Thoughts on the British Invasion

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I was talking to a group of older friends about music yesterday. Back in college my radio presets were locked into the local classic rock station and…the other local classic rock station. In between the near constant rotation of Led Zeppelin, they played a lot of the Who, Beatles and Rolling Stones. As a result, not only did I come away with an appreciation for all three bands, but for years I thought they were pretty much the only three English bands for much of the 60s and that everyone living at the time (except my mother, who only liked the Beatles) liked all three equally. I mentioned this to these friends and it sparked a lively disagreement. Two only liked the Beatles, one was firmly in the Stones’ camp, the youngest of the group loved the Who but tolerated the other two, and the oldest of the bunch hated all three (he’s an ardent Beach Boys fan). Although I’ve long since realized that not everyone has an appreciation for all three groups (or even agrees that those three are the cream of the crop of the British Invasion), I was surprised at how fervently some of them disliked the groups that weren’t their favorite. One thing they all agreed on was that I had no idea what I was talking about because I wasn’t alive at the time. Since my egalitarian appreciation of all three is irrelevant, I figured I’d ask here which of the main, longest lasting groups from the primary stretch of the British Invasion (1963-65) is your favorite?
 
Wow, this just goes to show that if few people vote, each vote has more weight. Something to remember come election day.

I like the Beatles. Never bothered to listen to the others.

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There were a lot of British bands in the 60’s, but my favorite would be The Rolling Stones. As a band they are still together. They weren’t always my favorite, but I have learned to appreciate them as I get older.
 
patrick457 said:
Darn, can’t I choose both The Beatles AND The Who?
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That would have been too easy. Funny, though, because everyone I know who was alive at the time and loves The Beatles hates The Who. I just don’t get that. Then again, I know a handful of Beatles fans whose least favorite album is Sgt. Pepper. Talk about madness.
 
7_Sorrows said:
There were a lot of British bands in the 60’s, but my favorite would be The Rolling Stones. As a band they are still together. They weren’t always my favorite, but I have learned to appreciate them as I get older.
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As a kid I liked the Stones, but that’s because they were still together and their videos were on MTV on a fairly regular basis. It wasn’t until sometime in my later teen years that I really paid any attention to anything they did prior to the late 70s. My experience with The Who was similar, although I liked them more than the Stones at the time.
 
The Rolling Stones are a great rock band. They have created countless hits and are still going. There sound has adapted to the the different sounds throughout the years. But the Beatles were extremely innovative in the sound. They reached the hearts of millions of music fans by their unique sound. Great music and beautiful lyrics. Yes, I have to go with the Beatles (bar none) as the leaders of the British Invasion. And I would probably put Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd before the Rolling Stones too (of course, that’s my humble opinion).
 
Gordon_Sims said:
As a kid I liked the Stones, but that’s because they were still together and their videos were on MTV on a fairly regular basis. It wasn’t until sometime in my later teen years that I really paid any attention to anything they did prior to the late 70s. My experience with The Who was similar, although I liked them more than the Stones at the time.
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The Beatles were always my favorite group. But that was back in the day when our music videos were the Ed Sullivan show
 
Where’s Oasis? :confused:

“Wonderwall” is still a staple on alt-radio stations and is old enough to be showing up on some “oldies” stations.
 
Would have voted Beatles AND The Who, but as pointed out, not allowed. Flipped a coin.

Blessings,
Stephie
 
Yes, I can listen to early Rolling Stones and enjoy it, listening to so much of the Beatles from whatever period of their career, I don’t think the songs sound so good.

But in the end, I kind of wish the British invasion and the oncoming evolution of rock did not happen or happen to the great extent it did.

I do think 1950s rock and roll, generally is better than anything after.

And Led Zeppelin? They are good but they are certainly tainted that you can look up “Led Zeppelin” and “plagiarism” and it does appear they did do that, for example, there best known song I’d say though not their best is “Stairway to Heaven”, I’m sorry, one can check out that they indeed did appear to take from a song by “Spirit” on those opening chords. That doesn’t mean they did not make great music but some of it surely, is not original and they have been through such litigation.

I was in France two summers ago, Rockabilly is what is popular there, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly and many other artists, I think that is better than the '60s music.
 
I saw the Beatles once when they arrived in Australia back in the sixties…couldn’t believe how white they were…probably lack of sun in England…I liked the Rolling Stones early songs…I preferred American bands better…especially the Beach Boys…excellent harmony…the music better represented the Australian outdoor beach scene than English bands…or singers…English singers always seemed long haired and dirty to me…much preferred Americans as they were clean cut and better dressed back then…unfortunately the English influence eventually seeped into the American music scene
 
randomuser said:
Where’s Oasis? :confused:

“Wonderwall” is still a staple on alt-radio stations and is old enough to be showing up on some “oldies” stations.
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Well Oasis came out about 25-30 years after the original British Invasion, so I’m not sure they would be considered “invaders”

If we include all British Bands you would need to include Pink Floyd, Queen, Yes, Genesis etc for the 70’s

Then in the 80’s there were Duran Duran, The Police, Depeche Mode, Culture Club, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Soft Cell, Spandau Ballet etc. (I was a teen in the '80’s)

Even now, One Direction is a British band.

As for Gordon’s original question, I prefer the Rolling Stones to the Beatles. I never really got into the Who.
 
randomuser said:
As recently as 2006, “Definitely Maybe” was voted the greatest album of all time. It was a pretty well-publicized survey:
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5037792.stm

#1 Oasis - Definitely Maybe
#2 and #3 The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper & Revolver

Hence, the comment about their omission.
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I think what he’s getting at is that Oasis came on the scene after British bands had already proved they could be wildly successful in the US. The poll covers the British bands that were among the first to gain traction here.

I’d vote Beatles but when I went through my '60’s music phase I really liked Herman’s Hermits too.
 
I don’t follow pop music. I thought from the title this was about the War of 1812, but then I’m old…
 
randomuser said:
As recently as 2006, “Definitely Maybe” was voted the greatest album of all time. It was a pretty well-publicized survey:
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5037792.stm

#1 Oasis - Definitely Maybe
#2 and #3 The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper & Revolver

Hence, the comment about their omission.
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I’m sure they are talented. I’m not knocking them.

British Invasion really refers to the first British groups to gain popularity in the US in the 1960’s.
 
7_Sorrows said:
great minds think alike - I had similar thoughts thinking it to be a history thread.
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🙂

Just to be clear, I’m referring to the musical phenomenon whereby British music enjoyed an overwhelming period of success and influence in America, that started with The Beatles in 1964 and lasted until 1968. Although nobody seems to be able to agree on what specifically closed the period, a few things I read pointed to the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
 
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