In April 1964, they appeared on Ed Sullivan, and had their first American hit, ”Needles And Pins”. These Liverpudian groups had the ”Mersey sound”, which was a strong guitar sound: lead, rhythm, and bass guitars, with drums.
Groups from other parts of England had their own distinctive styles (some of these were similar to the Mersey sound): “The Manchester Sound” was exemplified by The Hollies, Freddie And The Dreamers, Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders, and Herman's Hermits.
”The Tyneside Sound”-The Animals were examples of this.
The Applejacks brought the "Birmingham Sound”.
”The Scottish Sound” was exemplified by Lulu And The Luvvers, The Poets, and Donovan.
”The Irish Sound “ was Them. Manchester was a smoke-stacked industrial center similar to Liverpool.
One of the city's groups, The Hollies, would go on to last longer than most of the Manchester bands. Started by Graham Nash and Allan Clarke, the two met in grammer school , later forming the duo Two Teens. After a few name changes, the duo added three other members in 1962 and called themselves The Hollies (after their hero, Buddy Holly).
This group also performed at Liverpool's Cavern Club. Their first British Top 10 in early 1964 was ”Stay”. More British top hits followed. They didn't chart on the American Top 40 until early 1966, however, with ”Look Through Any Window”.
Freddie (Garrity) And The Dreamers had their first British hit in 1963 with ”If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody” (a remake of the James Ray hit). The group followed up with ”I'm Teling You Now” and ”You Were Made For Me”, becoming popular on British TV not just for their singing, but their comedy. They didn't chart in the U.S. until 1965 when ”I'm Telling You Now” became a no. 1 smash!
In early 1965, Wayne Fontana (born Glyn Geoffrey Ellis) And The Mindbenders had a no. 1 smash, ”The Game Of Love”. Fontana took his stage name from his record company; the group was named after a horror film.
Herman's Hermits was formed in 1962 with Peter Noone as lead singer. In 1964, the band was signed to EMI Columbia. Producer Mickie Most came across a Carole King song, ”I'm Into Something Good” (originally recorded by Earl-Jean McCree, a member of The Cookies). Legend has it that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, two future members of Led Zeppelin, were session musicians on this song! A succession of U.S. and British hits followed; this group was one of the biggest acts of the day.
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