The "British Invasion". A question for you old farts out there.

Well, there is a difference between early/mid 60's, say '63 vs. '67. Brit invasion era really at it's end around 67. This is the beginning of the flower power/psychedelic era. Brit invasion music is a Top 40 convention, the two or three minute song thing. Many Brit invasion bands morphed into more complex/mature forms of rock, the ones who didn't mostly died by end of '67. FM free form stations took over the air waves around this time as well, AM Top 40 in beginning of death throes.

As sns says... Anyway, before the Beatles went on Ed Sullivan, I was strictly a classical guy, with occasional forays into show tunes thanks to the fact my mother and aunt danced and did bit parts in several 1940’s movie musicals. I hated rock-and-roll. Then the Beatles showed up and turned my taste upside down. As for the Dave Clark Five, they had their share of hype during the first moments of the British Invasion but in hindsight they come off as little more than a Swinging Sixties footnote.

In terms of 1964, this was the group:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxrz00XSOAo

You might have been ostracized from the Beatles crowd when you were in school, but that’s entirely justifiable in anyone’s estimation. Be that as it may, picture this British Invasion tragedy, When I was twelve years old in 1964 my 45rpm of Manfred Mann’s " Do Wah Diddy Diddy" disappeared.

Definitely not one to let matters of such import rest, I revisited this sore subject at a family reunion, aboard a cruise ship no less, some forty or so years later. At this late date my sister Marion laughingly confessed to having traded this prize possession to Theresa McNally for a turtle. She was only four years old at the time, but I threatened to throw her overboard anyway, Actually doing so might have been too harsh. The moral of the story, yes the British Invasion was supremely important, but don’t go overboard with it at this late date.

By the time I got into a music the Beatles had broken up, the Stones were constantly stoned, Hendrix/Morrison/Joplin had over dosed…It was Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, then I discovered Classical and became a snob.