The UK underground was a countercultural movement in the United Kingdom linked to the underground culture in the United States and associated with the hippy phenomenon. Its primary focus was around Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill in London. It generated its own magazines and newspapers, bands, clubs and alternative lifestyle, associated with cannabis and LSD use and a strong socio-political revolutionary agenda to create an alternative society. In sociology, counterculture is a term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For the British TV show, see Hippies (TV series). ... Ladbroke Grove is a road in West London, and is also the name given to the immediate area surrounding the road. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the plant genus Cannabis. ... Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly called LSD, LSD-25, or acid. ... The phrase alternative society may have been in usage since the 19th century when Karl Marx and Proudhon represented two factions for alternative visions of social change. ...

Beatnik influence

Many in the blossoming underground movement were influenced by 1950s Beatnik Beat generation writers such as William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, who paved the way for the hippies of the 1960s. During the 1960s, the Beatnik writers engaged in symbiotic evolution with freethinking academics including experimental Psychologist Timothy Leary. Beats redirects here. ... William S. Burroughs. ... Irwin Allen Ginsberg (IPA: ) (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet. ... For the British TV show, see Hippies (TV series). ... A psychologist is an expert in psychology, the systematic investigation of the human body, including behavior, cognition, and affect. ... For the American baseball player, see Tim Leary (baseball player). ...

An example of the cross-over of beatnik poetry and music can be seen when Burroughs appeared at the Phun City festival, organisedin 24-26 july 1970 by Mick Farren with underground community bands including the Pretty Things, the Pink Fairies, The Edgar Broughton Band and, from America, The MC5. Phun City Festival was held at Ecclesden Common near Worthing, England from July 24 to July 26, 1970. ... Michael Mick Farren (born 3 September 1943, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) is a UK Underground/counterculture radical and anarchist. ... The Pretty Things is a 1960s and 1970s rock and roll band from London. ... The Pink Fairies were a British heavy/progressive/alternative rock group active in the London (Ladbroke Grove) underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s . ... The British progressive rock group The Edgar Broughton Band was founded in 1968 in Warwick, England. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... MC5 (short for Motor City Five) was a hard rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan, USA in 1964 and active until 1972. ...

History

The Underground movement in the UK was focused on the Ladbroke Grove/Notting Hill area of London, which Mick Farren said "was an enclave of freaks, immigrants and bohemians long before the hippies got there" (1). It was depicted in Colin MacInnes' famous novel Absolute Beginners depicting street culture at the time of the Notting Hill Riots in the 1950s. Ladbroke Grove is a road in West London, and is also the name given to the immediate area surrounding the road. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Michael Mick Farren (born 3 September 1943, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) is a UK Underground/counterculture radical and anarchist. ... The freak scene was a term used by a slightly post-hippie and pre-punk style of bohemian subculture. ... For other uses, see Bohemian (disambiguation). ... For the British TV show, see Hippies (TV series). ... Colin MacInnes (1914–1976) was an English novelist. ... Absolute Beginners is a novel by Colin MacInnes written and set in 1958 London England. ...

The Underground paper International Times (IT) started in 1966 and Steve Abrams founder of Soma summarised the underground as a "literary and artistic avant-garde with a large contingent from Oxford and Cambridge. John Hopkins (Hoppy) a member of the editorial board of International Times for example, was trained as a physicist at Cambridge" The International Times (IT) was an underground paper started in 1966 in the UK, based in central London. ... For other persons named John Hopkins, see John Hopkins (disambiguation). ...

Police harassment of members of the underground (often referred to as "freaks", initially by others as an insult, and later by themselves as an act of defiance) became commonplace, particularly against the underground press. According to Farren, "Police harassment, if anything, made the underground press stronger. It focused attention, stiffened resolve, and tended to confirm that what we were doing was considered dangerous to the establishment."

