Coming of age in north London in the decade labelled the Swinging Sixties, four friends, each with their own distinct views and outlook on life but drawn tightly together by their mutually exuberant love of rock 'n' roll and the cultural influences of the time, form a strong bond that nurtures their dreams, hopes and aspirations for a brighter, better world free from fighting, hatred, inequality and hypocrisy. But the dark, corrosive side of the Sixties - the assassinations of President John F Kennedy and his brother Robert, the brutal slaying of Martin Luther King, the trauma and shocking events of the Vietnam War and the destructive surge in drugs use - loom large, leaving the foursome with scars that slowly erode their youthful innocence, confidence and naive swagger. A dramatic helter-skelter journey sees the friends go through an array of human emotions, from humour to pathos, elation to sadness, excitement to disappointment, life-affirming highs to tear-stained lows and, ultimately, heartbreak and disillusionment. Set in the closing stages of the decade, the earlier years are recalled vividly in flashbacks that capture the exhilarating but often painful process of growing up in rapidly-changing, turbulent times.