Britain is a country where old men turn on auditory memory and turn back the years to 1965, when Dylan "kicked open the door to their minds "

NB : all songs are linked

John Harris is 53 year old journalist, writer and critic who recently provided 'The Guardian' with his answer to the question in the paper : 

'Golden years : What was the greatest 12 months for pop culture?' 

John began his answer with the year 1988 when Bob Dylan was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Bruce Springsteen who made a speech that started by describing a single sound : "the snare shot that began Dylan’s revelatory 1965 single "Like a Rolling Stone", which propelled music somewhere new". Bruce said that it sounded : “Like somebody kicked open the door to your mind”'.(link)

John went in to say : 'So 1965 was the year that pop gave rise to rock: music with a new depth, plus a sense of revolt and confrontation'. 

He presented in evidence : 

* 'The Who' released "I Can’t Explain" and "My Generation". 

    "People try to put us d-down (talkin' 'bout my generation)

Just because we g-g-get around (talkin' 'bout my generation)

Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin' 'bout my generation)

Yeah, I hope I die before I get old (talkin' 'bout my generation)"

* 'The Beatles' came up with "Help!", "Ticket to Ride" and the pairing of "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper". 

* 'Dylan’s new adventures were heralded by the Byrds’ reinvention of his "Mr Tambourine Man"'.

In John's opinion : 'If anyone distilled the year’s mixture of noise, intelligence and revolt into its purest essence, it was the Rolling Stones, then at the peak of a pop-art phase that produced an amazing trilogy of hits' :

* "The Last Time" 

* "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" 

                        "When I'm driving in my car

When a man come on the radio

He's telling me more and more

About some useless information

Supposed to fire my imagination"

* "Get Off of My Cloud"

Crossing the Atlantic he said : 'In Detroit, Tamla Motown was producing records full of creativity and depth' : 

* 'Martha and the Vandellas’ "Nowhere to Run"'.

* 'Smokey Robinson & the Miracles’ "The Tracks of My Tears"'.

* 'The Supremes’ "Stop! In the Name of Love"'. 

* 'In Charlotte, North Carolina, James Brown and his band recorded "Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, Parts I and II"'.

This was also the year that :

* 'David Bailey took his celebrated portrait of Michael Caine'. 

* 'Julie Christie starred in 'Doctor Zhivago' '. 

* 'Jean-Luc Godard released 'Alphaville' '.

John finished by saying : 'In 1965, the idea that stuff by and for young people had to be full of ideas and importance was so firmly established that it has endured ever since; if there was a year when popular culture was invented, this was surely it'.

Across Britain millions of old men wouldn't disagree.

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My take on 1965, published in 2009 : 

Britain in 1965 : a South London School called 'Eltham Green Comprehensive' and the confidence of youth (link)

and updated in 2018 : 

Britain is a country where old men, once lads, remember a summer's afternoon in 1965, in a school called Eltham Green and "We will yell with all of our might" (link)