70 Fun Facts About British Invasion

Roughly how many viewers watched the Beatles' first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in 1964?

It was a US television record at the time, and Sullivan's show had until then been described as a 'comfortable hearth-and-slippers experience'.

Which song did the Beatles open with on that first Ed Sullivan broadcast?

They followed it with 'Till There Was You', during which the caption 'SORRY GIRLS, HE'S MARRIED' appeared under John Lennon.

Which series finale broke the US TV audience record set by the Beatles' Ed Sullivan debut three years earlier?

The 1967 finale revealed the one-armed man; the Beatles' figure had stood as the record for all of American TV, not just music.

Two days after the Sullivan show, the Beatles played their first US concert at which venue?

Two Carnegie Hall shows followed the next day, and then the band flew to Miami Beach.

With which boxer, then training for his first title fight, did the Beatles pose in Miami Beach in 1964?

He beat Liston a week later and soon took the name Muhammad Ali.

Which single was the Beatles' first American number one, in early 1964?

It became their best-selling single worldwide at more than 12 million copies, and was replaced at number one by 'She Loves You'.

On 4 April 1964 the Beatles held the top how many positions on the Billboard Hot 100 at once?

No other act had ever held even the top four; the same week they held the top five on Cash Box, with the first two places reversed.

For how many consecutive weeks did the Beatles hold Hot 100 number one from 1 February 1964, then a record?

On the rival Cash Box chart the run was sixteen weeks, from 25 January to 9 May.

Which singer followed the Beatles onto the Hot 100 a week later with 'I Only Want to Be with You'?

She had just left the folk-pop trio the Springfields; the single peaked at number twelve.

Whose 'Glad All Over' knocked the Beatles off UK number one in January 1964?

It was the second-best-selling UK single of 1964, and its pounding production became known as the 'Tottenham Sound'.

Which Newcastle band took "The House of the Rising Sun" to number one in the UK and US in 1964?

Bob Dylan had recorded the folk song on his 1962 debut, in an arrangement he learned from Dave Van Ronk.

Petula Clark's 1964 hit 'Downtown' was written and produced by whom?

It reached number one on the Hot 100 but only number two in Britain; Hatch had taken over as her producer in 1963.

Which band was banned from touring the United States for years after its troubled 1965 tour?

Cut off from America, Ray Davies turned to observational songs about English life on albums like Village Green Preservation Society.

Despite a rumour crediting a session player, who actually played the guitar solo on "You Really Got Me"?

The rumour named Jimmy Page, later of Led Zeppelin; the riff was written in perfect fifths and octaves and the song hit UK number one in September 1964.

Which American band released a cover of 'You Really Got Me' as its first single in 1978?

It peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100 and opened their self-titled debut album.

Which royal reportedly had Townshend's 1935 Packard hearse towed, inspiring 'My Generation'?

She reportedly objected to the sight of it on her daily drive through Belgravia; Townshend also credits Mose Allison's 'Young Man Blues'.

Herman's Hermits were fronted by which singer?

Between March and August 1965 the group spent 24 straight weeks in the US top ten with five singles.

Which British actor wrote Herman's Hermits' 1965 hit 'Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter'?

It was first sung by Tom Courtenay in a 1963 television play, and the Hermits never released it as a single in Britain.

Herman's Hermits' 1960s hits were all produced by whom?

Most also produced Donovan and Lulu; the Hermits' only UK number one was 'I'm into Something Good'.

Freddie and the Dreamers were usually lumped in with Merseybeat, but which city were they actually from?

They formed in West Didsbury in 1962; bassist Peter Birrell had been a shoe salesman before the band took off.

The Zombies' debut single 'She's Not There' was written by which member of the band?

He built the opening phrase from the title of a John Lee Hooker song, 'No One Told Me'; the single reached number two in the US.

Which 1968 Zombies album was ranked number 100 on Rolling Stone's 2012 list of the 500 greatest albums?

The band had already split by the time 'Time of the Season' from it became a US hit in 1969.

The Zombies formed in 1962 in which Hertfordshire city?

Three of the members had first jammed together there in 1961.

