The Sixties



""Mmmmm…. turbulent.""

- Homer Simpson, The Simpsons

The Swingin' Sixties hold a special place in popular culture, mostly because the people who came of age in that decade cannot stop talking about how great it was.

The Theme Park Version of the Swingin' Sixties includes: "free love" and beehive hairdos, hippies and southern sheriffs, Psychedelic Rock and girl groups, marijuana and the pill, sexy male spies in tuxedos and sexy female spies in leather catsuits (or in miniskirts with go-go boots, or in leather miniskirt catsuits), the Charlie Brown Christmas special, Peter Fonda dropping acid in a graveyard, prim newscasters speaking in clipped tones about those wild youngsters having too much fun, and everybody doing "The Twist". In Britain it includes the rise of Carnaby Street (inevitably accompanied by The Kinks' "Dedicated Follower of Fashion"), Mary Quant (the Mother who Made Miniskirts Mainstream), Harold Wilson, the satire boom, and a bunch of Buccaneer Broadcasters demolishing The BBC's radio monopoly. It was all about the music: Mop-topped mods and cock-walking rockers all the rage, and the British were cool for the first time in recorded history. Except to the British, who were way into India. The Sixties gave us Woodstock, three days of peace and music. And then a little later, Altamont, roughly six hours of skull-cracking brutality set to music.

Of course, much of this great music was made in the context of political unrest: Escalation of the Vietnam War was met with a powerful protest movement, admired to this day for stopping the war dead in its tracks just nine years later. President Kennedy narrowly averted an end-of-the-world nuclear showdown, then was shot dead. Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X gave voice to the Civil Rights Movement, and then were shot dead. Robert F. Kennedy renewed the country's spirits with a message of hope and unity, and then was shot dead. Really, the only important political figure who survived the 60s unscathed was Tricky Dick. This was the era of COINTELPRO, with Government Agents surveilling, infiltrating and discrediting Anti-War and other groups to the point of sowing distrust and paranoia among these groups to Philip K Dick levels.

The Sixties were also the time of The Space Race - Following the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the first manned launches took place in 1961 (First Russian Yuri Gagarin in April, followed closely by Alan Shepherd in May.) The idea of people actually entering space for the first time led to a new fascination with Science, and a corresponding boom to Science Fiction. John F. Kennedy ordered the seemingly impossible - putting men on the Moon. After his death, America's resolve was steeled, and the course was set. The route to the Moon was very nearly derailed by the disastrous Apollo 1 fire, claiming the lives of 3 American astronauts in a test. Over a year of unmanned testing went on, trying to repair the mistakes. A return to space flight in late 1968 led to an epic Christmas flyby of the Moon by Apollo 8, one of the most watched television broadcasts in history. Finally, in 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the Moon, fulfilling Kennedy's mission and marking the first time a human being had walked on another celestial body.

That's what you learn watching TV and movies about the Sixties. No Sixties Montage is complete without them. If not set to Jimi Hendrix playing "All Along the Watchtower," then "Get Together" by the Youngbloods.

But if you watch TV and movies from the Sixties, it's as if half of that stuff never happened. Some of the Sixties' landmark events, such as the Stonewall Riots in 1969 that kicked off the gay rights movement, were barely acknowledged until the 1990s. Our cultural memory has selected The Grateful Dead and Aretha Franklin from a musical landscape that had a lot more Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass than seems sonically possible; and the squares of the first half of the decade actually dressed a lot cooler than the hippies of the latter half, who frankly come off as a little grimy. A standout example of this is The Andy Griffith Show whose title actor portrays a Southern sheriff and in which not a whisper of the civil rights movement is mentioned.

Nonetheless, the sheer volume of memorable songs, shows, books, and movies from the Sixties is testament to the creativity of its artists. The decade did give us Star Trek the Original Series, Doctor Who, James Bond (the films, anyway), Spider-Man, Woody Allen, The Graduate, The Prisoner, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Motown the list goes on. Their continued popularity ensures the Sixties will be around for a long time.

See Also: The Forties, The Fifties, The Seventies, The Eighties, The Nineties, Turn of the Millennium and The New Tens.

