British Invasion - Background

Background

The rebellious tone and image of American rock and roll and blues musicians became popular with British youth in the late 1950s. While early commercial attempts to replicate American rock and roll mostly failed, the trad jazz-inspired skiffle craze, with its "do it yourself" attitude, was the starting point of several British acts that would later be part of the "invasion". Lonnie Donegan, who is credited with singlehandedly popularizing skiffle in Britain, had two top 20 US pre-Invasion hits.

Young British groups started to combine various British and American styles, coalescing in Liverpool during 1962 in what became known as Merseybeat, hence the "beat boom". That same year featured the first three acts with British roots to reach the Hot 100's summit. Also that same year, the James Bond film series began, giving an extra push for all things British (also see Barry Miles, under External links), on the same date that The Beatles released their first record, "Love Me Do".

Some observers have noted that U.S. teenagers were growing tired of singles-oriented pop acts like Fabian. The Mods and Rockers, two youth "gangs" in 1950's England, also had an impact in British Invasion music. Bands that had a Mod aesthetic would end up becoming the most popular, but bands that were able to balance both (for example The Beatles) were also successful.