Why did the 70s become distinct from the 60s so quickly/early into the decade?

[Oliverlogan263]

Compared to other decades, the boundary between the 60s and 70s seems very clear-cut and distinct, the 60s cultural zeitgeist didn't really bleed over all that much into the 70s minus a few things. I would say that by 1970-71, 70s culture had already grown its legs and become distinct from that of the 60s, you might even lump 1969 into the 70s. Why did this transition happen so quickly?

[FunkyMonkee]

Quite possibly, the music.
The music changed REAL fast in the `60's!! We went from Frankie and Annette pop to folk, to surf, to garage, to the British invasion, to psych, back to folk, to metal, to prog, all in just 10 years! We also had the birth and death of The Beatles. Once they took root, music followed them! So did fashion and other things.
By the late `60's, bands that were making those incredible psych records suddenly realized that they could never play any of that stuff live so, they reverted back to the standards of ordinary rock and especially folk! Once again, it was cool to carry an acoustic guitar around with you anywhere you went and play a ballad or folk tune on a whim. When I was in school, there was always a couple people walking around the school with a guitar! So, music got really simple and, mostly, kinda boring. All the hippies started going towards nature which lead them back to Jesus so, there was a big wave of religious rock starting in `69. a lot of the t. v. shows of the `60's were all about country life, too. Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction, Hee Haw. So, country music became big again.
After that, in the `70's, we went back to Frankie & Annette pop (via Donny & Marie, Sonny & Cher, Bobby Sherman, The Osmonds, The Partridge Family and Happy Days), to glam, to disco, to punk & new wave. Nowhere near as big of a change. And, it was the lowest cultural point of the history of the planet! The great dumbing-down!! This is why there's still so many people, today, doing stupid shit like shooting a bottle rocket from between the cheeks of their ass and drinking all 6 cans from a 6-pack all at the same time. We went from being really smart and caring in the `60's to really stupid and, "everything is about ME!!" in the `70's. Other than a few great prog albums and a couple really funny t v shows (Monty Python's Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, Soap, Bosom Buddies and Hot L Baltimore), the only good thing to come out of the `70's was new wave! The second psychedelic era of the early `80's! With the advent of Simmons drums, the Chapman Stick, the Roland G-707 guitar synth, wind synths and the Emulator, music became VERY creative and interesting, again!! Sadly, rap reared its ugly, boring, pointless head in `86 and started the present downfall of music and, again, the intelligence of the masses! Look at the difference between Woodstock `69 and the two that followed it. It's like day and night!! The last two were disasters!! Price gauging, riots, murder, rape, out of control fires, people tearing down everything in sight! Not at ALL what we accomplished in `69!!
When the `60's started, everything was shiny and new and, with Kennedy, we were looking towards a very bright future! And The Beatles helped A LOT. You can kinda gauge the `60's by The Beatles: at first, it was a brand new thing we never had before and it was great! Then, it got REALLY wild during the psych era! Then, as soon as Brian Epstien died, The Beatles started falling apart and so did the `60's! When the Beatles broke up, so did the ethos of the `60's!
Having some of our potential leaders being killed had a lot to do with it, too. With things like that and Manson, we lost our innocence and playfulness and had to get serious, again. The `60's was kinda like having recess in school. After all that killing and war going on the previous few decades, it was time to have fun. Sadly, LBJ got us involved in another war!!

[Dongie]

Great question. I think it was from like a power surge of the youth speaking out and the overload of hippies, drugs, sex and music. We sort of settled into a steady groove that produced some of the best of sexual relations, societal functions and the music.

[OtterMan68]

when the Vietnam war ended. The pot-smoking hippies became coke -snorting disco dancers

[Dongie]

lol.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Era of times change