British Invasion
The British Invasion was the term applied by the news media—and subsequently by consumers—to the influx of rock and roll, beat and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States, Canada and Australia. The classic British Invasion period was 1964 to 1967 (roughly bracketed by The Beatles' appearance on Ed Sullivan and the emergence of Jimi Hendrix as a U.S.-born superstar who had his first success in the UK). The Second British Invasion refers to MTV friendly acts of the 1980's. In the latter half of the 2000's the term would be used to describe the chart and Grammy Award success of mostly female acts at first and then British Acts in general.
The rebellious tone and image of American rock and roll and blues musicians deeply resonated with British youth in the late 1950s, influencing all the British Invasion artists. "Stranger on the Shore" by Acker Bilk in 1961 and "Telstar" by the Tornados in 1962 were the first two songs by British artists to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, both hitting the top of the chart before the generally accepted start of the "British Invasion." The song generally cited by historians as beginning the first British Invasion was The Beatles' I Want to Hold Your Hand, which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 18, 1964, and hit #1 on February 1, 1964. It became the biggest hit of the year, as well as the fourth-biggest hit of the decade. Technically speaking, The Beatles music was released in America six months earlier, including the first single of "From Me to You", released on Vee-Jay Records, and charting at #118 on the Bubbling Under charts on August 3, 1963. Only when Capitol mounted a massive publicity campaign in late December, 1963 did the Invasion hit full steam. On February 7, 1964 The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite ran a story about the Beatles United States arrival in which the correspondent said "The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania".
Though generally not credited with starting the "Invasion," Dusty Springfield was one of the first British artists to have significant success in the U.S., with her hit single "I Only Want To Be With You," released in November 1963, though it technically did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 until January 11, 1964. Influential pop music radio station WMCA in New York even chose Dusty's "I Only Want To Be With You" as its station "Sure Shot" on December 11, 1963, almost three weeks before premiering the Beatles on New York radio in late December. She appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 10, 1964 singing the popular hit, and continued to have several U.S. hits through the rest of the decade.
The rebellious tone and image of American rock and roll and blues musicians deeply resonated with British youth in the late 1950s, influencing all the British Invasion artists. "Stranger on the Shore" by Acker Bilk in 1961 and "Telstar" by the Tornados in 1962 were the first two songs by British artists to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, both hitting the top of the chart before the generally accepted start of the "British Invasion." The song generally cited by historians as beginning the first British Invasion was The Beatles' I Want to Hold Your Hand, which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 18, 1964, and hit #1 on February 1, 1964. It became the biggest hit of the year, as well as the fourth-biggest hit of the decade. Technically speaking, The Beatles music was released in America six months earlier, including the first single of "From Me to You", released on Vee-Jay Records, and charting at #118 on the Bubbling Under charts on August 3, 1963. Only when Capitol mounted a massive publicity campaign in late December, 1963 did the Invasion hit full steam. On February 7, 1964 The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite ran a story about the Beatles United States arrival in which the correspondent said "The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania".
Though generally not credited with starting the "Invasion," Dusty Springfield was one of the first British artists to have significant success in the U.S., with her hit single "I Only Want To Be With You," released in November 1963, though it technically did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 until January 11, 1964. Influential pop music radio station WMCA in New York even chose Dusty's "I Only Want To Be With You" as its station "Sure Shot" on December 11, 1963, almost three weeks before premiering the Beatles on New York radio in late December. She appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 10, 1964 singing the popular hit, and continued to have several U.S. hits through the rest of the decade.
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