Read what others have said..

Pete Heywood, Telford
I think the 60's has influenced more recent music than the 50's and 70's . Bands like The Jam, Blur and Oasis, through to Busted and Mcfly, plus many more, have all been influenced by the Sixties, specifically The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who and Small Faces also the likes of Black Sabbath got into Music due to these bands, who in turn influenced/inspired the whole Metal genre of music as we know it today. Not forgetting Berry Gordy and the whole Motown and Atlantic/Stax Soul Music scene. This all reached a Peak for me in 1967, "Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" was released and 400 million people watched them on TV performing "All You Need Is Love" live. Radio 1,2,3,& 4 Broadcast for the first time, it was also the recognised Summer of Love all helped by comments made by Timothy Leary the year before with "Tune in, Turn on Drop out", it felt like the whole world heeded the advice at least it did to me as a 6 year old.

Mike Salt Swanage
Saw the Beatles play Llandudno, couldn't hear much,too much screaming. Stage covered in jelly babies. Beatles in black roll necks. A decade of Beatles, dylan, Cream, Crosby Stills etc. We are still listeneing and following.

Mike Potter, Bury St Edmunds
The 60's spanned my childhood. My older brother was into the music scene in a big way and taped pick of the pops every week and we listened to it as he did his art homework at the dining room table on a Sunday evening. We would continue to listen to it every day until the following Sunday. He had a motor bike (an AJS 650) so was also into the leather scene (Greebo) which added another dimension to that time too. The music of 1968 represented everything that was good about that era, great tunes, harmonies, fun and a real feel-good factor. Look how many of the songs of 1968 are still regularly played on the radio these days. Good times. Oh, and I had a Chopper too!

Pat Moore Bristol.
1967 - the greatest year ever, apart from the "Marine Offences Act" which led to the demise of the "Pirates" that I'd been listening to since 1964, at school on a little red transistor with an earpiece which could easily be concealed. I can't remember which DJ played it or whether it was Caroline or London but what a treat to hear the whole of Sergeant Pepper before its official release. The first worldwide telecast of the recording of "All you need is Love". As well as the Beatles, Pink Floyd followed the haunting Arnold Lane with the fantastic "See Emily Play" ; the Kinks "Waterloo Sunset"; the Stones after their drug bust with "We love You" Simon Dupree's "Kites" Mamas & Papas classics like "Dedicated to the One I love" and "Creeque Alley"; "Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procul Harum the list goes on and on.

Diane Jones Bedworth Warks
1963 was the best year for music, you had everything and everybody catered for. This was the start of the world domination of British music after America led for so long. wat other decade had the artists like the Beatles Stones and all the Liverpool and Manchester sounds. Fantastic we shall never see the like again.

Alistair Moulden, Denbigh North Wales
I was born in 1968 and have been deeply influenced by the music of that decade ever since. The sheer width, depth and variety remains unsurpassed and each subsequent decade, I suspect, has struggled to step out from under the shadows of their more illustrious predecessor. In the month of my birth, the following songs were setting the standard : The Urban Spaceman ( Bonzo Dog Band ), Those Were The Days ( Mary Hopkin ), With A little Help From My Friends ( Joe Cocker ) and Lily The Pink ( Scaffold ) Wow!!!!!!!

Steve M , Norfolk.
To live through the 60's as a teenager was interesting to say the least!! Discipline featured highly both at school and home but the music of the time more than made up for a backhander or six of the best! From Cliff and the Shad's,the Big O,on to The Fab Four (I saw but did not hear at the ABC Chester 1963!!Yep the screaming!). The fantastic "Mersey Sound" heard either on Radio Luxembourg or Radio Caroline.Great groups from the USA like the Byrds,Beach Boys,Four Tops,Supremes. Saw Little Stevie Wonder at the Capitol in Cardiff in '68.Truly amazing!Also that same year for the princely sum of £1,one of the UK's first "Package Tours" came to the Liverpool Empire where I witnessed the best gig ever featuring among others, The Move,The Nice,The Pink Floyd and top of the bill The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Kop that!! To round the decade off we were given the birth of Sabbath,Zeppelin and Monty Python. SAY NO MORE!!!!