Popular tropes from this time period are

 * Beehive Hairdo
 * Civil Rights Movement
 * Cold War
 * Conscription
 * Dangerously-Short Skirt: Initially knee-length during the dawn of the decade, then rose to 'mini' by mid-decade, then alternatives like 'micro', 'midi', and 'maxi' arrived late in the decade. The rising hemlines reminisced the The Roaring Twenties, when skirts rose or fell just as economy rose or fell.
 * Draft Dodging
 * The Generation Gap
 * Granola Girl
 * Limited Animation
 * Long Hot Summer
 * Magical Girl
 * Mini-Dress of Power: It had the power to entice and abduct men out of their senses the day it was introduced.
 * New Age Retro Hippie
 * New Hollywood
 * Scooter Riding Mod
 * Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll
 * Spy Catsuit
 * Spy Drama
 * There Are No Therapists (The anti-psychiatry movement emerged in the 60s, and was when it had the most steam)
 * The Vietnam War

Anime and Manga

 * Code Geass, set in a (technologically advanced) Alternate History version of what we would recognize as the 1960s; more specifically AD 1962-63.
 * Sakamichi no Apollon (aka Kids on the Slope); the story begins in the summer of 1966.

Comic Books

 * Marvel Comics ; while it's true that the company that would later be known as Marvel (Atlas,) existed before then, the Marvel universe proper didn't exist until 1961. And once it did, Marvel would prove to be one of the most well-known, influential, and (at the time,) ground-breaking comic companies not just of that era, but decades later. Even today, you'd be hardpressed to find someone who hasn't at least heard of Marvel.
 * Zot! is set in a world where the year is always 1965.

Film

 * Across the Universe
 * Apollo 13
 * Austin Powers, at least in part
 * The Boat That Rocked, released in America as "Pirate Radio"
 * Brokeback Mountain, partially
 * Capote
 * The Debt (Most of it)
 * Dirty Dancing
 * Dreamgirls
 * An Education
 * Eve's Bayou
 * Fritz the Cat
 * Hairspray
 * JFK
 * Matinee, at the start (Cuban Missile Crisis)
 * One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
 * A Serious Man
 * A Single Man
 * Taking Woodstock
 * Temple Grandin
 * Thirteen Days
 * The Toolbox Murders
 * X Men: First Class
 * Zodiac

Literature

 * Are You There God Its Me Margaret
 * Go Ask Alice
 * Hearts in Atlantis
 * The Help (also a movie)
 * Inherent Vice
 * Paris in The Twentieth Century. Written in 1863, but set in 1960.
 * Replay - spans 25 years. Several times.

Live Action TV

 * American Dreams
 * China Beach was a War/MedicalDrama that ran on ABC from 1988 to 1991. It featured a group of characters serving at the real China Beach Rest and Recreation (R & R) station and the fictional 510th Evacuation Hospital during the Vietnam War.
 * Dark Skies
 * From the Earth To The Moon about the Apollo space program.
 * Inspector George Gently uses the social upheaval of the sixties as the basis of some of its plots, such as how birth control was only legal if one was married.
 * Jimmy Macdonald's Canada, which dealt with the mental breakdown of one of the aforementioned newcasters]] in the face of change
 *  Mad Men, which sort of charts the transition from the '50s to the '60s. The series starts in March 1960, when Dwight D Eisenhower was still President and the cultural vibe was very much '50s. At the end of Season 3, JFK gets shot, and Season 4 (starting on Thanksgiving 1964 and going into 1965) features SCDP in a very Sixties office (much of the furniture and interior design looks like it was done by Eero Saarinen) with at least one character doing some very Sixties things.
 * Pan Am
 * A TV movie aptly titled The Sixties (1999) starring Julia Stiles. The characters manage to hit all the high points of the decade, set to a Crowning Music of Awesome soundtrack composed of Nothing but Hits.
 * The Wonder Years
 * Michael Mann's mid-1980s Crime Story was a gritty series pitting lawmen against mobsters in the Rat Pack-era early '60s.
 * Action comedy Danger 5 pits the eponymous team against Stupid Jetpack Hitler in a 60s Alternate History. Deliberately produced so it looks like it's made in the 60s.

