Friday, August 28, 2020

64. History of Rock Music: 3. The British Invasion, ACJ Music Academy


How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 64th lecture.

The topic for this week is “The British Invasion”, the third theme of “The History of Rock”.

This lecture is a summary of the contents of “64. History of Rock Music: 3. The British Invasion, ACJ Music Academy” introduced on October 15, 2016.

The British Invasion refers to a phenomenon in which British rock and pop artists, along with British culture, gained great popularity in the United States in the mid-1960s. British pop/rock groups such as The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, The Animals and The Who acted as the leaders of this phenomenon.

The Beatles

The Dave Clark Five

The Kinks

The Rolling Stones

Herman's Hermits

The Animals

The Who

In the late 1950s, the rebellious music and image of American rock and roll and blues musicians became very popular with young British people. While early commercial attempts to imitate American rock and roll in the UK have mostly failed, the popularity of the traditional jazz-inspired skiffle sound and its “do it yourself'' stance became the starting point for some British bands to create songs that entered the US Billboard charts.

In 1962, a "beat boom" began in several regions of the UK, including the movement of Liverpool known as Merseybeat, and by the end of 1962, the beat groups such as The Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers, The Searchers, Herman's Hermits and The Hollies began to appear. 

Gerry and the Pacemakers

The Searchers

The Hollies

They initially reinterpreted and performed traditional American music, but soon began to create their own music that mixed American music forms with the beat. Among them, in December 1962, "Telstar", an instrumental song by The Tornados, became the first song to be ranked no.1 by the British group on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart

The Tornados

In 1963, Beatles-led beat groups began to achieve success in England and soon began to enter music charts dominated by the rhythm and blues genre. The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was the first of their songs to be no.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the United States, which ranked no. 1 for 7 weeks and stayed on the charts for 15 weeks. On February 9, 1964, 73 million people watched TV to see The Beatles, which first appeared on The Ed Sullivan ShowThe Beatles became the most record-selling rock band of all time, and many British bands following The Beatles entered the American music charts.

The Beatles arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport (7 February 1964)

Beatles on Ed Sullivan Show

The British Invasion helped the globalization of rock and roll, opening the door to global success for later British musicians. In the United States, the popularity of surf music, girl groups and teen idol music that dominated the American charts in the late 1950s and 1960s ended, and the popularity of R&B musicians such as Fats Domino and Chubby Checker was declined, and it temporarily destroyed the resurgence of rock and roll singers like Elvis Presley. 

The British Invasion played an important role in making rock music an independent genre based on making their own music and laid the foundation for solidifying the popularity of rock groups.

You can also review this lecture from following media.

Naver Post

Next week, I will lecture 4th topic “Birth of Hard Rock/Metal”.

Thank you.


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