The British invasion

When the Beatles hit America the difference was not so much in bands as in audiences. The white US audience was predominantly female and wanted softer, more romantic music, as they invariably do in any era. It was this audience the Brill Building supplied.

In Britain rock was pretty much ignored by the BBC, so UK fans had to get their music through other sources like Radio Luxembourg, which often played a harder sound. As a result the UK developed a tasted for harder rock and R&B.

The Beatles played to this audience in the UK and built up an audience for the same music in the US. Even the best stuff on US radio at the time was generally smoother, such as the Brill Building sound, the Beach Boys' power pop and the smoother soul of Motown.

It took some time for the American music business to catch up to the new sound, as garage bands and prom acts were signed to deals to make records like Wooly Bully and Hang On Sloopy, and folkies like McGuinn, Hillman, Clark, and Crosby formed bands like the Byrds.

By the end of 1965 thing with the rise of folk rock, bluesier R&B, and even the first rumblings of psychedelia, things were more on an equal basis between the Empire and her former colony.

I think the Everly brothers were a big influence on the Beatles

The following is a list of bands and artists that were involved with the British Invasion music phenomenon that occurred between 1964 and 1966 in the United States.

The Animals
The Beatles
Cilla Black
Chad & Jeremy
The Dave Clark Five
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Petula Clark
The Spencer Davis Group
Donovan
Adam Faith
Marianne Faithfull
Georgie Fame
Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders
The Fortunes
The Fourmost
Freddie and the Dreamers
Gerry and the Pacemakers
Herman's Hermits
The Hollies
The Honeycombs
The Hullaballoos
The Ivy League
Tom Jones
Jonathan King
The Kinks
Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas
Lulu
Manfred Mann
The Merseybeats
The Moody Blues
The Nashville Teens
Peter and Gordon
The Pretty Things
The Rolling Stones
The Searchers
Sandie Shaw
Small Faces
Dusty Springfield
Crispian St. Peters
The Swinging Blue Jeans
Them
The Tremeloes
The Troggs
The Undertakers
Ian Whitcomb
The Who
The Yardbirds
The Zombies

What an Invasion!

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That's a lot of talent

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Some were one hit wonders.

Others never really "invaded" at all. I'm pretty sure The Small Faces never toured the US (and had only one hit here) and I doubt if The Fourmost, The Ivy League, The Merseybeats, The Undertakers (who weren't even all that big in the UK -- lead singer Jackie Lomax would later record for Apple, owned by fellow Liverpudlians), The Hullaballoos, The Pretty Things, and Dave Dee, Dozy, etc ever did either.

The Brit bands were copying the black bands that american radio stations wouldn’t play. White radio producers were still pushing big band crooners, doo-wap, elvis, and modern jazz. British bands came in riffing on Wilson Pickett, Buddy Guy, Little Richard, and Ike Turner and those radio stations gave them airplay because they were more “palatable”.

The limeys suck and their music is overrated. If I were to name my top 50 acts I doubt a Brit band would get close.

They can’t sing for shite.

Googling some of the lesser know and instantly recognize their music.

The Tremelos - Silence is Golden & Here Comes My Baby

Wayne Fontana & Mindbenders -Game of Love

I do remember Crispian St. Peters' Hit -Pied Piper

The Sir Douglas Quintet (from San Antonio) supposedly came up with their name to sound British.

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The Sir Douglas Quintet (from San Antonio) supposedly came up with their name to sound British.

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At the suggestion of their producer, The Crazy Cajun, Huey P. Meaux from Wright, LA.