.'
0:02:36 > 0:02:38Entire families went to three services
0:02:38 > 0:02:41held at their local chapel each Sunday.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45In between, there were meals to be eaten.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48The finery was changed - Sunday lunch.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50A big thing, Sunday lunch.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52It seemed it was meat and 17 veg.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56And then there was a big Sunday afternoon tea -
0:02:56 > 0:02:59the big, white lace cloth,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01and the tinned fruit and the tinned cream,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03and all the cakes
0:03:03 > 0:03:06that your grandmother had been busy baking on Saturday.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Observing Sunday as a day of rest
0:03:10 > 0:03:14conformed to the pious expectations of the chapel community.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Yet within families,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19children learnt that rules could be broken where necessary.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25There was a Bracchi cafe in front of us where I lived, an Italian cafe.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29And in the morning, the lady in the cafe, she'd go to Mass.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32And my grandmother would say, "Well, well, look at her now.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36"She's going to Mass, see?" But when they come back from Mass, she'd say,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39"That cafe is going to be open on the Sabbath,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41"it can't be right, see, it's not right."
0:03:41 > 0:03:45But when we would have the apple tart and the cream she'd say to me,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48"Go down now, go to the back door of the cafe
0:03:48 > 0:03:49"with a glass dish
0:03:49 > 0:03:52"and ask for six blobs of ice cream
0:03:52 > 0:03:54"to go with the tart." Well, that was all right, then,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58that the Bracchi cafe was open, nothing wrong with that then at all.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00But she'd send me, a child,
0:04:00 > 0:04:02so that nobody would really see me go in, you see.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09But in the early '60s, the power of the chapel was in steep decline,
0:04:09 > 0:04:13its rigid conformity no longer in tune with the people.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22Nowhere in Wales were the old chapel values defied more openly
0:04:22 > 0:04:24than in Tiger Bay.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27# It was St David's Day
0:04:27 > 0:04:30# When we got in Tiger Bay... #
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Cardiff's first mixed-race community
0:04:32 > 0:04:36captured the new spirit of freedom that was in the air.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Writer Neil Sinclair remembers growing up in Frances Street.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42You'd go out into the street
0:04:42 > 0:04:44and every street
0:04:44 > 0:04:45had its own gang of kids.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49And I was part of the Frances Street kids
0:04:49 > 0:04:51and Terry, Anthony, Johnny Lima,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53we'd always play together.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57And then we might be playing rounders in the street,
0:04:57 > 0:04:58bat and the ball,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01and then we could hear the thud of feet coming down Canal Parade,
0:05:01 > 0:05:03and they were singing from the top of their voices,
0:05:03 > 0:05:07"Ooh-ah, ooh-ah-eh, we are the boys from Tiger Bay...!"
0:05:07 > 0:05:09# We know our manners
0:05:09 > 0:05:11# We spent our tanners
0:05:11 > 0:05:15# We are respected wherever we go... #
0:05:15 > 0:05:17And you'd say, "Oh, this is the Nelson Street kids!"
0:05:17 > 0:05:20So we'd run down to the corner and they'd be marching
0:05:20 > 0:05:23and we got behind them and we would march and we would sing along
0:05:23 > 0:05:26and end up in Loudoun Square - and it was like that!
0:05:31 > 0:05:35As children grew up, few escaped the 11+ exam.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38If you passed, you went to grammar school,
0:05:38 > 0:05:42but if you failed, it would be a secondary modern.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45The gulf between the two was enormous.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Annie Haden grew up on the Portmead Estate in Swansea.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52In fairness, the one lovely memory of that exam
0:05:52 > 0:05:56is that it was Mr Jones the Welsh teacher
0:05:56 > 0:05:57plodding up and down.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59And he was looking at our papers,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02he was obviously looking to make sure we weren't cheating.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05But he looked at mine and he said,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08"Read that again."