Music

 * Quadrophenia

Theatre

 * Doubt

Video Games

 * Bioshock, which despite being set in The Sixties has a very 1930's feel to it.
 * Julia's Time Adventures
 * Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
 * Team Fortress 2: The timeframe is ambiguous, but with a heavy '60s espionage/industrial motif.
 * Destroy All Humans!! 2
 * Call of Duty: Black Ops
 * No One Lives Forever

Anime and Manga

 * Himitsu no Akko-chan. Manga started in July 1962, Anime in January 1969.
 * Cyborg 009. The Manga started in 1964, the Anime in April 1968.
 * Sally the Witch. The Manga started in July 1966, the Anime in December, 1966.
 * Kimba the White Lion. The Anime started in October, 1965.
 * Speed Racer. The manga started in June 1966, the anime in April, 1967.
 * Lupin III. Started as a manga character. First appeared in August, 1967.
 * Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro. The Manga started in 1966, as a reboot of the earlier Hakaba Kitaro. The anime adaptation(s) started in January 1968.
 * Attack Number One. Manga started in January 1968, Anime started in December 1969.
 * Sazae San. Adaptation of the comic strip. Series started in October 1969.
 * Tiger Mask. Manga started in 1968, Anime started in October 1969.

Comic Books

 * Agent 327 (1967-1983) (2000-...)
 * Although it actually started a few years earlier, The Silver Age of Comic Books mostly took place in the Sixties:
 * Marvel Comics got into superheroes in this era, and never looked back. With the exception of Captain America and Wolverine, practically every well-known Marvel character was created in this era, in comics written by Stan Lee, and drawn by either Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko. Characters dating from this era include: the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, The Mighty Thor, Iron Man, The Avengers, the X-Men, Daredevil and Doctor Strange, as well as most of their iconic villains. Lee's scripts created a number of the tropes still prevalent in comics today, loosely characterised as "superheroes with real problems".
 * Not to be outdone, DC Comics revived many of their characters in this era as well. The Barry Allen Flash, Hal Jordan Green Lantern and Ray Palmer The Atom were new characters sharing only the names and powersets of their predecessors, but many other DC characters were simply retooled for the new era, including their Long Runners like Superman and Batman.
 * Tintin. Series started in 1929.
 * Tintin in Tibet (1960).
 * The Castafiore Emerald (1963).
 * Flight 714 (1968).
 * Justice League of America. Debuted in February-March, 1960.
 * Captain Atom/Allen Adam. First appeared in March, 1960.
 * Mickey Mouse Comic Universe
 * Trudy Van Tubb. First appeared in March, 1960.
 * Dangerous Dan McBoo and Idgit the Midget. First appeared in October, 1966.
 * Elongated Man. First appeared in April, 1960.
 * Disney Ducks Comic Universe
 * Brigitta MacBridge. First appeared in July, 1960.
 * Jubal Pomp. First appeared in February, 1961.
 * Ludwig von Drake. First appeared in September, 1961. In both comics and Animation.
 * Magica De Spell. First appeared in December, 1961.
 * Ms. Emily Quackfaster. First appeared in December, 1961.
 * John D. Rockerduck. First appeared in December, 1961.
 * Fethry Duck. First appeared in August, 1964.
 * Emil Eagle. First appeared in April, 1966. Joined the Mickey Mouse Comic Universe in March, 1968.
 * Benoit Brisefer. First appeared in December, 1960.
 * Hawkman
 * The Pre-Hawkworld version of Hawkman/Katar Hol. First appeared in February/March, 1961.
 * The Pre-Hawkworld version of Hawkwoman/Hawkgirl/Shayera Hol. First appeared in February/March, 1961.
 * Batgirl
 * Bat-Girl/Betty Kane. First appeared in April, 1961.
 * Batgirl/Barbara Gordon. First appeared in January, 1967.
 * Sinestro. First appeared in July-August, 1961.
 * The Atom/Ray Palmer. First appeared in September, 1961.
 * Marvel Universe. The "modern" incarnation of it was launched in November, 1961.
 * Fantastic Four. First appeared in November, 1961.
 * Ant-Man
 * Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym. First appeared in January, 1962.
 * Hank Pym assumed the Ant-Man identity in September, 1962.
 * Metal Men. Debuted in March-April, 1962.
 * Archie Comics
 * "Big" Ethel Muggs. Debuted in May, 1962.
 * Josie McCoy, part of Josie and the Pussy Cats. First appeared in Winter, 1962.
 * Meldody Valentine, part of Josie and the Pussy Cats. First appeared in Winter, 1962.
 * Alexander "Alex" Cabot III. Supporting character of Josie and the Pussy Cats. First appeared in February, 1963.
 * Alexandra Cabot. Supporting character of Josie and the Pussy Cats. First appeared in September, 1964.
 * Alan M. Mayberry. Supporting character of Josie and the Pussy Cats. First appeared in August, 1969.
 * Valerie Brown, part of Josie and the Pussy Cats. First appeared in December, 1969.
 * The Incredible Hulk. First appeared in May, 1962.
 * General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. First appeared in May, 1962. He would become the Red Hulk.
 * Doctor Doom. First appeared in July, 1962.
 * Spider-Man. First appeared in August, 1962.
 * The Spider-Man franchise arguably also started in this decade, with the first animated adaptation.
 * The Mighty Thor by Marvel Comics. First appeared in August, 1962.
 * Doctor Solar. First appeared in October, 1962.
 * Sabrina the Teenage Witch. First appeared in October, 1962.
 * Diabolik. First appeared in November, 1962.
 * Iron Man. First appeared in March, 1963.
 * Doom Patrol. First appeared in June, 1963.
 * The Wasp/Janet van Dyne. First appeared in June, 1963.
 * Doctor Strange. First appeared in July, 1963.
 * The Avengers. First appeared in September, 1963.
 * Magneto. First appeared in September, 1963.
 * X-Men. First appeared in September, 1963.
 * Achille Talon. First appeared in November, 1963.
 * Quicksilver. First appeared in March, 1964.
 * Scarlet Witch. First appeared in March, 1964.
 * Black Widow. First appeared in April, 1964).
 * Daredevil. First appeared in April, 1964).
 * Blue Beetle
 * A new version of Dan Garrett, revamped from a cop to an archaeologist. First appeared in June, 1964.
 * Blue Beetle/Ted Kord. First appeared in November, 1966).
 * Norman Osborn
 * Green Goblin. First appeared in July, 1964.
 * The face of Norman Osborn, first appeared in April, 1965. The character remained unnamed.
 * Norman Osborn received his name in June, 1966.
 * Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin were revealed to be the same person in September, 1966.
 * Teen Titans. Debuted in July, 1964.
 * Hawkeye. First appeared in September, 1964.
 * Wonder Man. First appeared indebuted in October, 1964.
 * Zatanna/ First appeared indebuted in October-November, 1964.
 * Hercules by Marvel Comics. First appeared in 1965.
 * SHIELD. First appeared in August, 1965.
 * Animal Man. First appeared in September, 1965.
 * THUNDER Agents. First appeared in November, 1965.
 * Dial H for Hero. Series started in January, 1966.
 * Galactus. First appeared in March, 1966.
 * Silver Surfer. First appeared in March, 1966.
 * Ares. First appeared in June, 1966
 * Black Panther. First appeared in July, 1966.
 * The Question. First appeared in June, 1967.
 * "Him". First appeared in September, 1967. He was eventually reinvented as Adam Warlock.
 * MODOK. First appeared in September, 1967.
 * Deadman. First appeared in October, 1967.
 * Captain Mar-Vell. First appeared in December, 1967.
 * Green Lantern/Guy Gardner. First appeared in March, 1968.
 * Carol Danvers. First appeared in March, 1968. She would become better known as Ms. Marvel.
 * The Creeper. First appeared in April, 1968).
 * Red Tornado/"John Smith". First appeared in August, 1968.
 * Angel and the Ape. First appeared in September, 1968.
 * The Vision. First appeared in October, 1968.
 * The Falcon. First appeared in September, 1969.
 * Vampirella. First appeared in September, 1969.
 * Whizzer and Chips. Magazine launched in October, 1969.

Comic Strips

 * Mafalda. Character created in 1962. Regular comic strip series debuted in September, 1964.
 * Modesty Blaise. First appeared in May, 1963.

