THE BRITISH INVASION

The British Invasion was the term applied by the news media, and subsequently by consumers, to the influx of performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States and Canada. The classic British Invasion period was 1964 to 1967. 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.

The arrival of The Beatles in the U.S., and subsequent appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show marked the start of the British Invasion. The song generally cited by historians as beginning the 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.

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.

British Invasion acts influenced fashion, haircuts and manners of the 1960s of what was to be known as The Counterculture because they connected to the young "rebels" of the generation and influenced what defined a "cultural rebel" and collective nonconformity when it came to protests and activism. The British Invasion reinvigorated the rock and roll landscape and paved the way for the artistic and commercial breakthroughs that would come in the second half of the Sixties.