The Official Weekend Single's Thread ---May 19-21

Supernatural | May 19, 2006 | Supernatural

[Supernatural]

The British Invasion

I was rather lucky to have grown up in one of the most amazing periods in the history of modern music, what has become known as the “British Invasion”. It wasn’t really an invasion of the U.S. by an armed force from another country; rather it was an invasion of our music charts by British recording artists. I was in the eighth grade when I first heard “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” by the Beatles. Prior to 1964 the British had only two hit records that topped the U.S. charts. Those were “Stranger on the Shore” by Acker Bilk and “Telstar” by the Tornadoes, both in 1962.

In 1964 Ed Sullivan, the host of the hugely popular “Ed Sullivan Show” was at a New York airport when the Beatles landed from England to go on their first U.S. tour. Crowds of screaming young girls greeted the Beatles and Ed was curious as to what the commotion was all about. He met with the Beatles on the spot and offered them $50,000 to appear on his show. The Beatles agreed and the British Invasion was officially underway. On February 9, 1964, the largest audience in the history of American television watched the Beatles perform live on the Ed Sullivan show. I was one of them.

For some years prior to 1964 young British musicians had idolized American music stars and many of the Americans were more popular in Britain than they were at home. The young Brits listened to Buddy Holly, Leadbelly, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, the Everly Brothers, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and many others. The U.S. musicians became like Gods to the young British musicians and they worked hard to emulate them.

The Animals (Eric Burdon), The Beatles, Chad and Jeremy, The Dave Clark Five, Freddy and the Dreamers, Herman’s Hermits, The Kinks (Ray Davies), Donovan, The Hollies (Graham Nash), The Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger and Keith Richards), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakota’s, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Dusty Springfield, The Troggs, The Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Peter and Gordon, The Honeycombs, Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds (Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton), The Zombies, The Moody Blues, The Walker Brothers, Petula Clark, The Move, The Small Faces (Rod Stewart), The Who (Pete Townshend, Roger Daltry), Argent, John Mayall’s Blues breakers (Eric Clapton, Peter Green), Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green), Cream (Eric Clapton), Jethro Tull (Ian Anderson), Procol Harum (Robin Trower), Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page, Robert Plant), Traffic (Dave Mason, Stevie Winwood), Deep Purple and The Spencer Davis Group (Stevie Winwood).

Eric Burdon

Eric Clapton

Mick Jagger

The Who

Yardbirds Concert Advertisement

The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page

Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac

Jimmy Hendrix

The Beatles (George, John, Ringo and Paul)

Beatles ticket from 1964 (Pittsburgh, PA)

Some facts about the Beatles from “Wikipedia”

• During the week of April 4, 1964 The Beatles occupied the first five slots of the Billboard Hot 100, #1 - "Can't Buy Me Love," #2 - "Twist and Shout," #3 - "She Loves You," #4 - "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and #5 - "Please Please Me," the only group in rock and roll history to achieve this feat.

• In 1964, the Beatles had the never-matched total of 15 American million-selling records (9 singles and 6 LPs), representing US sales of over 25 million in 1964 alone.

• "I Want To Hold Your Hand" sold nearly 5 million records in the US by 1968, making it the best selling single of the 1960s (from a Capitol Records Press release, September 9, 1968).

• When "Can’t Buy Me Love" was released in the US on March 16, 1964, it sold 940,225 copies on the first day, shattering all previous sales records. The single went on to sell over 3 million by the end of the year (Spizer, Bruce, 2000: The Beatles’ Story on Capitol Records, Part One: Beatlemania & The Singles, p. 36).

British Number One Singles of 1964

• 1 I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND - The Beatles
• 2 A HARD DAY'S NIGHT - The Beatles
• 3 CAN'T BUY ME LOVE - The Beatles
• 4 LOVE ME DO - The Beatles
• 5 HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN - The Animals
• 6 I FEEL FINE - The Beatles
• 9 A WORLD WITHOUT LOVE - Peter & Gordon
• 11 DO WAH DIDDY DIDDY - Manfred Mann
• 12 I SAW HER STANDING THERE - The Beatles
• 13 HAVE I THE RIGHT - The Honeycombs
• 18 SHE LOVES YOU - The Beatles
• 22 NEEDLES AND PINS - The Searchers
• 24 YOU REALLY GOT ME - The Kinks
• 25 LITTLE CHILDREN - Billy J.Kramer & the Dakotas