John Harper, Tamworth, Staffordshire.
1963 was the year of Merseybeat when an explosion of British talent burst onto the scene. The many groups that sprung up were made up of young, mainly working class lads who learned a few simple chords and went out on the road with their mates. The music was hardly sophisticated...but it oozed optimism and sheer excitement and was played with enormous energy. When you listen to early records of the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Swinging Blue Jeans, Searchers Dave Clark Five etc, you can almost here them smiling and enjoying what they are doing. The songs were mainly simple love songs, but they aften had memorable melodies which have lodged firmly in our minds and mean that the songs are still, all these years later, remembered with tremendous affection. I doubt the sheer exuberance and vivacity of the 1963-64 music scene will ever be repeated.

Graeme Ross, Greenock
1967 will be remembered as 'The Summer of Love' and for seminal rock events such as Sgt Pepper, the birth of radio 1 and Monterey. But look beyond all that and we have the year that everything came together. We had classic singles such as Whiter Shade of Pale,Flowers in the Rain,and anything from Tamla Motown. American groups, influenced by the Beatles elevated the album to an art form. Buffalo Springfield's debut highlighted for the first time the talents of Stills and Young.The Byrds confirmed their genius with Younger Than Yesterday, and the flip side of the Summer of Love brought us The Doors and The Velvet Underground. Arthur Lee's Love brought us not one but two classic albums in Da Capo and Forever Changes. Otis died but Aretha triumphed with I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You. Soul, rock, psychedelia. It was all one big melting pot that only lacked one thing - Dylan, and as we now know he was locked away at 'Big Pink' with The Band recording what would become known as The Basement Tapes.

Marilyn & Gavin Gilbert BA14 7NA
We were married on world cup final day 1966 ,we scored and so did England . It is our 40th wedding annaversary next year, we have 5 wonderful children and 8+1 grandchildren and we have been happily married for the whole 39 years . There will be no one to replace the Beatles ,there music and words say so much and pose so many questions ,and so many groups have tried to copy them . My wife is also a big fan of Billy Fury and Cliff Richards. The 60s also spelt out freedom in all sorts of directions .

DANIEL EAMES, in Dunfermline
I guess there are many different point of view, you could say the 50's as it was the start of rock n roll and it influenced the Beatles to reach their greatness. Although I do love the 90's as I'm 29 years old and have good memories of bands like James, Stone Roses and Shed 7. But for me the 60's has the 'A list' of musically lengends, it was the start of The Who and The Doors, with The Kinks and the The Byrds doing their happy good time tunes, but of course most artists all come back the in fluences of The Beatles.

DANIEL EAMES, in Dunfermline
I guess there are many different point of view, you could say the 50's as it was the start of rock n roll and it influenced the Beatles to reach their greatness. Although I do love the 90's as I'm 29 years old and have good memories of bands like James, Stone Roses and Shed 7. But for me the 60's has the 'A list' of musically lengends, it was the start of The Who and The Doors, with The Kinks and the The Byrds doing their happy good time tunes, but of course most artists all come back the in fluences of The Beatles.

Mark Lawrence, Kirk Michael, Isle of Man
For me 1968 is my favourite year of music even though it's Nine years before I was born. There is 'The Band - Music From Big Pink', 'Jimi Hendrix - Electric Lady Land', ' Cream - Wheels of Fire' and 'The Beatles - White Album', it doesn't get much better than those Albums for me. 1968 is also the first year that Album's out sold Single's for the first time.

Ian Campbell - Oxford
It has to be 1967. So much innovation and excellence. Variety too which is a good thing (I think) - amazing to see Petula Clark, Engelebert and Sandie Shaw topping the charts while the Stones, Jimi and the Who often took the lower placings!

Robin Lynch, Maidenhead
For all round music, 1966 was one of the best years, 1967 was even better and 1968 was outstanding. Everlasting Love, Mony Mony, Do it Again, Say a Little Prayer, Hey Jude and Those Were the Days are all long time favourites that I still love to hear today.

