British Invasion

[Tubeileh]

So recently I've been getting into 60s-80s music, which includes a lot of British bands and musicians. So I wondered: why? And I got a few results, the biggest being "The British Invasion". However, people say it only was in the mid-60s, so that excludes all the later very prominent british music (Pink Floyd, The Clash, Led Zeppelin, etc.) So I was wondering why the british invasion was only considered the mid-60s, and why after the 60s the british still made such great music? or was it all a coincidence?

[LEGALISE DRUGS AND MURDER]

British rock music has been popular in the United States continuously since the late 50s, but "British invasion" generally refers to a wave of bands before around 1965.

[Trollheart]

So far as I know (and others more familiar with it may correct me) I think it was the first experience America had of British bands, which gives rise to the "invasion" tag, plus they kind of took over the American music scene for a while. Once that was done, they were just British bands playing in America, but the "invasion" was over. Same way as you would say the NWOBHM took place but after that the bands who survived still played heavy metal, it just wasn't see as necessarily a wave any more, certainly not a new one.

[rubber soul]

Trolls nalied it. The British Invasion began with the Beatles invasion of North America in early 1964 and a slew of bands, mostly from Liverpool but also from London and other cities, soon dominated the American charts. The first wave probably lasted into 1966 and then the British blues boom would take over toward the later part of the decade.

Before 1964, you could count the British artists that broke through in America on one hand (and the Shadows were not among them). After the Beatles broke through, then the Stones, well, the rest is history.