"What does it mean to start in the counterculture, the Grateful Dead were leaders of the counterculture in the 1960s, and now to have ice cream and aprons and hot sauce bearing the Grateful Dead logo? Duke University / via Duke Today The Grateful Dead performs in Cameron Indoor Stadium in April 1978. Not all of Professor Mlyn's students came away with a love of the Grateful Dead's music, he said, but that wasn't the point.