Wrong year, Rod
Sir: Rod Liddle is quite right to forewarn us of the dreary and right-on nostalgia for 1968 that will fall upon us this year (‘Stand by for a year of nostalgia for 1968’, 5 January). However, Rod overestimates the way rock music was affected by the political events of ’68. He tells us, ‘1967 gave us Woodstock, which... had a certain joie de vivre’. Not quite, Rod. The Woodstock festival actually took place in 1969, and with hindsight can be seen as the ‘peace and love’ movement’s final stand.
It would be more accurate to say that pop/ rock music really lost its innocence at the appalling Altamont festival of December 1969. This event saw one killing, three accidental deaths, and an army of Hell’s Angels in violent attendance. It was at this point that the spirit of music unfortunately caught up with the political nastiness spawned in 1968.
Tim Holman
St Albans
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