0:06:08 > 0:06:10And just carried on plodding.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15So I did read it again, and I did answer it differently,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18so maybe it's Mr Jones that I should thank
0:06:18 > 0:06:22for getting me through to grammar school.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26In Wales, grammar schools were seen as a passport
0:06:26 > 0:06:30to a successful future - but end up in a secondary modern,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33and there would be little hope for you.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Guitarist Andy Fairweather Low grew up in Llanrumney, near Cardiff.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41I remember walking to the 11+. I knew it was coming,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44didn't really understand what it was. The great thing about me,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48even to this day, is, I'm not bright...at those kind of things.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51I'm focused on what I do but outside of that...
0:06:51 > 0:06:54So, it's 11+, it's a big deal. I remember sitting down
0:06:54 > 0:06:57and I swear I remember that question that went,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00"Which weighs more - a tonne of tar or a ton of feathers?"
0:07:01 > 0:07:03And obviously it's a ton of tar, for god's sake!
0:07:05 > 0:07:07It was just another moment, it came in a letter or something -
0:07:07 > 0:07:09all I knew was, I'd failed.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18I had a friend and we were both approaching the time now
0:07:18 > 0:07:20when the 11+ was coming up.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23We used to discuss together about being in
0:07:23 > 0:07:27what we termed as the "snobby grammar school".
0:07:27 > 0:07:29I think we thought we wouldn't be able
0:07:29 > 0:07:31to live up to the expectations, really,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35and our little lives would change a lot, you know.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37"I tell you what we'll do now," I said.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39"When they put the papers in front of us,"
0:07:39 > 0:07:42I said, "all right, there'll be some questions we genuinely don't know,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44"but to be on the safe side,"
0:07:44 > 0:07:48I said, "we'll put wrong answers down for some of the questions."
0:07:48 > 0:07:50And that was it.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54They come and they call names out, those that have passed.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Well, my name wasn't called out and Chris' name wasn't called out.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Now my grandmother has high hopes.
0:08:00 > 0:08:01They wanted you to have this,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05because they wanted you to have a better life than what they had had.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08"Well," she said, "what did they say?"
0:08:08 > 0:08:12"'Wi wedi ffaelu", I said. I failed!
0:08:12 > 0:08:15She must have just stood there in slow motion.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17She couldn't move,
0:08:17 > 0:08:22I said, "I failed!"
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Well, the house was in mourning.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Education in Wales had long been seen as the ladder to a better life
0:08:34 > 0:08:37and the language of education was English.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Sit down, my boys.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43Ar y ddesg...
0:08:43 > 0:08:45'In the early 1960s, though,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47'there was a movement in schools
0:08:47 > 0:08:49'to develop the teaching of the Welsh language.'
0:08:50 > 0:08:52'This was despite the fact
0:08:52 > 0:08:55'that many people regarded Welsh as a dying language
0:08:55 > 0:08:57'that would not be needed by children in the future.'
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Actor Sharon Morgan grew up in Glanamman, Carmarthenshire.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07I felt that Welsh was a really old-fashioned language
0:09:07 > 0:09:09that was irrelevant to me -
0:09:09 > 0:09:11I suppose all the books that I was reading,
0:09:11 > 0:09:13like Little Women and Jane Eyre
0:09:13 > 0:09:16and all these things that I was reading, were in English,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19and yet everybody in the village could speak Welsh.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25In many parts of north and west Wales,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28the older generation were totally Welsh-speaking.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31However, children in these rural communities
0:09:31 > 0:09:34were only allowed to speak English at school.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Sharon Morgan went to the English-speaking
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Queen Elizabeth Grammar School For Girls in Carmarthen.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48We discovered in the school I suppose that 90% of the girls
0:09:48 > 0:09:49could speak Welsh,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51and most of the teachers spoke Welsh,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54but nobody knew - it was like a hidden secret thing.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57It was dreadful, it was a terrible ignorance about who you were.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01My mother and lots of my friends,
0:10:01 > 0:10:03we began to speak Welsh,
0:10:03 > 0:10:07it became the norm to speak Welsh to each other
0:10:07 > 0:10:10and it was just a huge, huge turning point.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Singer Heather Jones grew up in the Heath in North Cardiff.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Well, I first heard the Welsh language
0:10:17 > 0:10:20I suppose not in the home, because Mum and Dad didn't speak Welsh
0:10:20 > 0:10:23and my brothers weren't very good at it...
