Freaks are revolutionaries and revolutionaries are freaks!

It is a well-known subculture of the 1960s however it was perhaps overshadowed by people’s perceptions of the sixties which is predominately centered around ‘Hippies’, ‘Beatniks’, ‘Mods’, ‘Radicals’ and mary quant miniskirts. The 1960s does represent a time of mind exploration and thus came a selection of concept albums and long experimental progressive rock.

The freak scene was a term used by a slightly post-hippie and pre-punk style of bohemian subculture. It referred to overlaps between politicized pacifist post-hippies, generally non-political progressive rock fans, and non-political Psychedelic music and Psychedelia fans. The individuals moved between rock festivals, free festivals, happenings and alternative society gatherings of various kinds

The hairstyles were mostly long and unkempt but people were experimenting with other possibilities. Rock stars of the era such as David Bowie and Roxy Music were trying shorter styles and hair dye. Roy Wood of the pop group Wizzard had hair down to his knees with odd colors dyed in. These musical icons were influential. Shaven heads were seen occasionally but were not yet as common as they would become when punk began. There was a reluctance to make hair too short, for fear of looking like skinheads, who were considered by many to be violent hooligans.

The clothing of the freaks used elements of roleplay such as headbands, cloaks, frock coats, and kaftans, suggesting either a romantic historical era or a distant region. These were combined with cheap, hardwearing clothes such as jeans and army surplus coats. The effect was to make a group of freaks look like a gathering of characters from a fantasy or science fiction novel. All of these appearances were intentional and enjoyed by the participants of the freak scene.

Freak scene music was an eclectic mixture based around progressive rock and experimentalism. There were crossover bands bridging rock and jazz, rock and folk, rock and sci-fi (space rock).

Their attitudes were very relaxed and their social movements involved going to music festivals and alternative events

The freak scene made inroads into the underground comix movement in the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers by Gilbert Shelton in 1968.