British Number One Singles of 1965

• 1 HELP! - The Beatles
• 2 I FEEL FINE - The Beatles
• 3 TICKET TO RIDE - The Beatles
• 4 (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION - Rolling Stones
• 5 MRS BROWN YOU'VE GOT A LOVELY DAUGHTER- Herman's Hermits
• 6 GET OFF OF MY CLOUD - The Rolling Stones
• 11 YESTERDAY - The Beatles
• 14 WE CAN WORK IT OUT - The Beatles
• 15 DOWNTOWN - Petula Clark
• 16 THE LAST TIME - The Rolling Stones
• 18 I'M TELLING YOU NOW - Freddie & the Dreamers
• 19 DAYTRIPPER - The Beatles
• 27 GAME OF LOVE - Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders
• 30 EIGHT DAYS A WEEK - The Beatles

British Number One Singles of 1966

• 1 WE CAN WORK IT OUT - The Beatles
• 3 DAYTRIPPER - The Beatles
• 5 ELEANOR RIGBY - The Beatles
• 7 GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME - Tom Jones
• 10 PAPERBACK WRITER - The Beatles
• 11 THE SUN AIN'T GONNA SHINE ANYMORE - The Walker Brothers
• 12 FRIDAY ON MY MIND - The Easybeats
• 14 PAINT IT BLACK - The Rolling Stones
• 15 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL - New Vaudeville Band
• 20 WILD THING - The Troggs
• 23 MY LOVE - Petula Clark
• 26 PRETTY FLAMINGO - Manfred Mann
• 28 SUNNY AFTERNOON - The Kinks

Music of the British Invasion

Time Is On My Side…The Rolling Stones

Don‘t Bring Me Down…The Animals

Mellow Yellow…Donovan

You Really Got Me…The Kinks

White Room…Cream

Have I the Right…The Honeycombs

She Loves You…The Beatles

I Want To Hold Your Hand…The Beatles

For Your Love…The Yardbirds

Madison Blues…Fleetwood Mac

Ferry Cross the Mersey…Gerry and the Pacemakers

I‘m Telling You Now…Freddy & the Dreamers

Wild Thing…The Troggs

Go Now…The Moody Blues

Little Children…Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas

[Supernatural]

At one time all music played over here on the AM radio had to be less than 3 minutes long and to fit a certain format.

The British Invasion, along with Bob Dylan, helped to break that mold.

[snugs]

Maybe they thought the sense of humour was not suitable for the American market.

It is what I would call bawdy English comedy.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

I thought you could get the BBC on PBS? The BBC shows those films a lot.

[Darth Republican]

I've always felt that ABBA's "Waterloo" sounded like a typical entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.

[snugs]

The great man - a great talent but a very unhappy and tortured man.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Of course, we got plenty of Benny Hill here. He was rather bawdy.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

I see you posted a link as well :0)

Yes, the Yanks won't be left in much doubt now!! ;)

[Supernatural]

The guy in the picture you posted looks like someone I have seen before.

They have a few British shows on Public TV. One of them is a pretty darn good comedy show but I don't know the name of it or who plays in it.

[rzeznikj at stout]

What's happening?

Irish: TUH (per Regulation G)

[Irish_Thatcherite]

I got it wrong LOL - all I saw was the red hair

Yeah, I right-clicked on the pic, not her!

[Darth Republican]

It is what I would call bawdy English comedy.

Cultural divide.

You had the 'Carry On' films. We had Jerry Lewis movies.

[snugs]

Basically each country in Europe enter a artist or group after holding a national contest and then each country votes on each song (they cannot vote on their own).

ABBA won it with Waterloo many many years ago.

[ilovew]

Hey, cutie ;)

[Irish_Thatcherite]

The great man - a great talent but a very unhappy and tortured man.

Yeah, I believed he kicked with the other foot.. hehe. Seriously, a lot of the cast were troubled - Sid James basically drank himself to death!

[snugs]

Yes I suppose it was but even so I still liked Waterloo. ABBA was my favourite group of all time.

[Supernatural]

ABBA was a very pop band.

I'm amazed as to the huge following they have.

And for years you couldn't get their records on CD.

[snugs]

Similar type of humour

[rzeznikj at stout]

How'd your day go, babe? ;)

[Irish_Thatcherite]

The guy in the picture you posted looks like someone I have seen before.

He has popped up in a lot of things..

They have a few British shows on Public TV. One of them is a pretty darn good comedy show but I don't know the name of it or who plays in it.

Hmmm.. that doesn't narrow it down much - there are a Hell of a lot of Brit sit-coms!!

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Dancing Queen, Fernando . . . yes, I remember ABBA well. My older brother used to make fun of them when I played their records at home.