The British Invasion Shaped the Course of Music
A musical movement of the mid-1960s, the British Invasion was composed of British rock-and-roll and beat groups whose popularity spread rapidly to the rest of the English-speaking world, especially the United States which, from the beginnings of rock-and-roll music in the early 1950s, had nearly a monopoly on the genre.
Though generally not credited with starting the “Invasion”, Dusty Springfield was one of the first British artist to have significant success in the U.S., with her hit single “I Only Want to Be with You”, released in November 1963. She appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in early 1964 singing the popular hit, and continued to have several U.S. hits through the rest of the decade. For a list of songs by British artists which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, click here.
However, The Beatles’ triumphant arrival in New York on February 7, 1964, is widely credited with truly throwing open America’s doors to a wealth of British musical talent, and officially beginning what would come to be calledwith historical condescension by the willingly reconquered colonythe second British Invasion. Like their transatlantic counterparts in the 1950s, British youth heard their future in the frantic beats and suggestive lyrics of American rock and roll, but initial attempts to replicate it failed. Lacking the indigenous basic ingredients of rock and roll, rhythm and blues and country music, enthusiasts could bring only crippling British decorum and diffidence. The only sign of life was in the skiffle craze of the 1950s, spearheaded by Scottish-born Lonnie Donegan. Skiffle groups (like The Quarrymen, first forerunner of the Beatles) were mainly drummerless, acousticguitar and banjo ensembles, similar to jugbands, who most often sang traditional American folk songs, frequently with more spirit than instrumental polish, although early British skiffle was played by highly skilled Tradd jazz musicians.
