Ready, Steady, Go!: Swinging London and the Invention of Cool - Softcover

Levy, Shawn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841152269 ISBN 13: 9781841152264

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2003

Synopsis

Shawn Levy, author of ‘Rat Pack Confidential’ brings alive London in the swinging Sixties with a gripping, groovy story of those who created the scene that changed the world.

For a few years in the 1960s, London was the coolest city on earth: a spontaneous, dizzying stew of pop music, fashion, film, scandal, drugs & sex, crime, the avant garde underground and the tabloid obsession with fame. The rest of the world watched in awe.

Snaking through it are such eminent swinging Londoners as The Dreamer (actor Terence Stamp), The Chameleon (Rolling Stone Mick Jagger), The Loner (Beatles manager Brian Epstein), The Snapper (photographer David Bailey) and The Blue Blood (art dealer Robert Fraser), as well as such figures as comedian Peter Cook; hairdresser Vidal Sassoon; singer Marianne Faithfull; fashion designer Mary Quant; supermodels Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy; gangsters Ron and Reggie Kray; actor Michael Caine; actresses Catherine Deneuve, Lynn Redgrave and Julie Christie; pop groups The Beatles, The Who and The Kinks; filmmakers Roman Polanski, Richard Lester and Michelangelo Antonioni; as well as the various participants in the Profumo scandal, the Great Train Robbery, the rise of LSD, the radical underground, the heyday of the gambling club and the fashion boutique and various and sundry scandals, scenes and sensations.

Due to a combination of massive talent and sheer luck, they dominated the world scene. But the party was to end – after seven short years it seemed that everyone was now a Swinging Londoner and the same vibe was found in Paris, New York and San Francisco.

‘Ready, Steady, Go’ recreates the whole show and contrasts a series of emblematic lives with the great events that shaped the time. Through these stories, Shawn Levy, author of ‘Rat Pack Confidential’, shows how the city reinvented cool and then seemed to lose its swing altogether.

About this title

Review:

'An atmosphere sense of period and some tremendous detail.' -- Sunday Times

'Levy's Tom Wolfe-like immersions in the detail of this period is impressive.' -- Guardian

From the Back Cover:

'David Bailey', The Snapper
'Terence Stamp', The Dreamer
'Brian Epstein', The Loner
'Mary Quant', The Draper
'Vidal Sassoon', The Crimper
'Mick Jagger', The Chameleon
'Robert Fraser', The Blue Blood

For a few years in the 1960's, London was the coolest city on earth: a spontaneous, dizzying stew of pop music, fashion, film, scandal, drugs & sex, crime, the avant-garde underground and the tabloid obsession with fame. The rest of the world watched in awe.

Snaking through the scene were the characters that made the city: gangsters, comedian, actors, journalists, pop bands, film makers, art dealers and models. For a few, brief years thanks to a combination of talent, luck, timing and geography, they dominated the world scene like nothing before. London was buzzing.

'Ready, Steady, Go!' recreates the whole show and contrasts a series of emblematic lives with the great events that shaped the time. Shawn Levy, author of 'Rat Pack Confidential', shows how the city re-invented cool and then seemed to lose its swing altogether.

Praise for 'Rat Pack Confidential':

"Scotch-on-the-rocks cool"
'Loaded'

"A compulsive account of five men with America in their pockets – and the money, power and sense to bleed every last moment of fun out of it. An immense book."
'FHM'

"A delight. A wonderful slice of popular cultural history."
'The Times'

"Lapel-grabbing entertainment"
'Independent'

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1841152269
• ISBN 13: 9781841152264
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416