An Invasion of Love Not War : The Beginning of the British Invasion into 1960's American Pop Culture

The British Invasion is a term referring to the popularization of large number of performers from the United Kingdom with genres of music such as Rock n' Roll, beat, and Pop, from 1964 - 1966. Such bands and performers considered to be apart of the British Invasion of the 1960s include, but are not limited to, - The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, and the Who.
The music genres of Rock n' Roll, and Blues were popular in America for many years before the British Invasion. The musical genres of Blues and Rock n' Roll were considered to be styles more reserved to African American performers like Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Little Richard,and Muddy Waters. Their albums were known as "Race Records" to many American's of that time period. It was considered wrong by many White American parents to find their children listening to these race records because they were performed by African American musicians, but teenagers enjoyed the new, and different styles found on the records.
Record producers and talent searchers knew they would make millions if they were able to find a White artist who could replicate the styles of music found on these race records like Rock N' Roll and Blues. One of America's first versions of this artist was Elvis Presley. Elvis was largely popular among the American youth but little did Americans know that the sounds of the race records were also being listened to and duplicated by the youth of the United Kingdom.
The sound and rebellious stlye associated with the genre of Rock N' Roll became wideley popular in the youth of the United Kingdom in the late 1950's. The combination of the sounds of the music styles known as Blues and Rock N' Roll became very popular in Liverpool, and it soon became know as "Beat Music".
One of the most populars performers of beat music was The Beatles. The Beatles were a band of citizens of the United Kingdom, who in their early twenties, quickly became popular for the new style of music, and their unique appearance, in Europe, as well as America.

The movement of the styles of music such as Rock n' Roll and Blues from being seemingly reserved to African Americans and then spreading to White artists of the United Kingdom and their combination of the two genres into beat music, was reported on by John Heenehan in the Hartford Courant. On March 8, 1980, Mr. Heenehan did a report on the British Invasion, titled: The Beat Goes on for Rock and Roll, But It Won't Be the Same. In his article Heenehan interviewed Norman N. Nite, author of the book "Thirty Years of Rock n' Roll". In the article Nite said that in the 1950s "Popular music at the time was being performed by such artists as Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett". But, " By 1963, the Beatles were recording hits in England, but not until they came to the United States a year later with 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' did 'they take the world by storm,' Nite said. "This was the beginning of the 'British Invasion' that included the Who, the Rolling Stones, and many more" said Norman Nite.

The introduction of The Beatles to America is known as Beatlemania. On December 17, 1963, The Beatles were first introduced to America with their first ever American airing song, "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The first ever introduction of a Beatles' song began the British Invasion, and Beatlemania; along with a change in the appearance, thoughts, and styles of a large portion of the American youth.





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Photo 1: The Beatles
Photo 2: The Who
Photo 3: The Rolling Stones
Photo 4: Elvis Presley Photo
Photo 5: Fans Attempting to Meet The Beatles
Photo 6: I Am a Beatle Fan!
Photo 7: BEATLEMANIA!
Video - The beginning of Beatlemania: I Want to Hold Your Hand