THE BRITISH INVASION: The British Invasion was the signalling event of a gigantic social change that progressed through the decade, a decade in which each year seemed to contain ten years' worth of changes. it was an effect of historical and technological changes outside the purview of a CD review. It may be seen partially as a sub-generation of youth wanting something new of their own rather than inheriting their older sibling's teen scene. In the U.S. some feel the assassination of J.F.K. is often seen as a catalyst. Though Beatlemania was an international phenomenon, it can't be completely discounted as a factor. When it happened it was sudden and it almost totally obliterated the previous pop scene. The few who survived (Gene Pitney, Lesley Gore, Jan & Dean, Beach Boys, Four Seasons, Elvis) mostly had a final big hit or two in '64 then remained in a diminished way never having a Top 10 hit again. Only the Beach Boys and Four Seasons got through relatively unscathed. Another part of the big change in 1964 was the rise of Motown which obliterated most older R&B acts as much as the British Invasion did pop, a fact that is often ignored.

Over there has developed a number of distortions about the British Invasion and what it was, mostly in terms of how long it lasted and how many artists there were. In general on CD's and even in written sources the period has been expanded to include the whole pop era of 1964-1967, as noted by the subtitle of Rhino's 9-CD collection (now out of print and expensive), "The History of British Rock". I approve of this because '64 through '67 is its own era and the effects of the Invasion were felt throughout. It also is good for music fans like us because it allows labels to include a lot more good music. But that is not the way it was perceived at the and I would like to note this. I'm doing so not like a movie reviewer who notes that a film was set in 1965 and a 1966 model car was in it, but really just to set the record straight about how it went down back then.

To be an invasion, something has to seem like an invasion and that is what 1964 was like, even through Spring of '65. The first wave began with Beatlemania itself, a when radio stations vied with each other to play the most Beatles songs, even multiple s in a row, and it was all anybody could talk about. Part of it was the large number of Beatles singles. This was not a Capitol Records plot but rather the result of Capitol's rejecting Beatles singles sent to them by their parent company, EMI-U.K. They sold the rights to these to small R&B labels like Vee-Jay/Tollie and Swan. Suddenly they had gold on their hands and the Beatles had the entire Top 5 on April 4th and seven other songs on the Hot 100. Then came the rest of the First Wave bning with Dusty Springfield, the Dave Clark Five and the Searchers and ending in May with Peter & Gordon, Chad & Jeremy and the Rolling Stones (who wouldn't get really big until 1965). A Second Wave happened in the Fall brig in harder groups like the Animals and the Kinks who, with the Rolling Stones showed that musically this was a much more varied thing than people had thought, and not just a teen-idol pop phenomenon. All told for 1964 British artists had 26 of the Top 100 for the year, of which 9 were Beatles songs.

A Third Wave happened in Winter-Spring '65 starting with Petula Clark and Herman's Hes, both of whom had begun their chart runs in 1964. Most of these however would be one or two-hit wonders (with an occasional fluke hit years later) such as Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders, Geo Fame, Sandie Shaw, Freddie & the Dreamers and the Denny Lane version of the Moody Blues. This ends with Tom Jones and the Yardbirds in early Summer. That Summer saw only Ian Whitcomb as a new British artist in the top 10 though the Rolling Stones (Satisfaction) and Beatles (Help) did quite well. That's about the end of the British Invasion. There were a few new artists in the Fall, but all were one-hit wonders except the Hollies. Groups big in Britain also started to flop in America, most notably the Who. My Generation was a #1 hit in Britain and Top 5 in much of Europe and became one of their signature songs but only made #74 in the U.S. on Billboard (#99 on Cashbox) and the Who wouldn't be heard again until Spring of '67 with Happy Jack. No one talked about a British Invasion after the Spring of '65. By Summer all the talk was about the latest new development, Folk-Rock. There was, after that, an international pop scene in which new British artists appeared now and then: 5 in 1966 and 8 in 1967.

The second distortion is how many artists were involved in the British Invasion. This has become almost a cliche in articles and interviews, especially of Early 60's pop artists. The inference is that there were so many British artists that Americans couldn't get on the charts. This was not so. Even at the height of Beatlemania itself there were hits by Lesley Gore, the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, Terry Stafford, the Rivieras, Sam Cooke, the Four Seasons and even Al Hirt. During the whole from January, 1964 to July, 1965 there were around 30 British artists who made the charts, 18 of which were one or two-hit wonders. It was a big event but it wasn't a total deluge. All told, about 50 British artists made the charts from 1964 to 1968.