Eastern Animation

 * Cheburashka
 * Film Film Film
 * Mitten
 * Nu Pogodi
 * Town Musicians of Bremen
 * Vinni Pukh

Films Of The 1960s
See also Films of the 1960s
 * Honorable mention: Medium Cool was shot during the Chicago '68 riots. It was Rated X for political content.

Literature

 * The Berenstain Bears. The Book series started in 1962.
 * Bug Jack Barron
 * The Butterfly Revolution
 * Cat's Cradle
 * The Cat Who Series. This series of novels started in 1966.
 * Clifford the Big Red Dog. This series started in 1966.
 * The Collector
 * The Crying of Lot 49
 * The Destroyer. The original novel was written in 1963, but was not published until 1971.
 * Encyclopedia Brown. The series started in 1963.
 * The Executioner. The series started in 1969.
 * Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein.
 * Gor. The series started in 1966.
 * Hopscotch
 * I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
 * Inspector Imanishi Investigates
 * John Putnam Thatcher. The series started in 1961.
 * The Littles. The series started in 1967.
 * Lord Darcy. The series is set in an alternate timeline, but does start in its equivalent of the 1960s.
 * The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein.
 * Monday Begins on Saturday
 * On Heroes and Tombs
 * Planet of the Apes. The novel that started the franchise was first published in 1963.
 * Portnoys Complaint
 * Spider Kiss
 * Stranger in A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. Written before the 1960's started, but published in 1961.
 * The Time of the Hero
 * We Have Always Lived in The Castle

Live Action TV

 * Adam Adamant Lives
 * The Addams Family
 * Alfred Hitchcock Presents: began in 1955, but ran until 1962; it then became The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, which ran until 1965
 * The Avengers: television series but not The Movie
 * Batman
 * The Beverly Hillbillies
 * Bewitched
 * The Brady Bunch
 * Car and Track
 * The Champions
 * Coronation Street
 * Danger Man
 * The Dick Van Dyke Show
 * The Flying Nun
 * The Forest Rangers
 * Get Smart
 * Gilligans Island
 * The Girl From UNCLE
 * Green Acres
 * Hawaii Five O
 * I Dream of Jeannie
 * I Spy
 * The Invaders
 * Ironside
 * The Man From UNCLE
 * Match of the Day
 * Mission Impossible
 * The Mod Squad
 * The Monkees
 * Monty Python's Flying Circus
 * The Munsters
 * The Muppets
 * Sesame Street. Debuted in 1969.
 * My Three Sons
 * Night Gallery. The pilot film aired in 1969.
 * The Outer Limits
 * Please Sir
 * Points of View
 * The Prisoner
 * A Question of Sport
 * Route 66
 * Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
 * That Girl. (The last season ran from 1970 to 1971)
 * The Twilight Zone (Debuted in 1959, aired until 1964)
 * University Challenge

