MUSICAL DECADES - 1960s - The British Invasion

The British Invasion was a phenomenon that occurred when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom, as well as other aspects of British culture, became popular in the United States and Canada, and significant to the rising "counterculture" on both sides of the Atlantic.

Today I'd like to take you back to the mid-1960s to get a taste of that “invasion”.

On October 29, 1963, The Washington Post published the first story in the USA about the frenzy surrounding the rock group The Beatles in the United Kingdom. The Beatles' November 4 Royal Variety Performance in front of the Queen Mother sparked music industry and media interest in the group. During November, a number of major American print outlets and two network television evening programs published and broadcasted stories on the phenomenon that became known as "Beatlemania".

“I Want To Hold Your Hand” was the group's first American number one single, entering the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 13, 1964 at number forty-five and starting the British invasion of the American music industry. By February 1, it held the number-one spot, and stayed there for seven weeks before being replaced by their song "She Loves You". It remained on the US charts for a total of fifteen weeks. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" became the Beatles' best-selling single worldwide.

The Dave Clark Five (also known as "The DC5") was the second group of the British Invasion on The Ed Sullivan Show, appearing in March for two weeks after the Beatles appeared three straight weeks in February 1964. The Dave Clark Five was the first British band of the British Invasion to tour the US, and they made 18 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show—the most of any British Invasion group.

For some time The Dave Clark Five was more popular in the US than in their native UK, but had a renaissance in the UK between 1967 and 1970. The group disbanded in late 1970. On 10 March 2008, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

"Glad All Over" is a song written by Dave Clark and Mike Smith and recorded by The Dave Clark Five. In January 1964, it became the British group's first big hit, reaching number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. In April 1964, it reached number 6 on the American U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the first British Invasion hit by a group other than The Beatles. It was also number 1 in Ireland, number 2 in Canada, and number 3 in Australia. It reached number 4 in the Netherlands and number 16 in Germany. 

"Glad All Over" was the second largest-selling single of 1964 in the U.K. (behind "Can't Buy Me Love" by The Beatles), and also had sufficient UK sales in November and December 1963 to make it the 58th best-selling single of 1963; put together, these statistics suggest U.K. sales for "Glad All Over" of around 1,000,000 units by the end of 1964.

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, having launched a solo career after her participation in the Springfields, became the next British act to reach the Hot 100 Her career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s. At her peak, she was one of the most successful British female performers, with six top 20 singles on the United States Billboard Hot 100 and sixteen on the United Kingdom Singles Chart from 1963 to 1989.

"I Only Want to Be with You," which was co-written and arranged by Ivor Raymonde, was produced by Johnny Franz in a manner similar to Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound," and included rhythm and blues features such as horn sections, backing singers, and double-tracked vocals, along with pop music strings, all in the style of girl groups that Springfield admired. She soon followed up with several other hits, becoming what AllMusic described as "the finest white soul singer of her era."

The Rolling Stones is an English rock band formed in London in 1962 and was in the vanguard of the British Invasion of bands that became popular in the US in 1964–65. At first noted for their longish hair as much as their music, the band is identified with the youthful and rebellious counterculture of the 1960s. Critic Sean Egan states that within a year of the release of their 1964 debut album, they "were being perceived by the youth of Britain and then the world as representatives of opposition to an old, cruel order—the antidote to a class-bound, authoritarian culture."

The Stones were instrumental in making blues a major part of rock and roll and of changing the international focus of blues culture to the original type blues typified by Chess Records artists such as Muddy Waters—writer of "Rollin' Stone", after which the band is named.

The Rolling Stones' fifth UK single—a cover of Willie Dixon's "Little Red Rooster"—was released in November 1964 and became their second number 1 hit in the UK—an unprecedented achievement for a blues number.

Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, comprising Peter Asher (b. 1944) and Gordon Waller (1945–2009), who achieved international fame in 1964 with their first single, the million-selling transatlantic number 1 smash "A World Without Love."

"A World Without Love." was written by Paul McCartney and attributed to Lennon–McCartney. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and also reached number one on the Cash Box chart in the US for one week.

The duo had several subsequent hits in the British Invasion-era, such as "Nobody I Know" (US number.12; UK number 10), "I Don't Want To See You Again" (US number 16, but not a hit in the UK), and "Woman". They had their last hit in Britain in late-1966 with "Lady Godiva", which reached number 16 there (and number 6 in the US), while their success lasted into 1967 in the US, with "Knight in Rusty Armour" and "Sunday for Tea" both registering in the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100 that year.

Petula Sally Olwen Clark (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.

During the 1960s she became known globally for her popular upbeat hits, including "Downtown", "I Know a Place", "My Love", "A Sign of the Times", "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love", "Colour My World", "This Is My Song" and "Don't Sleep in the Subway". The timing and popularity of these songs caused Clark to be dubbed the First Lady of the British Invasion. She has sold more than 68 million records throughout her career.

"Downtown" is a pop song composed by Tony Hatch which, as recorded by Petula Clark in 1964, became an international hit, reaching number. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 and number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. Hatch received the 1981 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

This ends Musical Decades for this week. Thanks for listening and I hope to see you here next time.

(The information used in this post is from Wikipedia.)

Dominique "Nik" Petersen is an aficionado of "oldies" music and the author of Dr. Hook and Me: A Fan's Journal/Scrapbook. Read about it and her other books at the website: 

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