IAN SNOWBALL & PETE MCKENNA
BLACK MUSIC WHITE BRITAIN

Black Music White Britain by Ian Snowball and Pete McKenna. It has often been quoted that if you can remember the 1960’s then you wasn’t there. Sure enough the 60’s was a time packed full of exciting cultural, political and musical change. This in turn impacted on the youth of the day, a youth that was really still finding its steps having found itself breaking away from its post war teenager cocoon into something which at that time was unrecognisable. But, then some might say so were the 50’s. Gradually youth was finding a voice…and it was backing it up with a sense of style and new sounds. Jazz music was always going to be cool. But for many teenagers Jazz was also ‘dug’ by their older brother and parents. The 1950’s teenager was ready to embrace something new. That was when the first Modernists appeared on the streets of Soho and, it wouldn’t be long before the black artists, many who had been previously, to the larger part ignored, would be embraced and welcomed in Britain and, every note and drum beat lapped up.