Music

 * Alice Cooper. Debut album for the band and its lead singer in 1969.
 * The Allman Brothers Band. Formed in 1969.
 * The Animals. Formed in 1962.
 * Burt Bacharach and Hal David
 * Joan Baez. Debut album (solo) in 1960. She had already recorded a number of songs for a 1959 compilation album.
 * The Band. Had originally formed as a backup band for a singer. Became an independent band c. 1964.
 * The Beach Boys. Formed in 1961.
 * The Beatles. Formed in 1960.
 * Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
 * The White Album (1968)
 * The Bee Gees. Debut single in 1963.
 * Black Sabbath. Formed in 1968-1969, debut album in 1970.
 * Blue Cheer. Formed in 1966. Debut album in 1968.
 * Blue Oyster Cult. Formed in 1967, debut album in 1972.
 * David Bowie. Debut single in 1964.
 * James Brown. Career started in 1955. Brown released several of his major hits in this decade.
 * The Byrds. Formed in 1964.
 * Carpenters. Debut album in 1969.
 * Johnny Cash. Career and record releases started in 1955, but Cash enjoyed mainstream popularity in this decade.
 * Ray Charles. Career and record releases started in 1949, but Charles reached his greatest popularity in this decade.
 * Chicago. Formed in 1967.
 * Cream. Formed in 1966.
 * Creedence Clearwater Revival. Renamed and reformed in 1968. Previously known as The Blue Velvets and The Golliwogs, but had gone inactive in 1966.
 * Deep Purple. Debut album in 1968.
 * Bob Dylan. Debut album in 1962.
 * Faces. Formed in 1969.
 * Fleetwood Mac. Formed in 1967.
 * Aretha Franklin. Her first recordings were in 1956, but her first professional contract came in 1960.
 * Marvin Gaye. Debut album in 1961.
 * Grand Funk Railroad. Formed in 1969.
 * The Grateful Dead. Formed in 1965.
 * Arlo Guthrie
 * Alices Restaurant (1967)
 * George Harrison. Debut album in 1968.
 * Hawkwind. Formed in 1969. Debut album in 1970.
 * Jimi Hendrix. Debut album in 1967.
 * The Hollies. Debut album in 1964.
 * Iron Butterfly. Formed in 1966. Debut album in 1968.
 * Jefferson Airplane. Formed in 1965.
 * Jethro Tull. Formed in 1967.
 * Elton John. Debut album in 1969.
 * Janis Joplin. Became a lead vocalist in 1967.
 * Judas Priest. Formed in 1969, debut album in 1974.
 * King Crimson. Formed in 1968.
 * The Kinks. Formed in 1964.
 * Led Zeppelin. Formed in 1968.
 * John Lennon. Released albums in collaboration with Yoko Ono, starting in 1968.
 * Lynyrd Skynyrd. formed in 1964, debut album in 1973.
 * Henry Mancini. First hit single in 1960.
 * John Mayall. Debut album in 1965.
 * MC5. Formed in 1964. Debut album in 1969.
 * The Monkees. Formed in 1966.
 * The Moody Blues. Formed in 1964, debut album in 1965.
 * Yoko Ono. Released albums in collaboration with John Lennon, starting in 1968.
 * Dolly Parton. Debut album in 1967.
 * Pink Floyd. Formed in 1965.
 * Roy Orbison. Career started in 1956. First full album in 1961. Enjoyed his greatest commercial success between 1961 and 1964.
 * Elvis Presley. Career and record releases started in 1953/1954. Presley still managed a number of hits in this decade.
 * Otis Redding. Debut album in 1964.
 * Cliff Richard. Recording career started in 1958. Continued topping the British charts to 1964.
 * The Rolling Stones. Formed in 1962.
 * Miklos Rozsa. Composing career started c. 1929, but Rosza created several of his orchestral works in this decade.
 * Rush. Formed in 1968, debut album in 1974.
 * Scorpions. Formed in 1965, debut album in 1972.
 * Dmitri Shostakovich. Composing career started in 1919, but Shostakovich created several of his orchestral works in this decade.
 * Simon and Garfunkel. The music duo formed in 1957, but had their first major hit in 1965.
 * Paul Simon. First solo album released in 1965.
 * The Small Faces. Formed in 1965. Debut album in 1966.
 * Status Quo (band). Formed in 1962 under the name The Spectres.
 * The Stooges. Formed in 1967. Debut album in 1969.
 * Barbra Streisand. Debut album in 1963, first major hit in 1964.
 * Thin Lizzy. Formed in 1969. First single in 1970, first album in 1971.
 * The 13 th Floor Elevators. Formed in 1966.
 * Uriah Heep. Formed in 1969. Debut album in 1970.
 * Velvet Underground. Formed in 1965. Debut album in 1967.
 * The Who. Formed in 1964.
 * Stevie Wonder. Debut album in 1962, first hit single in 1963.
 * The Yardbirds. Formed in 1963.
 * Yes. Formed in 1968.
 * Neil Young. First solo record in 1968.

Music Genres That Started in the Sixties

 * The British Invasion. Begun by The Beatles' breakthrough in the United States.
 * Garage Rock. A musical genre created by teenagers influenced by The Beatles and other British Invasion bands.
 * Progressive Rock. King Crimson's 1969 debut album. In the Court of the Crimson King, is sometimes considered the Ur Example of the genre.
 * Psychedelic Rock. A genre that originated in the middle of the decade.