0:10:23 > 0:10:24Was in the local school.
0:10:24 > 0:10:29We had a lovely new teacher and she used to give me a line to read,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32sort of... "Mae'r haul yn tywynnu."
0:10:32 > 0:10:35The sun is shining, or something.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39And that's when I started to really mix with the girls in my class,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42who spoke Welsh, and there were some girls who were interested
0:10:42 > 0:10:45in singing and playing the guitar,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48and we formed a group called Y Cyfeillion - The Friends.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54The Beatles were starting to come into popularity in the early '60s,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58and we all had guitars for birthday presents, you know.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00The balls had gone out the window.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Jokari had gone out the window.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Pretty dresses had gone out the window,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07it was all guitars, guitars, guitars.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12CROWD SCREAMS
0:11:12 > 0:11:18# She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
0:11:18 > 0:11:23# She loves you Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... #
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Cardiff got a rare chance to see The Beatles live
0:11:28 > 0:11:32when they performed at the Capitol on the 7th November 1964.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40The Beatles were at the forefront
0:11:40 > 0:11:42of a rebellion driven by pop music.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46It encouraged the younger generation to have fun and live for the moment.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56I remember buying With The Beatles, that first LP,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58and I remember clutching it
0:11:58 > 0:12:01and walking down the hill home
0:12:01 > 0:12:04with sort of The Fab Four, as they were called afterwards,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07with their fringes and their polo necks and thinking,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10"I will never be unhappy again."
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Because I have this!
0:12:12 > 0:12:14Ah, you know, it was just amazing.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17# And then while I'm away
0:12:17 > 0:12:21# I'll write home every day
0:12:21 > 0:12:26# And I'll send all my lovin' to you
0:12:26 > 0:12:29# All my lovin'... #
0:12:29 > 0:12:30The Fab Four from Liverpool
0:12:30 > 0:12:33had the most profound effect on the nation's youth.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37But they were not the only group to rock the foundations of Wales.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51# I wanna tell you how it's gonna be
0:12:52 > 0:12:55# You're gonna give your love to me... #
0:12:56 > 0:13:00I get persuaded to go and see The Rolling Stones
0:13:00 > 0:13:02on a package bill at Sophia Gardens.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Erm, and that was it, I was done.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09It was new and it was exciting, and it wasn't about being clever.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17SCREAMING AS MUSIC PLAYS
0:13:17 > 0:13:21# And they never stopped rockin'
0:13:21 > 0:13:23# Till the moon went down... #
0:13:23 > 0:13:25SCREAMING CONTINUES
0:13:27 > 0:13:28You fell into two camps -
0:13:28 > 0:13:31you either liked the Stones or the Beatles.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36Well, I liked the Beatles, until one day my da said,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38"Well, I don't know, mind," he said,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42"they look clean-cut, they wear collar and ties."
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Well, that was it. I thought, "Right, I'm right off them,"
0:13:44 > 0:13:47and I decided I liked the Stones better.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57# Well, if you ever plan to motor west
0:13:58 > 0:14:02# Just take my way That's the highway, that's the best
0:14:04 > 0:14:06# Get your kicks
0:14:06 > 0:14:08# On route 66... #
0:14:10 > 0:14:14The music had a powerful influence on many school children.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Some boys in Cardiff trapped in secondary moderns
0:14:17 > 0:14:20even felt it offered a future career.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22My mother had ushered us out,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24and the other two would go to school,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26my older brother and my younger brother.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29And I'd hang around the corner, wait till my mother had gone -
0:14:29 > 0:14:32see that she's gone, I had my key, I'd go back in.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35We had a little Dansette record player,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and I would put on a Rolling Stones album,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40and then I'd try and learn and I'd practise.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44And I'd watch the time and then I'd get out
0:14:44 > 0:14:46before my mother come back home.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51While still at school,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Andy Fairweather Low formed a group with some of his mates.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58A really important year, and I'm playing working men's clubs
0:14:58 > 0:15:01and church halls
0:15:01 > 0:15:03at least four nights a week.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07And on the other nights, I'm playing guitar in the bedroom.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10So, I get to my O-levels, I'll never forget it -
0:15:10 > 0:15:13it's a big moment -
0:15:13 > 0:15:15erm, and I haven't done anything.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19It was hopeless. But you know, I wasn't there.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21I didn't want to be there.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23You know, they were teaching me about 1066
0:15:23 > 0:15:27and I wanted to know about Route 66 - there's the difference.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30# ..get your kicks
0:15:30 > 0:15:32# On Route 66. #
0:15:39 > 0:15:41The revolution in music
0:15:41 > 0:15:44was matched by an explosion in fashion.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47For young teenage girls, it was an irresistible attraction.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00I would leave home with the right length skirt, down to your knee -
0:16:00 > 0:16:04just above it. But on the way to school,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08it would start being rolled up until, in the end,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11I'd have a big wodge of roll around my middle,
0:16:11 > 0:16:16the tie would be shortened to look a little bit...
