The British Invasion

The British Invasion is a term mainly used in America, to describe the large amount of British bands and groups that worked their way into the American charts from around 1964 ended in 1967 by homogeneous worldwide rock. While early attempts to replicate American Rock and Roll failed, a new Trad Jazz inspired craze was the starting point of several British acts that later became part of “The Invasion”. Young British groups started to combine various British and American styles. This fusion became known as “Merseybeat” in Liverpool during 1962. “The Tornados” were the first British rock act to have a number one single in the U.S, with their instrumental “Telstar”.

On December 10, 1963 the CBS Evening News ran a story about the phenomenon with The Beatles in the U.K, which was named “Beatlemania”. After seeing the report an American watcher wrote a letter the following day asking “"why can't we have music like that here in America?". In response to this and others, on December 17, The Beatles "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was introduced live on the air, which was the first airing of a Beatles song in the United States.



Major record stores were receiving masses of requests for records that they did not have. On December 26 “Capitol Records” released The Beatles album 3 weeks ahead of schedule, which happened to be on vacation time for teenagers, which helped the “Beatlemania” spread. On January 18, 1964, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" reached number one on the “Cash Box” chart. The success of their hits in America carried on, and around a week later they made an appearance on the “Ed Sullivan Show”. On February 7 The CBS Evening News ran a story about The Beatles' arrival in America and that same day the correspondent said "The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania".



Over 75 percent of Americans who watched television that night watched The Beatles appearance. After the show The Beatles continued their success over in America aswell as at home in the U.K, until they broke up in 1970.
In the same year as The Beatles success in America, Dusty Springfield became the second British act to claim a hit in America. He reached no. 77 in the Hot 100, which eventually reached no.12. More British acts followed this success with bands such as, “The Animals”, “Herman’s Hermits”, “The Rolling Stones” and “The Troggs”. Many of these mentioned groups had at least one or more no.1 singles over in America, and still dominated the charts over in the U.K.



The invasion was not just about the music however went into many aspects such as the fashion and media. The fashion from Carnaby Street and The Beatles movie “A Hard Day's Night” was said to lead the American media into proclaiming that England was the centre of fashion and music.



The British Invasion had a massive influence on the shape of popular music today as we know it. It played a key part in internationalising the production of rock and roll, and opening the door to British artists to achieve international success. However the Invasion could be blamed for the end of other music scenes such as vocal girl groups and teen idols, which had dominated the American charts in the late 1950s and 1960s. It had a major effect on the derailed chart success of establishing R&B acts, and surviving Rock ‘N’ Roll acts including Elvis Presley. It influenced many garage bands of the time to produce a sound with a “British Invasion inflection” and inspired many groups to form that would create a new scene of which many American groups and artists would emerge. The British Invasion also helped create a distinct genre of rock music, and cemented the primacy of a now average rock band, based around guitars and drums.
A second wave of the invasion occurred and involved major bands such as “The Who”, “The Kinks”, and “The Zombies”, who were influenced heavily by American rock music and the pop side of the first wave invasion. In the early 1980s British acts were informed by the after effects of the “New Wave / Punk” revolution. The Police cracked the top American 40 with their 1979 single “Roxanne”. This was followed by a large amount of artists reaching modest chart success such as, “The Pretenders”, “Elvis Costello” and “Gary Newman”.

 

The British Invasion played a very important part for music today, through musical influences such as The Beatles, who have undoubtedly structured music of today. The British Invasion also opened doors for artists in the U.K to have their music shared worldwide. If the British Invasion had not happened then American music would not be how it is today.