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 Show. The 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.
Thank you.