0:16:16 > 0:16:17you know?
0:16:19 > 0:16:21But keeping pace with fast-changing fashions
0:16:21 > 0:16:23often got them into trouble
0:16:23 > 0:16:25for breaking strict rules on school uniform.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27I remember wearing tights,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31strange, very thick sort of ballet tights
0:16:31 > 0:16:33and being called up in front of the headmistress
0:16:33 > 0:16:34and saying, "How dare you wear...?"
0:16:34 > 0:16:37You're supposed to wear little white socks, of course,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41very particular little white socks. "You can't wear these."
0:16:41 > 0:16:43They seemed to be the work of the devil, tights.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56I was in the school choir, and in we'd troop onto the stage
0:16:56 > 0:16:58and as I walked in,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00with my miniskirt rolled up
0:17:00 > 0:17:03and looking pretty hip, I thought,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07the deputy head decided to pick me out
0:17:07 > 0:17:11and started to pull my skirt down
0:17:11 > 0:17:14to its regulation length.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17But as she did it, the zip broke,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19so what happened was
0:17:19 > 0:17:25I was standing in front of this honoured guest list in my knickers -
0:17:25 > 0:17:30and they were not regulation navy-blue knickers either.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35# I used to get mad at my school
0:17:35 > 0:17:38# Teachers that taught me weren't cool
0:17:38 > 0:17:40# I can't complain
0:17:40 > 0:17:44# They're holding me down Turning me round
0:17:44 > 0:17:47# Filling me up with your rules
0:17:47 > 0:17:52# I've got to admit It's getting better... #
0:17:52 > 0:17:56It was very important to have the right make-up,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59but at school, make-up was also strictly forbidden.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02So, girls ignored this rule, too.
0:18:02 > 0:18:07With make-up, we were all dark-eyed. Yeah, dark-eyed.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Very Biba, very Mary Quant,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13and pale lips.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17but you could get around it by using things that your mother used,
0:18:17 > 0:18:18actually, in the war.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20And that was the old...
0:18:20 > 0:18:24spit-and-paste mascara -
0:18:24 > 0:18:27MaxFactor's spit-and-paste mascara.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Which was actually brilliant,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32because even though it was a brush,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35it did make your eyelashes look really good,
0:18:35 > 0:18:39but you could cover it by making it look really natural as well,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43so we all ended up dark-eyelashed.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58# I never met a girl who makes me feel the way that you do...
0:18:58 > 0:19:00# You're all right... #
0:19:00 > 0:19:03London's clothes shops in Carnaby Street and Kensington
0:19:03 > 0:19:06dominated the fashion scene of the Swinging '60s.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09The huge metropolis was another world
0:19:09 > 0:19:12compared to the small communities of Wales.
0:19:13 > 0:19:15For the fashion-hungry teenagers of Swansea,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18the contrast with London could not have been greater.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23When people think of the '60s,
0:19:23 > 0:19:26they think of Mary Quant and Biba,
0:19:26 > 0:19:28but that didn't filter down for a long time
0:19:28 > 0:19:31to small little valley towns and villages.
