What Was The British Invasion?

The British Invasion was not actually a military conquest, but rather one based on music during the 1960s when singers and songwriters from the United Kingdom exploded onto the American entertainment scene and rose to the top of the charts with their beat, and rock and roll music. Although it is difficult to point to a precise date, the British Invasion likely started in late 1963, with Dusty Springfield's performance of the song "I Only Want To Be With You." Springfield appeared on the hugely popular Ed Sullivan Show, thus earning herself name recognition among Americans.

The Beatles, however, made an even bigger splash when they arrived in New York in February 1964, where their performance of  " A Hard Day's Night" not only electrified US crowds, but it also dispelled the myth that Britons were all that different in taste and decorum from Americans and that they could not produce rock. Additionally, many US fans observed that these young British performers sang "in American," with very little indication of their English accent when they performed their music.

Other than The Beatles, Manfred Mann, the Rolling Stones, the Troggs, Herman's Hermits, the Mindbenders, among many others, made it big in the US during the 1960s. Recently, "American Idol" dedicated an entire show to the music of the British Invasion.