Counterculture within a Counter-Culture: New Zealand, Psychedelic Rock, and the Moral Guardians of the 60s and 70s

New Zealand's unique history as a conservative British colony with state-controlled broadcasting and strict drug laws meant its 1960s counterculture developed differently from elsewhere. Psychedelic rock struggled there due to multiple factors: many experimenting artists moved overseas for success, music festivals and hippie culture arrived late, and the 1980s seemed to begin before the 1960s had fully ended. The country's own counter-cultural origins, youth delinquency, and drug issues shaped this distinct trajectory, leaving psychedelic rock as the genre that fared worst in this period of accelerated cultural change.

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Abstract

ABSTRACT New Zealand started as its own counter-culture, and its history of state-controlled broadcasting, conservative Britishness, youth delinquency and drugs meant that “the” counterculture of the 1960s played out very differently to elsewhere. Psychedelic rock fared the worst of all, and the reasons for this are manifold. Numerous artists experimented with psychedelia, but the music of the counterculture became caught in a period of accelerated change. Despite a late showing of music festivals and hippiedom, many artists had already moved away achieving success overseas, and the 80s seemed to arrive in New Zealand before the 60s had entirely run its course.