With the recent emergence of a multitude of British artists like One Direction, Adele, Jessie J, Rita Ora, and Icona Pop (literally, just to name a few), many music-lovers are left wondering why Americans have been taking such an interest in British artists lately. Well, some might be surprised that this is not the first time Americans have taken a massive liking to the Brits. Take a journey through the Timeline of British Invasions and brush up on your music history.
Before “Directioners” existed, there was once a little thing called Beatlemania that trumped any mass hysteria within the music world.
18 November 1963 – The Hunter-Brinkley Report aired a 2-minute segment on mania surrounding a British boy-band residing in the United Kingdom. Four days later, Mike Wallace of CBS Morning News aired a story on the Beatles.
10 December 1963 – Walter Cronkite of CBS Evening News ran a report about the Beatles phenomenon taking place in the United Kingdom, thus propelling them into the arms of American fans
17 December 1963- After numerous phone calls days prior, DJ Carroll James allowed 15-year-old Marsha Albert of Silver Springs, Maryland, to introduced “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles on WWDC radio station.
26 December 1963 – After months of not taking the Beatles seriously and pushing back their record release, Capitol Records started hand delivering their new record to radio stations weeks ahead of schedule. Keep in mind, no one expected their record to even break #75 on the Billboard charts. America’s love for the Beatles was instantaneous – especially in New York City.
18 January 1964 – “I Want To Hold Your Hand” entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #45, thus starting the British invasion of the American music industry
1 February 1964 – “I Want To Hold Your Hand” reached the #1 spot on Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for seven weeks. The single became the Beatles’ best-selling single worldwide.
7 February 1964 – The CBS Evening News ran a story about the Beatles’ United States arrival in which the correspondent was quoted saying, “The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania.”
8 February 1964 – Dusty Springfield became the second British artist to reach the Billboard Hot 100 with his song “I Only Want to Be With You.”
9 February 1964 – The Beatles made their first American television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Nielsen ratings estimated that 40-45 percent (75 million viewers) of US television viewers that night saw their appearance on the TV show.
1964 – 1966 – In this time period, other British acts like Peter and Gordon, The Rolling Stones, and Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders would go on to have one or more number one singles in the United States.
8 May 1965 – half of the 26 Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers belonged to British acts.
1967 – The emergence of a relatively homogeneous worldwide “rock” music style about 1967 marked the end of the “invasion.” Artists like The Who would later cross the pond and become popular in the United States.
Second Wave of British Invasion: “MTV Era”
After years of developing a new sound unfamiliar to Americans, the Brits made their second swim across the pond, making a splash not only on the radio, but on our television screens as well.
3 July 1982 – The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” started a 3-weel reign on top of the Billboard 100 charts thanks to MTV’s airplay. As described by the Village Voice, “‘['Don't You Want Me' was] pretty unmistakably the moment the Second British Invasion, spurred by MTV, kicked off.”
September 1982 – MTV arrives in the media capitals of New York City and Los Angeles and leads to widespread positive publicity for the new “video era.”
Fall 1982 – A Flock of Seagulls’ single “I Ran (So Far Away)” reached the Billboard Top Ten.
Early 1983 – 30% of the record sales in the United States were from British acts.
18 July 1983 – 18 of the top 40 singles in the United States were by British artists. This record surpassed the previous record of 14 set during the First Wave British Invasion in 1965.
April 1984 – 40 of the top 100 singles in the United States were by acts of British originan.
25 May 1985 – At the height of the 2nd British Invasion, the British Commonwealth claimed 8 consecutive Hot 100 #1 hits.
August 1986 – Bon Jovi’s third album, Slippery When Wet, spent 8 non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 charts, thus pushing British artists off the chart and marking the end of the 2nd Wave British Invasion.
Third Wave of British Invasion: “The New Millenium”
After the late 90s success pop British girl-group the Spice Girls, American music executives started snatching up UK artists that would eventually become cross-over music sensations in smaller US markets. However, none of these artists were able to maintain a consistent position within the top 40.
Following the success and then breakup of the Spice Girls in 2000, British (and Irish) acts that arrived in the United States included:
B*Witched (B*Witched, Awake and Breathe – 1998-2000)
S Club 7 (5 Studio Albums, 2000 – 2002)
Samantha Mumba (Gotta Tell You – 2000-2002)
BB Mak (Sooner or Later, Into Your Head – 200-2003)
Fourth Wave of British Invasion?
In January 2011, Adele released her sophomore album 21. Not only did it debut at #1, but it debuted at #1 in at least 7 countries and has since gone diamond in the United States, selling over 26 million copies worldwide. Following her success, Americans are now left wondering if we are in the midst of a fourth wave of invasion by the British.
Here are a list of accomplishments in the United States by British artists.
12 February 2012 – Adele takes home five trophies from the Annual Grammy Award including: Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Short Form Music Video.
22 February 2012 – Adele’s 21 debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales reaching 352,000 copies. It later became the fastest selling album since NYSNC’s 2001 album No Strings Attached, selling 10 million copies in 92 weeks.
20 March 2012 – One Direction makes history and inducted into the Guiness Book of World Records for becoming the first U.K. artists to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling close to 180,000 records in the first week.
7 September 2012 – “Lights” by Ellie Goulding was certified triple platinum by the RIAA, having sold 3.1 million copies in the US as of January 2013.
22 September 2011 – Calvin Harris produced “We Found Love” for Rihanna’s Talk That Talk album. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for ten-consecutive weeks.
25 September 2012 – Mumford & Sons released their sophomore album, Babel. It became the second-biggest selling debut in 2012 in the United States.
20 January 2013 – The Saturdays’ new reality television series premiers on the E! Network.
21 January 2013 – Rita Ora appears as herself on the CW series 90210 to perform two of her songs from her debut album.
February 2013 – Cher Lloyd’s single “Want You Back” has sold around 2,000,000 copies, being certified double-platinum in the United States.
13 March 2013 – Ed Sheeran opens for Taylor Swift on her sold out RED Tour in Omaha, Nebraska.
24 May 2013 – Rita Ora appears in Fast & Furious 6 as herself.
28 May 2013 – Little Mix’s debut album DNA entered the Top Albums Chart on the iTunes countdown at No. 2.
2 June 2013 – The Wanted’s new reality television series — The Wanted Life — premiers on the E! Network.
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