Key Underground (community) bands on the time who often performed at benefit gigs for various worthy causes included Pink Floyd (when they still had Syd Barrett), Hawkwind, Deviants (featuring Mick Farren), Pink Fairies, other key people included, in the late '60s Marc Bolan who would leave 'the Grove' to find fame with T Rex and his partner Steve Peregrin Took who remained in Ladbroke Grove and continued to perform benefit gigs in the 'anti-commercial' ethos of the UK Underground. Sci-Fi writer and sometime Hawkwind member Michael Moorcock remembers: Pink Floyd are an English rock band that initially earned recognition for their psychedelic rock music, and, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. ... Roger Keith Syd Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, and artist. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Deviants (formally the Social Deviants) were a musical group in the United Kingdom. ... Michael Mick Farren (born 3 September 1943, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) is a UK Underground/counterculture radical and anarchist. ... The Pink Fairies were a British heavy/progressive/alternative rock group active in the London (Ladbroke Grove) underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s . ... Marc Bolan (born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 - 16 September 1977), was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist whose hit singles, fashion sensibilities and stage presence with T Rex in the early 1970s helped cultivate the glam rock era and made him one of the most recognisable stars in British... T. Rex (originally known as Tyrannosaurus Rex, also occasionally spelled T Rex or T-Rex), were an English rock band fronted by Marc Bolan. ... Steve Peregrin Took (left) Steve Peregrin Took (July 28, 1949–October 27, 1980) was an English musician. ... It has been suggested that UK Underground movement be merged into this article or section. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Michael John Moorcock (born December 18, 1939, in London, England) is a prolific English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels. ...

"everything happened in Ladbroke Grove in the sixties and seventies. I mean it was just nice and I happened to live in Ladbroke Grove and it all happened around me. You couldn’t actually move for bloody Rock and Roll bands." (Reference - personal communication with author Fee Mercury Moon)

Within Portobello Road stood the Mountain Grill greasy spoon (working man's) café which in the late 1960s and early 1970s was frequented by many UK Underground artists such as Hawkwind featuring, at the time, Lemmy. It was of sufficient import to the members of the UK Underground that in 1974 Hawkwind released an album titled Hall Of The Mountain Grill and Steve Peregrin Took wrote Ballad of the Mountain Grill.^[1] Portobello Road Portobello Road is a road in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. ... The Regency Cafe in Pimlico, London, is a well-preserved 1940s greasy spoon cafe. ... Lemmy (born Ian Fraser Kilmister on December 24, 1945, also known as Ian Willis, Lemmy Kilmister, and Lemmy von Motörhead), is an English singer and bass guitarist, most famous for being the founding member of the heavy metal band Motörhead. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Steve Peregrin Took (left) Steve Peregrin Took (July 28, 1949–October 27, 1980) was an English musician. ...

Commentators

Mick Farren said, Michael Mick Farren (born 3 September 1943, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) is a UK Underground/counterculture radical and anarchist. ...

Lifestyle

The Underground Movement was also symbolised by the use of drugs. The types of drugs used were varied and in many cases the names and effects were unknown as Deviants/Pink Fairies member Russell Hunter, working at International Times (part of the Underground press at the time), recalled. "People used to send in all kinds of strange drugs and things, pills and powders, stuff to smoke and that. They'd always give them to me to try to find out what they were! (Laughs)". Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes rather than for work, medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear. ... The Deviants (formally the Social Deviants) were a musical group in the United Kingdom. ... The Pink Fairies were a British heavy/progressive/alternative rock group active in the London (Ladbroke Grove) underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s . ... The International Times (IT) was an underground paper started in 1966 in the UK, based in central London. ... The phrase underground press, especially underground newspapers (or simply underground papers) is, these days, most often used in reference to the alternative print media, independently published and distributed, associated with the countercultural movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

Part of the sense of humour of the Underground, no doubt partly induced by the effects of both drugs and radical thinking was an enjoyment at "freakin' out the norms". Mick Farren recalls actions sure to elicit the required response. "The band's baroque House of Usher apartment on London's Shaftesbury Avenue had witnessed pre-Raphaelite hippy scenes, like Sandy the bass player (of the Deviants and Pink Fairies), Tony the now and again keyboard player, and a young David Bowie, fresh from Beckenham Arts Lab, sunbathing on the roof, taking photos of each other and posing coyly as sodomites". (2) For other uses, see Humour (disambiguation). ... Michael Mick Farren (born 3 September 1943, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) is a UK Underground/counterculture radical and anarchist. ... The Deviants (formally the Social Deviants) were a musical group in the United Kingdom. ... The Pink Fairies were a British heavy/progressive/alternative rock group active in the London (Ladbroke Grove) underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s . ... David Bowie (pronounced ) (born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, producer, arranger, and audio engineer. ...