THIS COLLECTION. There aren't that many British Invasion collections because there were so many labels back then that even with consolidation over the decades none of the four remaining media giants owns enough to put out their own version. They have to license much of the material from each other, something Universal has gratefully done. "Gold" is Universal's prre series of 2-CD sets, all with incredibly good sound. "British Invasion Gold" has 32 songs on two discs. They also put out a 3-CD set (the one with the Union Jack Balloon on the cover, right now on page 2) in 2004. That is a better collection (with 54 songs) but unfortunately it has gone out of print and currently is $85 (I think I got it around $30). Uni does a good job here and keeps most everything in chronological order with the first disc ending in the Summer of '65 and Disc 2 covering 1966-67. Overall it's a good choice of songs with most all the songs the big hits of the artists, though not necessarily the biggest. Of course the Beatles and the Rolling Stones don't usually allow their songs on collections but this one bs with their version of Ain't She Sweet, an old song that happened to be on the Atco label. Allen Klein's Abkco doesn't seem to let anyone use Herman's Hes or the Animals' House of the Rising Sun and Dave Clark Productions doesn't allow the Dave Clark Five. This is short-sighted but that's the way it is.

A problem with both Universal sets and Varese's "25-Hits" (a good one that fills in songs not covered by Uni), is that they have used the British charts for their compilations. This leads to problems for collections like these. The American charts should be used for accuracy. The British weren't invading Britain. Freddie & the Dreamers were big in England in '63 but not until '65 in he U.S. but appear as song 33. That's minor. But The Merseybeats and later-name Merseys shouldn't be here at all since they were unknown in the U.S. and never even made the Top 100. The entire Fall of '64 Second Wave isn't here at all. Instead of those two hey should have included Do Wah Diddy(Manfred Mann) and You Really Got Me (Kinks) which were both on their 3-disc collection. (Uni owned the Fontana masters so that may figure in). Wayne Fontana's Pamela Pamela never charted in the U.S. either. Cat Stevens didn't chart in the U.S. until 1971 but I guess they included him because of his future fame.

Other than that it is a really good collection that gives a fair sample of the British groups of the mid-60's and in really great sound at that. The booklet isn't much but they seldom are after 2000. With the 3-CD set so high priced now this is the one to get. The /Life set goes into the 80's and shouldn't be titled The British Invasion.

Tracklist
Disc 1
1. The Beatles – Ain't She Sweet (02:10)
2. Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas – Bad To Me (02:18)
3. Freddie & The Dreamers – I'm Telling You Now (02:05)
4. The Merseybeats – I Think Of You (02:28)
5. The Searchers – Needles And Pins (02:12)
6. Peter & Gordon – A World Without Love (02:39)
7. Gerry & The Pacemakers – Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying (02:36)
8. Dusty Springfield – Wishin' & Hopin' (02:53)
9. The Zombies – She's Not There (02:23)
10. Chad & Jeremy – A Summer Song (02:36)
11. Gerry & The Pacemakers – Ferry Across The Mersey (02:23)
12. Geo Fame & The Blue Flames – Yeh Yeh (02:44)
13. Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders – Game Of Love (02:06)
14. Tom Jones – It's Not Unusual (01:59)
15. The Fortunes – You've Got Your Troubles (03:21)
16. The Silkie – You've Got To Hide Your Love Away (02:12)

Disc 2
1. The Mindbenders – A Groovy Kind Of Love (01:59)
2. The Walker Brothers – The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore) (03:01)
3. The Merseys – Sorrow (02:15)
4. The Troggs – Wild Thing (02:35)
5. The Hollies – Bus Stop (02:53)
6. Donovan – Sunshine Superman (04:31)
7. Eric Burdon & The Animals – See See Rider (04:01)
8. The Spencer Davis Group – Gimme Some Lovin' (02:55)
9. The Who – Happy Jack (02:12)
10. The Seekers – Georgy Girl (02:19)
11. Wayne Fontana – Pamela, Pamela (02:10)
12. The Tremeloes – Here Comes My Baby (02:46)
13. Procol Harum – A Whiter Shade Of Pale (04:05)
14. Lulu – To Sir With Love (02:43)
15. The Troggs – Love Is All Around (03:00)
16. Cat Stevens – The First Cut Is The Deepest (03:01)



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