Lennon and Jagger clever 'capitalists'

Pop culture icons John Lennon and Mick Jagger were clever capitalists who cashed in on the mood of the 1960s, not spokesmen for a generation seeking revolution, a British academic says.

Cambridge University historian David Fowler said that so-called "Swinging London" was in fact beyond most normal people, "less a golden age for the nation's young than a celebration of wealth by its social elite."

The separation of Groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones from their fans was reflected in the way they installed themselves in grand country houses, he said.