0:19:31 > 0:19:37We didn't have the money. So you went to buy your clothes at C,
0:19:37 > 0:19:39and you'd buy a dress for 19 and 11.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42And I bought this dress -
0:19:42 > 0:19:44it was navy paisley,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46and it had an Empire line and the frilly sleeves
0:19:46 > 0:19:50and the frilly collars like we'd seen Cilla Black and Sandy Shaw wearing.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Now, that was great, and you went out in this dress -
0:19:53 > 0:19:54it was up here and up here.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57And when you came home in the night, you took it off,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00and of course they were cheap clothes,
0:20:00 > 0:20:01and the lining of the dress was navy.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04And, of course, every time you wore this dress
0:20:04 > 0:20:06the dye came off on your underwear -
0:20:06 > 0:20:08but you didn't care, because you looked good!
0:20:12 > 0:20:14The crocheted dress came in -
0:20:14 > 0:20:17well, you couldn't afford to buy them, so we all made our own.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22And looking back, they were really indecent when you think of it.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24They were very short, they were down here,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26you could see through them,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30but we thought we looked absolutely fantastic.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41I mitched off school, got up there,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44and I would go into Carnaby Street
0:20:44 > 0:20:46just trying clothes on -
0:20:46 > 0:20:47I had a wonderful time.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Didn't buy anything because I couldn't afford it,
0:20:50 > 0:20:52but I WAS it in the moment,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56and I loved it, because I became a different person with every outfit.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07We'd go down there - there's Lord John...
0:21:07 > 0:21:09There's everything was going on -
0:21:09 > 0:21:11crazy colours, crazy shirts,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14you'd see someone and you'd go, "Right, where'd you get it?"
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Well, there's only one place you could get it - it's Carnaby Street.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24# I've got to find that girl
0:21:24 > 0:21:27# If I have to hitch-hike around the world... #
0:21:34 > 0:21:37But some who got the opportunity to travel to London
0:21:37 > 0:21:39were able to buy the real thing,
0:21:39 > 0:21:41and bring it back to Wales.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48Politician Kim Howells grew up in Penywaun near Aberdare.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51I remember going down to Carnaby Street,
0:21:51 > 0:21:56and I got myself an elephant-cord suit,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00and I hitchhiked back to Penywaun.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04And I had a lift at the top of Penywaun Hill,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06and as I walked down through Penywaun,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09all the kids started coming out - "Oh...!" You know,
0:22:09 > 0:22:14and reaching out and touching me, you know.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17"Oh, look at that, it's fabulous."
0:22:17 > 0:22:21I got to the front door of our house in Penywaun and I knocked the door
0:22:21 > 0:22:26and my mother opened the door and she said, "Oh, you look fantastic!"
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Many young people from Wales
0:22:35 > 0:22:39sampled the new ideas and ways of living being explored in the '60s.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49The love-in at Woburn Abbey in 1967
0:22:49 > 0:22:52was one of the first pop festivals in Britain.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55For teenagers like Clive Sweet from Llandudno,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58the event opened up a whole new world.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Seeing all these people dancing around with flowers,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07at first I was thinking, "What's going on? It's very odd!"
0:23:07 > 0:23:09You know!
0:23:09 > 0:23:12People dancing around with flowers in their hair
0:23:12 > 0:23:16and all this kind of stuff, and somebody said, "Love and peace,"
0:23:16 > 0:23:19and I thought, "What the heck is he talking about, love and peace?"
0:23:19 > 0:23:22But it was fantastic, it was something that
0:23:22 > 0:23:27I hadn't seen before, and it made me think another way, another approach.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35We made our own kaftans out of curtains!
0:23:35 > 0:23:38And we had a bell round our neck,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40you know, kind of, ding-ding-ding!
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Eventually, as we were walking up the street,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45only took us about half an hour
0:23:45 > 0:23:47before we just got fed up with this ding-ding-ding,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50and threw it on the ground, got rid of it. "Oh, man!"
