Teen Power 50 Years
Ago this Month = Boomer Power Now!
If today’s power-mad teens think
they are the driving force of retail sales, let them be reminded – we
started it!
Week of March 12, 1966:
“Teen Power – America’s 24 million teenagers
spent $15 billion on leisure time activities last year, a boost of $3 billion
over the past two years. According to Billboard magazine, youngsters bought
around 68% of all single records and 34% of all albums sold across retail
counters.”
What did we buy? Miniskirts, Espresso, Ben Franklin glasses, music
by the Righteous Brothers, and
more Rockin’ vinyls by the Rolling Stones. 
As with today’s teens, our
music and the artists we loved often reflected our restless and rebellious
attitude, with reactions to it as diverse as the swirling colors in a tie-dye
shirt.
Example: the UK public took John Lennon’s off-hand
statement made in the London Evening
Standard in March 1966, with Lot’s grain of salt. But in the US, it rubbed salt in Christian wounds ...