Billy, Dublin
I think 1966 was the best year for music. You had the likes of the Beatles, Stones, Byrds, Bob Dylan, Kinks, Who, Small Faces, Beach Boys, Yardbirds as well as the Tamla/Motown acts all at or very near their creative peaks. Even the Monkees made some memorable records that year. The year provides a brilliant transition period from the beat music of the early part of the decade to the heavier psychedelic music of the later part of the decade. Favourite song is 'Good Vibrations'

Tim, Kent
1967 - unbelievable! The Beatles at their peak, Hendrix, the Doors, the Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Traffic, Procul Harum, Buffalo Springfield, Frank Zappa, the Association . . . plus a load of long lost psychedelic classics that never made it into the mainstream but are an absolute treat if you get the chance to hear them. An incredible time.

paul sheppard, Sitges, Barcelona
Albums like Revolver, singles like Goin' Back by Dusty remain timeless even today. There was a wealth of such music that year including of course the Beatles, the wonderful Dusty and the likes of The Righteous and Walker Brothers, Cilla, Stones etc etc!

Trevor hall
1967. When I listened to Radio London, then onto Radio 1. The dawn of listening to music, a wonderful time, what memories. Sat in class with a tiny ear piece, running through my jacket. An era of Beatles, Beach Boys and Led Zep

Steve Boyce, Whyteleafe
So much change in such a short time span. We went from clean cut teen idols such as Cliff and Adam Faith at one end of the decade to King Crimson and Hendrix at the other. At the begining of the 60's, everything was just pop. By the end we had rock, pop, psychedelia, reggae and soul. Also music had not yet been taken over by "The Men In Suits". Recording techniques also revolutionised the decade. 2 or 4 track were the norm at the start, 16 track by the end. The studio itself became an instrument. Probably the main reason why the 60's were so important was because of the songs. Most of the greatest pop songs ever were writen in that period. The songs flourished because of the lack of studio facilities. Bands had to prove themselves and their songs in the live arena before commiting the material to tape. We will still be listening to The Beatles, the Stones, Bob Dylan, The Who, The Kinks, The Beach Boys and possibly even the Pretty Things in 50 years time! Can any of todays acts make that claim??

Brian Mason, Chelmsford
For me the sixties was the decade of inspiration, innovation and creativity. There were so many great songs and new ideas and fashions. The Beatles blew the world away with Revolver and Sgt. Pepper, and inspired so many other writers and artists. This decade was a definite peak in pop music. Regrettably, I never got to see The Beatles play. They were, and still are my absolute music idols. I even missed seeing them filming 'Penny Lane' for TOP OF THE POPS in my home town of Stratford, east London in February '67. It still haunts me to this day.

Valwales Florida
Although I was not born yet, I think in the 60s the real revolution took place. No matter the little shy attempts of the 50s, in the following decade STARS such as the Beatles definitively switch from the typical "orchestra music" and produce so much good stuff that later groups (even though also good) just can re-adapt and somehow change but cannot modify the song structure taught by the Beatles. Do you need more to be convinced? Who does not know some Beatle's song nowadays? Maybe kids do not know they are Beatle's but they know for sure the melody. By the way, GB is for sure the cradle of modern music and still continues producing the best music ever.

Vicky, South Wales
1968 is surely the best year for music, as it was the year David Gilmour joined Pink Floyd. The band wouldn't have survived beyond 1970 if not for him, and then we'd never have had the classic albums Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall.

DAVE ANDREW - EAST SUSSEX
1967 was a brilliant year, I saw Jimi Hendrix on the same bill as The Nice, Pink Floyd and The Move. So many good albums came out in this year from Pink Floyd, Spencer Davis, The Kinks, Beach Boys, Beatles, The Who and so much more, great time to be a teenager.

alex jenkins .hamilton ,scotland
around `64-66 was a great time for music. beatles, bob dylan, stones and so many other bands were developing and producing great music. I was at a beatles concert in Edinburgh probably `65 [A.B.C.lothian road]and feel it was a great thing to have seen them live

Stephen Havey Warrington
I never seen the Beatles but grew up during the 6o's in Liverpool and can remember all the hype & hysteria. British music owes alot to the likes of the beatles & the stones.

Rosemary Brown Sutton ,Surrey
Music was changing fast and new ways to use the instruments came with the change ie Beach boys. Music has not had such a change since and the music of today reflects this.