Which Liverpool group was the first act to have its first three singles all reach number one in the UK?

Like the Beatles they were managed by Brian Epstein and produced by George Martin; the three were 'How Do You Do It?', 'I Like It' and 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.

'You'll Never Walk Alone', later adopted by Liverpool FC, was originally from which musical?

Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote it in 1945; the Merseybeat version turned it into a football anthem.

Which group named after its keyboard player topped the charts in 1964 with 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy'?

The band had two lead singers in the decade, Paul Jones and then Mike d'Abo, and later UK number ones with 'Pretty Flamingo' and 'Mighty Quinn'.

Which band launched the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page in turn?

All three later ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone's 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists; hits included 'For Your Love' and 'Heart Full of Soul'.

Which Hollies co-founder left in late 1968 to join David Crosby and Stephen Stills?

He was replaced by Terry Sylvester; the Hollies' early originals were credited to the Clarke/Hicks/Nash trio.

The Troggs' 'Wild Thing' was written by which American songwriter?

It had first been recorded, without charting, by a New York band called the Wild Ones in 1965; Taylor is the brother of actor Jon Voight.

Which Donovan single topped the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in September 1966?

'Mellow Yellow' followed it to number two that December; in Britain the record stalled at number two.

Donovan was born in which city?

He was born in Maryhill in 1946, and his early records drew constant comparisons with Bob Dylan.

Which Welsh singer performed the theme song for the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball?

'It's Not Unusual' and 'What's New Pussycat?' came the same year; he was born Thomas Woodward in Treforest.

Which Scottish singer's title song from 'To Sir, with Love' was America's biggest-selling single of 1967?

It spent five weeks at number one in the US; her debut single had been a cover of the Isley Brothers' 'Shout'.

'Gloria', a 1964 garage-rock standard by the Belfast band Them, launched whose career?

Them's version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999; their biggest UK hit was 'Here Comes the Night'.

Which future Traffic frontman sang and played organ in the Spencer Davis Group, having been discovered at 14?

Davis found him and his bass-playing brother Muff performing in a Birmingham pub as the Muff Woody Jazz Band.

Cream, often called rock's first supergroup, consisted of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and which bassist?

Bruce was also the primary songwriter and singer; the trio formed in London in 1966.

Brian Jones took the Rolling Stones' name from a track on an LP by which bluesman?

A journalist asked for the band's name and Jones spotted the record on the floor; the track was 'Rollin' Stone'.

The Rolling Stones played their first show under that name on 12 July 1962 at which London venue?

They were billed as 'the Rollin' Stones'; their early sets were mostly Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley material.

Which Rolling Stones song, with a riff Keith Richards dreamed up in his sleep, was their first US number one?

The riff is routinely called one of the greatest hooks in rock; the Stones would top the Hot 100 eight times in all.

The Beatles' 1964 film 'A Hard Day's Night' was directed by whom?

Alun Owen's script earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

'Beatlemania' echoed which earlier word, coined by Heinrich Heine for the frenzy around a 19th-century virtuoso?

The British press adopted 'Beatlemania' in October 1963 after the band starred on Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

Which Cilla Black single was the UK's biggest-selling single by a female artist in the 1960s?

It and 'You're My World' both reached UK number one in 1964; she was born Priscilla White in Liverpool.

Sandie Shaw became the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest, in 1967, with which song?

It was her third UK number one; she was known as 'the barefoot pop princess of the 1960s'.

Sandie Shaw returned to the UK Top 40 in 1984, after 15 years away, with a cover of a song by which band?

The song was 'Hand in Glove'; Morrissey was a devoted fan.

What was Chad & Jeremy's biggest US hit?

In Britain the duo had only one hit, 'Yesterday's Gone', which peaked at number 37 in 1963.

Which single, sung by Denny Laine, gave the Moody Blues a UK number one in late 1964?

The band formed in Birmingham in May 1964; Laine later spent a decade in Wings with Paul McCartney.

Wayne Fontana took half his stage name from a drummer who played for which star?

The drummer was D. J. Fontana; born Glyn Ellis, the singer's biggest hit was 'The Game of Love' in 1965.

Billy J. Kramer's 1963 UK number one 'Bad to Me' was written by whom?

It was one of several Lennon-McCartney songs the Beatles never recorded themselves; Kramer, like them, was managed by Brian Epstein.

Which duo's first single, 'A World Without Love', was a US and UK number one in 1964?

Peter Asher's sister Jane was dating Paul McCartney, who wrote the song and several of their follow-ups.

The Searchers took their name from a 1956 western directed by whom?

Founded as a skiffle group in Liverpool in 1959, they were among the first Liverpool acts after the Beatles to reach the Hot 100, with 'Needles and Pins'.

Who founded the Liverpool music paper Mersey Beat in 1961?

The origins of 'beat music' itself are murkier: critic Ernest Borneman claimed to have coined it in Melody Maker.

Which British singer had a 1952 US number one with 'Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart'?

Other pre-1964 exceptions were Laurie London in 1958 and the 1962 instrumentals 'Stranger on the Shore' and 'Telstar'.

Cliff Richard had just one US Top 40 hit at the time of the invasion. Which song?

It reached the US chart in 1959; his American breakthrough would not come until 'Devil Woman' in 1976.

Which American label's sound, exemplified by the Supremes, grew during the British Invasion's first year?

The invasion did dent Chubby Checker, Ricky Nelson, Fats Domino and the Everly Brothers, though Elvis still notched thirty Hot 100 entries from 1964 to 1967.

Which Australian group had US top-five hits with 'I'll Never Find Another You' and 'Georgy Girl'?

'I'll Never Find Another You' was recorded at Abbey Road; 'Georgy Girl' reached number two in February 1967.

Before fronting the Dreamers, what job did Freddie Garrity do?

The band's stage act leaned on his comic antics; their US number one 'I'm Telling You Now' came in 1965.

Which 15-year-old Maryland girl's letter to a DJ led to 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' being aired in December 1963?

DJ Carroll James of WWDC had her introduce the record on air, and Capitol rushed its release forward three weeks.

Which CBS anchor said 'The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania' in February 1964?

Cronkite had re-run a shelved Beatlemania report in December, looking for something positive after the Kennedy assassination.

Which skiffle star scored two US top-ten hits in the late 1950s, years before the Invasion?

The do-it-yourself skiffle craze inspired many of the young bands that followed.

Which 1962 instrumental by the Tornados was a US number one before the Beatles arrived?

Acker Bilk's 'Stranger on the Shore' was another 1962 British chart-topper in America.

How many US Hot 100 number ones did the Rolling Stones achieve, the most of any Invasion band bar the Beatles?

The Stones and the Animals appealed to an 'outsider' crowd by reviving blues-rooted music.

Which term is applied to obscure Mod-era British blues bands like the Pretty Things and the Creation?

They are seen as the British counterparts to America's garage-rock bands.

Which British spy series was retitled Secret Agent for American broadcast?

British spy shows inspired US imitators such as I Spy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Get Smart.

Which 1969 hit by The Guess Who is credited with starting a 'Canadian Invasion' of the US charts?

New Canadian-content rules helped acts like Anne Murray and Gordon Lightfoot follow them into the US charts.

Which US band responded to the Invasion by performing in Revolutionary War uniforms?

Gary Puckett & the Union Gap went one better with Civil War uniforms.

Which Australian band drawing on the Invasion sound had a 1967 US hit with 'Friday on My Mind'?

The band was formed mostly of British emigrants and reached number 16 in the US.

Which US record label, based in Philadelphia, suffered the most lasting damage from the Invasion?

The same week the Beatles arrived, American Bandstand left Philadelphia for Los Angeles, compounding the blow.

Roger Miller's 1965 hit tribute to Britain's traditional way of life was titled what?

The New Vaudeville Band returned the compliment a year later with 'Winchester Cathedral'.

Which motorcycle marque is cited as a British engineering export that caught on in the US during the Invasion?

American media began proclaiming Britain the centre of both music and fashion.

Which 1968 British musical film won Best Picture, the last musical to do so until Chicago in 2002?

Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady, both released in 1964, showcased British stars during the Invasion years.