The shop window reflected his image as he walked past.

He hesitated at first to read it – as if he feared that what he would read on the screen would remain for eternity unerasable.

Their debut started slow, but bulleted to number six in its fourth week.

Yet for a significant portion of the country, long-haired men wearing love beads, authority-snubbing youth, mouthy women and increasingly public gay and lesbian alliances portended a future they wanted no part of.