Aesthetics

The image of the underground as manifested in magazines such as OZ and newspapers like International Times was dominated by key talented graphic artists, particularly Martin Sharp and the Nigel Waymouth–Michael English team, Hapshash and the Coloured Coat, who fused Alfons Mucha's Art Nouveau arabesques with the higher colour key of psychedelia. Martin Sharp (born 1944) is an Australian artist, cartoonist, songwriter and film-maker. ... Poster for Pink Floyd at the CIA-UFO club, July 28, 1967, by Hapshash and the Coloured Coat Hapshash and the Coloured Coat were a British graphics team consisting of Michael English and Nigel Waymouth in the 1960s, producing psychedelic posters. ... Mucha redirects here. ... Vitebsk Railway Station one of the finest examples of Art Nouveau architecture. ...

The overground

There was a smaller, less widely spread manifestation from the UK Underground termed the "Overground", which referred to an explicitly spiritual, cosmic, quasi-religious intent, though this was an element that had always been present. At least two magazines— Gandalf's Garden (6 issues, 1968–72) and Vishtaroon—adopted this "overground" style. Gandalf's Garden was also a shop/restaurant/meeting place at World's End, Chelsea. The magazines were printed on pastel paper using multi-coloured inks and contained articles about meditation, vegetarianism, mandalas, ethics, poetry, pacifism and other subjects at a distance from the more wild and militant aspects of the underground. The first issue of Gandalf's Garden urged that we should "seek to stimulate our own inner gardens if we are to save our Earth and ourselves from engulfment." It was edited by Muz Murray who is now called Ramana Baba and teaches yoga. Gandalfs Garden was a commune which flourished at the end of the 1960s as part of the London hippie/underground movement, running a shop and a magazine of the same name. ... Worlds End, Chelsea, London Literature named Worlds End a novel by Upton Sinclair, the first in the Lanny Budd series—see Worlds End (Sinclair); a novel by T.C. Boyle—see Worlds End (Boyle); a novel by Mark Chadbourn a novel by Joan D. Vinge, the... Statue of Thomas More on Cheyne Walk. ... For animals adapted to eat primarily plants, sometimes referred to as vegetarian animals, see Herbivore. ... For the film, see Mandala (film). ... Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. ... Sappho and Alcaeus of Mytilene, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1881). ... Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. ...

These attitudes were embodied musically in The Incredible String Band, who in 2003 were described as "holy" by Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, in a foreword for the book Be Glad: An Incredible String Band Compendium (Helter Skelter Books). He had previously chosen the band's track The Hedgehog's Song as his only piece of popular music on the radio programme Desert Island Discs). The late critic Ian MacDonald's had stated "much that appeared to be profane in Sixties youth culture was quite the opposite". The iconic cover of the bands 2nd album designed by The Fool The Incredible String Band were (and are) a Scottish acoustic band who way back in the 1960s built a popular following among the British counter culture, and are considered psych folk music pioneers. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader and senior clergyman of the Church of England, recognized by convention as the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... For the English boxer, see Rowan Anthony Williams. ... Desert Island Discs is a long-running BBC Radio 4 programme. ... Ian MacCormick (October 3, 1948 – August 20, 2003), who wrote under the pseudonym Ian MacDonald, was a British music critic and author, best known for his detailed history of The Beatles. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...

References

See also

• Freak scene
• English underground
• Underground press
• James Haynes
• Hapshash and the Coloured Coat

The freak scene was a term used by a slightly post-hippie and pre-punk style of bohemian subculture. ... The English underground is a phrase used by those who study and chronicle the arts history of England, especially the musical traditions. ... The phrase underground press, especially underground newspapers (or simply underground papers) is, these days, most often used in reference to the alternative print media, independently published and distributed, associated with the countercultural movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... James Haynes, usually known as Jim Haynes (born November 10, 1933), was a leading figure in the London underground and alternative/counter-culture scene of the 1960s. ... Poster for Pink Floyd at the CIA-UFO club, July 28, 1967, by Hapshash and the Coloured Coat Hapshash and the Coloured Coat were a British graphics team consisting of Michael English and Nigel Waymouth in the 1960s, producing psychedelic posters. ...

External links

• The Sound of Ladbroke Grove punk77.co.uk
• International Times official site
• scans of OZ magazine (archived site)
• Ladbroke Grove sleeve notes from 'Cries from the Midnight Circus - Ladbroke Grove 1967-78' , Nigel Cross