The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Brit culture, took the United States by storm. Paving the way for the Invasion were the Fab Four..the phenomenon that was The Beatles. Four lads from Liverpool, England.. Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. To follow were fellow Mersey siders Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Dave Clarke Five, the zany Herman's Hermits and the Animals. They were only the start. The Invasion was a long time coming as before 1964 when Beatlemania hit the US, few Brit singers/groups had made any impression on American music markets. Cliff Richard, who was the best-selling British act in the UK at the time, only had one Top 40 hit in the US with 'Living Doll' five years earlier. Suddenly the UK was not just a place on the other side of the Atlantic..but an influence on American youth. Along with the music came the fashions of London's Carnaby Street that gave the young a way to express themselves and to reflect the changing times.
Those were the days my friend - I wish they'd never end ………….. (indulge me) Mary Quant - my hero ………………
The invasion isn't over. The UK is STILL supplying the best!! Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran, two of my favorite musicians.
I loved the Mersey sound. Other than the doyens The Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers there were scores of other lesser known bands that were born in the city of the Mersey River, Liverpool in northern England. One of my favorites was Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. Their biggest hit Silence is Golden (below) is a moving piece of music. The Merseybeats, The Searchers, Dave Clarke Five, The Sabres, Fourmost all had their starts in the small, dimly lit nite spots of Liverpool. The most famous of them all was The Cavern where the Beatles first came to prominence.