Home » Music » History of Rock » British Invasion: Part II

British Invasion: Part II

© Robert Whillans

We continue the British Invasion this week with a look at who followed the Beatles into America. The American market was one of the hardest to break into, but once the Beatles had landed, the doors were open for those who had become famous in the UK to enter rock's home grounds. "The biggest thing the Beatles did was to open the American market to all British artists," said Arthur Howes, planner of the early Beatles' tours of England. "Nobody had been able to get in before the Beatles. They alone did it. I had brought over lots of American stars, but nobody had gone over there." The All-American sound of local radio stations dissapated to reveal a new force, primarily guitar bands that wrote, sang, and played all their own pieces. The mass-production of bubble-gum pop songs was to nearly come to an end, and certainly was over in the hearts of the teens.

The Beatles came from Liverpool, England, a relatively small shipping town on the Mersey Sea. The Mersey sound had become quite popular in Britain, and it was those who had been the pioneers of it who first followed the Beatles' footsteps. A great deal of these groups were also tied in to Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager. One such group was Gerry and the Pacemakers, who signed with him in June of 1962. They were also on the bill at the club made famous by the Beatles, the Cavern. Their first hit, "How Do You Do It?", was even written for them. It went to the top of the British charts in 1963, followed by "I Like It" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". In May of 1964, Gerry and the Pacemakers performed on the Ed Sullivan show to promote their new single "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying". Like the Beatles, they also made a movie, Ferry Across the Mersey, in 1965 which didn't do quite as well as A Hard Day's Night. Another Epstein group was Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas. Billy J. Kramer, or William Ashton, had once sung with The Coasters, but had teamed up with the Dakotas in 1962 because of the advice of Epstein. This combonation seemed to please the fans, and they soon became a hit. They were tight with the Beatles, their first hit being "Do You Want To Know A Secret?", from the Beatles' album Please Please Me, in June of '63. The next month, they toured with the Beatles in the UK, and had their next three hits writeen by Lennon and McCartney, "Bad To Me", "I'll Keep You Satisfied" and "From A Window". Their first American success came in mid-64 with "Little Children". The other main Mersey group was the Searchers, formed in 1961 in Liverpool and performing as well at the Cavern before becoming the house band at the Iron Door. Their first hit was it 1963 with the Drifters' "Sweets For My Sweet". In April of 1964, two months after the Beatles' performance and one after Gerry and the Pacemakers', they performed on the "Ed Sullivan Show" and released their big American release, "Needles and Pins." The Liverpool sound was now famous, composed mainly of a lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums. For most of 1964, they ruled the rock industry.

The copyright of the article British Invasion: Part II in History of Rock is owned by . Permission to republish British Invasion: Part II in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.