Danger Mouse Milton Keynes
1967 The greatest group of all time release the defining moment of the decade - Sgt Peppers, along with the best single ever not to get to no.1 - Strawberry Fields. They finish the year off with All you need is love and Magical Mystery Tour. Better music in one year than most groups manage in a lifetime!

Jacky, Ypres Belgium
1967.. Sgt. Peppers, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, The Doors' first,.. Whiter Shade Of Pale, Nights In White Satin, Itchycoo Park, Waterloo Sunset, Strawberry Fields Forever,... Doesn't that say enough ?

Marty Corey, Anacortes (anna-court-us), Washington
The only time in my life I conciously said to myself "How can music get any better?" was in the summer of 1966. Laying on the beach on a steamy hot day, my local rock station played a set that included Taxman(Beatles), Sunny Afternoon(Kinks), Lies(Knickerbockers), and Wild Thing(The Troggs). Of course, in the US, the #1 song of the year was "Green Berets", but I consider that nothing more than a novelty song. In '66, rock and soul styles were all over the spectrum, from symphonic productions like the Vogues & Association to minimalist groups like the Surfaris, Los Bravos, and the Bobby Fuller Four(how can I Fough The Law only be #100??)to the glimmerings of psychedelia. The representative soul & R&B music of 1966 cannot be surpassed. By the way, 1966 was a great year for cars, too. It was just a lousy year for war(what was it good for?).

Malcolm Weiner - Kibbutz Alumim Israel
Firstly of course because of the beatles. But the most serious reason is that when i was a teenager in the sixties we would not dream of relating to the pop of songs of our parents age.But the pop songs of the sixties seem to relate to all ages to the extent that teen agers off today now the songs of the Beatles,Rolling stones etc.better than me.

daniel, germany
1964! My favourite year for music: the beatles release their first fully self-penned album "a hard days night" and storm america with "i want to hold your hand"; john coltrane records two of his greatest albums "crescent" and "a love supreme", wayne shorter records the beautiful "juju" and joins miles davis, thus completing the legendary 2nd miles davis quintett, bob dylan releases his first "semi-electric" album "subterranean homesick blues", eric dolphy records classic "out for lunch"...

Rob, Sunningdale
Everything today has its origins in the 60s., a decade which gave us The Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks, Hendrix, Cream, Soul and Motown. And Pink Floyd, Genesis, Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac-mainly 70s bands-all started in the 60s.

mick Jones, Northfleet, Kent
Can anyone argue against 1963? The previous couple of years all but witnessed the death-knoll of Rock'n'Roll. After all, 1962's top seller in U.K. had been FRank Ifield..! Suddenly The Beatles arrived in the big tme to show everyone what music should be like! They reclaimed it on the behalf of youth & snatched it back from the parasitic entrepreneurs! The Beatles opened the collective ears of the public & showed them that other things could be done, inspiring the upsurge of other innovative musicians. people like Downliners Sect, The Kinks, The Yardbirds &, evenThe Stones got a push from'63 & The Beatles' example. 1963!

Rob, South Norfolk
Hendrix, Doors, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, Eagles, Captain Beefheart, Grateful Dead, Steve Miller Band, Saw them all & will never see anything like it again. . .

Karl Johansen, Edinburgh
The 1960's was a wonderful time to be a teenager. Yes I saw The Beatles in concert in Edinburgh. Also a lot of new sounds & singers started in the 60's, Dusty Springfield, Jackie Trent, Helen Shapiro, Cliff was the 50's but he really became famous in the early 60's. We had the Motown sound, Atlantic, Stax. New stars from Liverpool, Cilla, Gery & The Pacemakers. There was The Searchers, Swinging Blue Jeans, Gene Pitney, Lulu, The Walker Brothers, The Shadows and many, many more it was just a knockout time for music and I was so glad to be a part of it.

Rob in Glasgow
1966 was the best year. Four songs to prove the point: God Only Knows, Good Vibrations, Eleanor Rigby, Sunny Afternoon. Until then, pop creativity hadn't peaked; after then, creativity tended to give way to self-indulgence.

