Excursion #2 • British Invasion
Quick Review
Welcome back! Or welcome to your 1st time!
To recap, this blog is all about music and pop culture. But with a little different twist. In each entry, the goal will be to assist the reader to sort of time travel; to be transported through and to wander the space-time continuum to another time and place. We are in search of new and interesting moments of pop music and culture.
In our last excursion, we were transported to the events of December 8, 1980, and the sudden, unthinkable loss, as noted before, of one of pop’s all-time great writers, performers, and musical innovators, John Lennon of the Beatles. That was the night he was murdered while returning to his home at The Dakota apartment building in Central Park, New York City.
Today we are going back a little further, 16 years earlier, to the beginning - the “launch” of what would soon become known as the British Invasion:
Leaving right now for....
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Excursion 2
February 9, 1964
The Ed Sullivan Show
It was a chilly Sunday night in my little southern town, called Huntsville, a couple of hours away from Nashville. I had managed to stay home from Sunday night church, as was often my goal, because of the great TV programming on Sunday night (please don’t tell anyone that I did that). Imagine we have just been transported to that very moment (through this Pop Time Machine). Feel what it is like if you can. 1964 is already shaping up to be an eventful year. NASA continues moving space travel deeper beyond the Earth’s orbit. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 will be signed into law. And Ford unveils a new sports car called the Mustang. In the fun world of pop, tonight, Feb. 9th, is a big deal! Feel the sense of anticipation in the air for an entertainment media event about to unfold on TV.
First, we would have to choose between either Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, or The Ed Sullivan Show, because they are on competing networks - there are currently only 3 TV networks (in 1964). And color TV is brand new! But on this particular Sunday night, at 7pm, the Ed Sullivan Show will be the decisive winner. Why? Because everyone knows - it has been well promoted - that Ed Sullivan will be featuring a new music group from England which has become all the rage. They are called The Beatles. This is to be their first American appearance (Ed Sullivan will pay them $10,000 for the gig). What has already been called “Beatlemania,” sweeping across the civilized world, now comes to our shores.
“Ladies and Gentlemen: The Beatles.” Five words from Ed Sullivan change everything.
In fact 73 million viewers will tune in tonight to watch the show - which is more than half of the adult population of the country at this time! (And which we now know was the largest TV viewing audience ever in the U.S.). Virtually every living baby boomer knows and can recall that particular night, whether he or she loved the Beatles or otherwise.
The assassination of President Kennedy less than 3 months earlier was of course a more significant and traumatic milestone in American history. And in fact the country has felt a sort of national depression now for 3 months because of that horrific event.
There is now a sort of hunger for someone or something to come and break the spell, to lift the fog. Enter John, Paul, George and Ringo. Live on Ed Sullivan! And so it begins — a sudden surge of what will soon become scores of British bands and musical artists. That makes this one hour of television something of a watershed moment, dividing the old world from the new. Black and white from color. The 50s from the 60’s. From short hair to mop tops. From the beatniks and Elvis to the hippies and flower children, where all is groovy and super and happening. It is a sort of “D-Day” of the “British Invasion,” which will come to entirely transform pop culture in America like no previous influence has done. In 1964, Life magazine put it like this: “In 1776 England lost her American colonies. Last week The Beatles took them back.”
According to Rolling Stone magazine, “I Want To Hold Your Hand” was No. 1 for seven consecutive weeks. By March the group’s first album with Capital, Meet The Beatles, shipped 3.6 million copies making it the best selling album of all time. And by the first week of April the Beatles had twelve records in the Top 100 — and held every position in the Top Five! The songs hogging the top five positions were, in order, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Twist and Shout,” “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Please Please Me.” Obviously, this record has never been broken. And then the movie “A Hard Days Night” comes out in July! Clearly 1964 belongs to The Beatles. (See link below “Beatles on Ed Sullivan” to hear these songs)
But the Beatles aren’t alone. This so-called “British Invasion” is not just one successful band, The Beatles. It is a whole “army,” a veritable new sub-culture of bands, multi-talented people, from one small nation, the UK! All at once! Consider just a few of the British artists who will dominate the U.S. Billboard charts for the next 5 years:
The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Herman’s Hermits, The Kinks, The Troggs, Lulu, Donovan, Peter and Gordon, The Animals, The Zombies.
And in the late 60’s a sort of Phase 2:
The Who, Procol Harum, Cream, The Hollies, Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, and The Moody Blues, to name a few....
A few Highlights:
The Rolling Stones still tour almost 60 years after the band formed as the bad boys of rock, selling 240 million records.
The Dave Clark Five sold 70 million records by the end of the decade.
Herman’s Hermits sold more records in 1965 than the Beatles. They only lasted 3 years but sold 80 million records.
Petula Clark, dubbed “The First Lady of the Brit Invasion,” sold 68 million records.
The Who sold 100 million records, created the rock opera genre, and became famous for smashing their instruments.
(See the other link below: “British Invasion Artists [1960s]” to hear them for yourself)
(Special Note: if you’re a Boomer and not familiar with these British Invasion bands, I don’t know where you’ve been, but you owe it to yourself to listen to this playlist before you get so old that your hearing goes! If you’re a Gen Z or a Millennial reader, be warned, these songs are so amazing, that you could possibly experience anxiety or depression from the realization that you were born too late and missed the 60’s! Proceed with caution, read all warning labels, perhaps consult with a physician and maybe wear a mask. But enjoy!)
But don’t worry, American bands still thrive of course in this magical 1960s world. We have everyone from The Beach Boys to Simon & Garfunkel, to the trippy Sonny & Cher, The Mamas and the Papas, Bob Dylan, The Doors — well, you get the idea, hundreds of artists from A to Z (Aretha to Zappa). (It occurs to me that I should be earning royalties or residuals from these endorsements - I didn’t think this through very well!) Anyway, this is perhaps the most fertile and prolific time of creative energy for pop music of any era. But I grew up here so I think I’m probably partial!
There can be no question that many things changed forever in 1964. I’m sure someday they will trace it back to that one hour of The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS, Feb 9th at 7:00. Well it seems that we are “out of time” (sorry, bad pun!) for today, so we’d better wind things down. As before, we must get “back to the future,” and rejoin that annoying reality thing! But as noted last time, perhaps these brief ventures in the Pop Time Machine can literally be mood and mind altering in this challenging year of 2020. It will be good for your mental health. See you soon.
BTW:
Our next outing will focus on a female artist, of whom Paul McCartney said, “She has the best female voice in the world; melodic, tuneful and distinctive.” Join us in our next outing to find out who she is....
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A Video is worth a thousand words:
Enjoy a few performances below of The 1960s “British Invasion,” first with The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, and then a few videos by other 60s groups also from England:
Beatles: I Want to Hold Your Hand
The Rolling Stones: 19th Nervous Breakdown
Herman’s Hermits: Compilation of Hits
Petula Clark: Downtown
The Who: Pinball Wizard
The Hollies: Carrie Anne
Gerry & The Pacemakers: Ferry Cross the Mersey (1965)
Beatles: Twist and Shout
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Beatles on Ed Sullivan
Check out this Playlist of songs on Spotify from the Beatles 4 Ed Sullivan appearances, 3 in 1964 and 1 in 1965, 12 songs in all:
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British Invasion Artists (1960s)
Check out this Playlist of amazing songs from a number of British artists who dominated the U.S. pop charts from 1964-1969:
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Here’s the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of April 4, 1964 to help create your own playlist, notice the top 5 spots held by The Beatles:
Until next time....
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