The British Invasion Essay

What do these three bands have in common (picture of the Beatles; Boy George; and the Amy Winehouse)? These bands invaded not only America but the whole world. Historians call these moments in musical history „ The British Invasions“. If it wasn’t for television, who knows if the Brit’s could have invaded the world but we’ll talk about that one later. So let’s have a look how it all started:

Prior to music videos, few artists made appearances on television. The big ones like Elvis and the Beatles appeared on shows and in movies but it was truly possible to be a radio star. Let’s start with the Beatles.

The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the greatest and most influential act of the rock era. They acquired the nickname "the Fab Four" as Beatlemania grew in Britain over the following year, and by early 1964 with their appearance in the US television show The Ed Sullivan Show they had become international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the United

Pop and rock groups such as the Beatles, the Kinks, the Rolling Stones and the Who were at the forefront of the invasion.

I want my MTV! Music videos changed the whole world of the music industry. Since British artists had embrassed music videos much sooner than North American artists, British music started to dominate MTV. This was known as the second British Invasion!

In the late 1970’s music videos became a standard for bands in Britain and were used to help boost sales in hard to reach areas like Australia and New York. Record companies had discovered that they could send a promo video to far away places instead of the band, saving time and