Lawrence Harris/Southampton
The 1960s was my decade of choice for several reasons, but musically it was exceptional. We saw new ground being broken in every musical sphere, including electronic sound effects such as phasing and synthesisers, whilst musicians created new sounds of all types. The music was accepted by all generations - for the first time. It can never be repeated.

Susie, Leeds
I see from other comments that people are voting for the years of their youth. I'm no exception - it has to be the 60s and 1967 in particular. It was the start of big festivals and popular music getting more sophisticated. And nobody can top the Beatles.

Chris Powell, Bristol UK
1967- The death of Pirate Radio. The release of Sgt Pepper. The Summer of Love. The Who, The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix.Need I go on...........? Youth of today- eat your heart out!

Paul Dinsdale Longridge, Lancs
The 1960's was a great time to be a teenager,with all the new groups and music that was emerging.Looking back it was like being at the birth of pop music, wonderful !!

steve partington Vancouver BC (formly Manchester)
wave after wave of talent in the 60s. It was just THE time to be a teenager, loved every second.

Mike from Preston Lancs
The sixties, wow, Radio Caroline, flower power, the pill, O and A levels, yuk. Experimental music, adult condemnation, New Musical Express, groupies,fan clubs,Eric Clapton, The Pink Floyd,Beatlemania,Pans People on Top of the Pops. What more do I need to say, hedonism in excess when life ceased to be for existing but became a time to live. Mods and rockers and let`s not forget the immortal of The Kinks, "He`s A Dedicated Follower Of Fashion".Glad I was part of it. Mike Smith

Paul Phillips (Happy Jack), SWANSEA
I`ve voted for 1963 because that was the year that we woke up to the British Beat Boom. "Please Please Me" blew me away, as did "Sweets For My Sweet" and hundreds of other FAB Brit songs. Unfortunately, I never saw The Beatles play, but I have somewhat made up for it in later life by going to see lots of Beatles tribute groups, the best of which is The Fab Beatles.

Dominic Gange Newcastle upon Tyne
The 60's is my decade of choice because the music helped change the culture in the west. It liberated the young to be different from their parents. Groups like the Beatles, Roling Stones Pink Floyd & Led Zeppelin caught the times.

Ed Newton. Blagdon, North Somerset
1967. 3 years before I was born!! The Summer of Love; so much optimism, so much great music, and Monterey - criminally overshadowed by Woodstock later. Monterey had so many great performances including Janis Joplin and of course, The Who and Hendrix trying to outdo each other. (I was born too late!)

saman asif, besancon, france
the 60's, definitely and the year would have to be 1966: the beach boys and the rest of the "american invasion", the beatles, the stones and all the british acts , too many to mention... i'm sure it has a lot to do with the twists and turns my life was taking then, but with the stones and "paint it black", the beatles and "eleanor rigby" and the greatest of all, the beach boys and "good vibrations", no other year comes close.

Andy Haig - Perth - Scotland
I was born in December 1948 which was perfect for turning into teenage for the sixties. I liked and bought Stones, Kinks, Searchers and Hollies but loved the Beatles music best (still do). I saw the Beatles live in Kirkcaldy '63, Dundee '64 and Glasgow '65. Great live band when you heard them over the screams. Also changed the face of popular music with great songs and arrangements. My favourite years of the sixties were '64 because the Beatles were still having fun and '69 because of Abbey Road and Let it Bleed.

Brian from DORKING
The sixties were all about innovation, groups and super-groups. Think - Cream, Herd, Traffic as well as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, The Animals, The Hollies - and many many more - what a great time to grow up with Pirate Radio and more music exposure than ever before. And to this UK mix, please add The Beach Boys - Tamla Motown, Stax / Atlantic stars, and of course some Reggae performers - what a brilliant mix?

duke badger box
1969 was the year of variety and class. The stones, the beatles were reaching perfection, the production on records was immaculate and there were timeless contributions from artists as wide ranging as sinatra to jethro tull. the ultimate year for the most creative decade in popular music.

kevin taggart
Beatles,Beachboys,Dylan,the Stones.Enough said

Andy G somewhere in 2005
1966: Because the Beatles released Revolver, England won the World Cup at home, and I was born.