0:23:59 > 0:24:04Music and dance were integral to the way of life of Tiger Bay.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06But in the '60s,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08teenagers from this mixed-race community
0:24:08 > 0:24:12found themselves at the forefront of changes to the old order.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Nights out in Tiger Bay
0:24:17 > 0:24:21were now part of a new and exciting culture emerging.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Musically, Tiger Bay had a very eclectic taste,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31so if you went to The Annex on a Friday night,
0:24:31 > 0:24:35you're likely to get up and dance to Fats Domino's My Blue Heaven,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39and immediately afterwards, West African High Life.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41And so when you went out,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45you danced to everything before the night was over.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53# I'm gonna wait till the midnight hour
0:24:53 > 0:24:57# That's when my love comes tumbling down
0:24:57 > 0:25:01# I'm gonna wait till the midnight hour
0:25:01 > 0:25:05# That's when my love begins to shine... #
0:25:05 > 0:25:08While the impact of music from outside Wales
0:25:08 > 0:25:12fired the passions of a generation of schoolchildren,
0:25:12 > 0:25:13a vibrant scene emerged
0:25:13 > 0:25:17around performances of old and new songs in the Welsh language.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20Welsh pop was born.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29There'd be these things called pinnacles of pop,
0:25:29 > 0:25:34noson lawen - "happy evening" is the direct translation of noson lawen.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39And you'd go and there'd be all these groups and individuals singing
0:25:39 > 0:25:42and we'd go on a bus then to those.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45And the first group was called yBlew, which means "The Hair,"
0:25:45 > 0:25:49which was the first electric Welsh group.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51And they'd have dances -
0:25:51 > 0:25:54for the first time you could dance to Welsh music.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Until the '60s, going out for the evening in west Wales
0:26:16 > 0:26:18was often the preserve of adult men.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24But now, even pubs were no longer off limits to teenage schoolgirls.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Sharon Morgan remembers nights out in Carmarthen.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31We'd go out to local dances in Carmarthen, in St Peter's Hall,
0:26:31 > 0:26:36but there was also the twmpath, which was the Welsh folk dancing -
0:26:36 > 0:26:41we'd just grab any sort of social occasion really, and join in.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44And we didn't have cars but we had friends who did,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46and so we used to drink underage.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50We'd sit in the back drinking cider or we'd actually go to pubs -
0:26:50 > 0:26:53landlords didn't seem to mind in those days
0:26:53 > 0:26:56and we used to drink what we used to call the poor girl's black velvet,
0:26:56 > 0:27:00which was Guinness with cider on top, you know - pints.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02MUSIC: Y Brawd Houdini by Meic Stevens
0:27:15 > 0:27:18During the 1960s, the impact of pop music and fashion
0:27:18 > 0:27:23on the generation of children growing into adults was profound.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27No longer did you remain a child whilst still at school.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Now, they were a part of the new sexual revolution -
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Wales would never be the same again.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42# Better try, try, try Oh, my
0:27:42 > 0:27:45# Let's spend the night together
0:27:45 > 0:27:48# Now I need you more than ever... #
0:27:48 > 0:27:51You had things like the Rolling Stones -
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Let's Spend The Night Together.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Ye gods - the chapels were up in arms.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59And even we said to each other,
0:27:59 > 0:28:00"Does he really sing that?"
0:28:00 > 0:28:05Because even we couldn't believe that there was somebody up there
0:28:05 > 0:28:09saying to you now, it's all right, guys and gals,
0:28:09 > 0:28:11if you want to spend the night together.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15We couldn't imagine it, we girls had to be home on the 10 o'clock bus,
0:28:15 > 0:28:19never mind spending the night with anybody.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30But the family, they hadn't seen anything like this before,
0:28:30 > 0:28:32because we were the new generation.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36We thought it was a whole new world, we wanted to be part of it,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39we wanted to dress the way WE wanted to dress,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42we wanted to do the things WE wanted to do,
0:28:42 > 0:28:45we wanted OUR music, OUR culture.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52And next time on Wales In The Sixties
0:28:52 > 0:28:56we see how this new generation broke all the old rules
0:28:56 > 0:28:59on sex before marriage.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd