During 1963 only a smattering of hit singles on the.US Top 40 popularity charts originated in Great Britain. Starting with the arrival of the Beatles in January 1964, that number jumped to a double-digit percentage, and American radio playlists were suddenly populated by British bands including the Animals, the Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits and many others.
This week Joel Najman’s My Place program looks at the first wave of the so-called British Invasion of 1964 with a selection from sixteen British bands that enjoyed hits in the U.S., presented in the chronolgical order they first appeared on Billboard’s Hot 100 popularity charts.