Professional Wrestling

 * All Japan Womens Pro Wrestling. Established in 1968.
 * American Wrestling Association. Formed in 1960.

Theatre

 * Barefoot in the Park
 * The Boys in the Band
 * Don't Drink the Water
 * Hair: The original Rock Opera musical, of course.
 * The Odd Couple
 * Promises Promises
 * Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Video Games

 * Lunar Lander. The first version of the game was created in 1969.
 * Space Travel. Created in 1969.
 * Space War. The first version of the game was created in 1962.

Western Animation

 * The Archie Show
 * The Atom Ant Show
 * The Banana Splits
 * Beany and Cecil
 * The Beatles
 * The Bugs Bunny Show
 * The Cattanooga Cats
 * Frankenstein Jr
 * George of the Jungle
 * The Herculoids
 * Hokey Wolf
 * Jonny Quest
 * Looney Tunes in the Sixties
 * Mad Monster Party
 * Magilla Gorilla
 * Milton the Monster
 * The New Adventures of Superman
 * The Pink Panther
 * Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
 * Scooby Doo Where Are You!
 * Secret Squirrel
 *  Shazzan
 * Space Ghost
 * Spider Man 1967
 * The Opera Caper
 * Top Cat
 * The Yogi Bear Show

Anime and Manga

 * Astro Boy. Series started in 1963. Adaptation of the manga. Set in the Turn of the Millennium.
 * Gigantor. Series started in 1963. Set in the Turn of the Millennium.
 * Marine Boy. Series started in 1965. Set in The Future.
 * Princess Knight. Series started in 1967. Set in a Medieval European Fantasy world.
 * Hols: Prince of the Sun (1968). Film, set in Iron Age Scandinavia.

Comics

 * Iznogoud. First appeared in January, 1962. Set in the Arabian Nights Days.
 * The Legion of Super-Heroes gained its own series in September, 1962. Set in The Future.
 * Howling Commandos. First appeared in May, 1963. Set in World War II.
 * Nick Fury. First appeared in May, 1963. His original series was set in World War II.
 * Enemy Ace. First appeared in February, 1965. Set in World War One.
 * Unknown Soldier. First appeared in June, 1966. Set in World War II.
 * Valerian. First appeared in November, 1967. This is a Time Travel series with no "present" setting.
 * Les Tuniques Bleues. First appeared in August, 1968. Set in The American Civil War.
 * Guardians of the Galaxy. First appeared in January, 1969. Set in The Future.

Literature

 * The Bell Jar
 * Ben Snow. The series started in 1961, but the setting are the years 1882 to 1908.
 * Bored of the Rings
 * Catch-22
 * A Clockwork Orange
 * Cosmicomics
 * Dune
 * The Elric Saga. The series begins with a novella, published in June, 1961.
 * Everything Flows
 * The First Circle
 * Franny and Zooey
 * The French Lieutenants Woman
 * The High Crusade
 * To Kill a Mockingbird
 * The Last Unicorn
 * The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
 * Mother Night
 * Noon Twenty Second Century
 * One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich
 * One Hundred Years of Solitude
 * Pale Fire
 * Papillon
 * Perry Rhodan. The series started in 1961. But the initial story was set in 1971, later tales moving forward in time.
 * The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
 * Revolutionary Road
 * Slaughterhouse-Five
 * The Third Policeman. Published in 1967, though written in 1939/1940.
 * Ubik

Live-Action TV

 * A for Andromeda
 * Doctor Who
 * Land of the Giants
 * Lost in Space
 * The Rat Patrol
 * Star Trek
 * Star Trek the Original Series
 * The Time Tunnel
 * Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
 * The Wild Wild West

Music

 * Seventeen Seventy Six by Sherman Edwards. Debuted in 1969.
 * Tommy (The album not the movie)
 * Jesus Christ Superstar (original concept album released 1970)

Western Animation

 * Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines
 * The Dot and the Line
 * The Flintstones
 * The Jetsons
 * The Jungle Book
 * The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
 * The Sword in the Stone
 * Wacky Races

If you can remember the 60s, you didn't live in them.

If you don't remember the 60's, you lived in them.

If you didn't live in the 60's, you remember them.

Therefore, only people who weren't alive in the 60's can remember the 60's.