The British Rock Invasion?

Question

Do you foresee the possibility of a third invasion coming up? If so, in what way will it come up?

Answer 1

Yeah, I'm wondering what the second invasion was as well. Was it punk rock/New Wave or NWOBHM? Or both?

Anyway, I don't expect another one. Maybe some artists here and there from Britain that experience a good deal of success, but nothing so massive that is would be called an invasion.

Answer 2

60s - The Beatles, The Rolling Stones amongst others were the first real invasion in my book.

70s - Led Zeps (late 60s onwards) Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and as the decade went on, the Sex Pistols = second invasion.

80s - NWOBHM and the likes of Def Leppard and Iron Maiden, surely the third invasion?

And that's really where America clammed up and generally became less accepting of UK talent/bands. Artists had brief moments of fame (yes even Rick Astley) but a FOURTH invasion is something I think will probably never fully happen.

To be fair to the yanks, although they missed out on the 90s UK rock scene with bands like Oasis and the Manic Street Preachers who were BIG, they DID take to Bush and Radiohead to a certain degree.

As for modern bands, they have nothing to offer by comparison as most have been infected with a need to appeal to the younger audience, and therefore are just diluted versions of their vastly superior predecessors.

Answer 3

Good afternoon James :) This is the sort of era of music I was addicted to in my teens ~ and as the original British Invasion ended in 1966, I can't include any Fleetwood Mac! I'm not sure I can restrict myself to just 5... In totally random order :~ 'Go Now' ~ The Moody Blues 'Bus Stop' ~ The Hollies 'High in the Sky' ~ Amen Corner '5-4-3-2-1' ~ Manfred Mann 'Tin Soldier' ~ The Small Faces 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' ~ The Animals 'When You Walk in the Room' ~ The Searchers 'Keep on Running' ~ Spencer Davis Group 'The Boat That I Row' ~ Lulu 'Tobacco Road' ~ The Nashville Teens 'Dead End Street' ~ The Kinks

Answer 4

@melitus: Surely you're not serious, At the same time that the first so-called invasion was occuring, guy like Frank Zappa, Don Van Vliet, and Lou Reed were moving in an entirely different musical direction and not looking back. I would hardly say they were "wiped out" by a style of music that hardly seemed to have affected their sonic evolution, and they surely weren't the only ones. The British Invasion was a large commercial phenomenon that dwarfed other commercial phenomenons, but it was hardly the be-all end-all of music at the time.

I personally am seeing a large amount of talent and creativity from many countries with nationality becoming less and less important in the era of mass globalization and the internet. No one country can or should take the helm at this point.

Answer 5

Dude the Strokes are from New York. The Vines are from Australlia, and I think Franz Ferdinand is from Scotland.

We've had a third 'British Invasion' a few years ago with bands like The Libertines, etc.

Answer 6

The 3rd British rock invasion will invlove a bunch of idiots in Skinny Jeans with Supermodel girlfriends in the form of Indie Rock.

Answer 7

Methinks the 2nd British invasion was Brit-pop/shoegaze/etc... ???

As for a 3rd... I doubt it. There isn't really anything cohesive going on in the British scene right now, sans a handful of bands out of Ireland that are pretty rad (but whether they count as "British" is subjective, and depends on who you ask).

The States, specifically New York, on the other hand... have a rapidly reviving psych/mod/northern soul scene slowly meshing itself with the post-rock scene, which is slowly embracing 90s nostalgia and alterna-pop of yesteryear. When the 3 finally fully mesh, I think that'll be the next big boom.

Answer 8

Well, the first one was such a massive one that the Americans had no answer to it. It surely wiped them out. They tried hard to emulate it but lost their way through as the British bands were musically very strong, innovative and daring.
Which second invasion are you referring to?
There shall be no third and the first one was simply GIGANTIC!

Answer 9

When was the second invasion? Punk?
No way. The Ramones predated the Sex Pistols by a couple years.

Answer 10

I think there is very much a current invasion trying to take place right now...

The Arctic Monkeys are a very talented band, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, The Vines, just to name a few.