第15回（英語原文）　The Rolling stones and Britain - from the 1960’s to today.

‘Shine a light’ is a documentary film directed by Martin Scorsese following 2006 performances by the Rolling stones on the ‘A bigger bang’ world tour. The Rolling Stones have been performing since they formed in London in 1962. Initially, the Rolling Stones started as a blues and rock and roll band. In 1965, they had their first big hit with “(I can’t get no) satisfaction”. The Rolling Stones has released 22 UK studio albums, 8 concert albums and has had 32 top 10 singles. Altogether, they have sold more than 200 million albums across the world.
There have been many changes to the Rolling Stones in the last 46 years and many changes to Britain too.

■1960’s Britain
This time in Britain is called the ‘swinging sixties’. There were 53 million people in Britain. The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, James Bond 007 (Sean Connery), Michael Caine, Mary Quant, and Twiggy were all world famous. The average weekly wage was about 14.10 GBP and there were 10 million TV sets in the country (75% of all British families had a television). The first supermarkets in Britain opened and for the first time almost every house in Britain had electricity!
There were many immigrants to Britain mainly from the West Indies and Asia bringing music, food, and culture with them. England won the world cup in 1966. The 1960’s were a time of self-expression and creativity.

■1970’s Britain
This was a time of change. Women were given the same right to pay as men, and 25 out of every 100 people who went to work were women. This time also saw the introduction of racial equality. There were 54 million people living in Britain.
However, many factories closed down and there were many strikes and a lot of unemployment. The world energy crisis meant that there were often power cuts, which left many homes with no electricity. 91% of all families had a TV set and for the first time all programmes were made in colour.
The first computer games were sold in Britain (Atari ‘Pong’) and the first floppy disc was invented (holding just 100K of memory). James Bond 007 was still popular (played by Roger Moore).
Many people started to emigrate to Australia and New Zealand and the number of immigrants to Britain increased. Fewer films were made in Britain but British music remained influential with the introduction of Glam Rock, disco and Punk Music. Famous people included David Bowie. The Sex Pistols and Margaret Thatcher.

■1980’s Britain
In the 1980’s, there was less work and three million people were unemployed. The average weekly wage was 127.70 GBP. There were more than 56 million people in the country. There were many riots in large cities due to racism and unemployment. People had more technology at home including microwave ovens, video recorders, computers, and the Sony Walkman. Mobile phones were introduced but they were very large and heavy (they were often called the brick).
Britain went to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. In 1981, Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer and the Live Aid concert was held in Wembley Arena. For the first time Britain had four television channels. James Bond 007 was still a popular character (played by Timothy Dalton).
Britain continued to produce influential fashion and music with the New Romantics and ‘Rave’ and dance music. Famous Britons were Princess Diana, Vivienne Westwood, Sting, and pop groups like Duran Duran and Wham!

■1990’s Britain.
More than half of all women went to work (12 million women) and 12% of all people were self-employed. There were 58 million people in Britain. There were still many unemployed people and in 1990, there were riots in London over new taxes.
By this time, 56% of all workers used a computer. Almost every house had a washing machine and ten million people were connected to the Internet. The Sony Play station was very popular at this time.
The channel tunnel opened in 1994 and the Millennium Dome opened in 1999. For the first time in almost 20 years Britain saw a new government and a new Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and there was a new James Bond 007 (played by Pierce Brosnan). In 1998, the Princess of Wales was killed in an accident in France.
Popular music and bands included Blur, Oasis, and the start of the Britpop fashion. Other famous Britons from this time include Damien Hirst, Hugh Grant, and David Beckham.

■2000’s Britain (up to 2006)
Most of people with a degree in Britain were unemployed in 2005. At the same time 17% of working-age, men were jobless. Nearly 1 in 4 children lived with one-parent families and about half of those single parents were not working. The population increased to over 60 million and much of that growth was due to immigration.
67% of all homes had a DVD player and there were 395 million computers connected to the Internet. By 2005, there were more mobile phones in Britain than there were people and over 50% of all homes had the Internet.
In 2003, British soldiers went to war in Iraq and in July 2005 terrorists attacked trains and a bus in London. The Queen Mother died in 2002. In 2006, James Bond 007 was still a very popular character (played by Daniel Craig). England beat Australia in cricket for the first time in almost 20 years and Britain was chosen to host the 2012 Olympics.

The Rolling Stones will continue to ‘rock n roll’ well into the rest of the 2000’s and who knows what changes we will see in Britain.

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