There was a vibrant pop music scene in the UK before the Beatles but it was essentially for domestic consumption. Just because the US was not aware of it doesn’t mean it didn’t exist!

'The late 80's saw the rise of Glam Rock' - er what. With the exception of a few revival bands Glam Rock was the 70's

In the UK Cliff Richard and the shadows were popular in the late 50s. Still very well known singer and group today.

Not to mention The Kinks & The Small Faces/Faces

I love how the band the Kinks were part of the First British Invasion in the 63/64, before being banned from performing in the US for five years, for refusing to pay union dues. Then they had a resurgence of popularity in the 80's, and were part of the Second British Invasion as well. With many of the 80's audience not knowing of their presence in the 60's.

Donovan was my dad’s best friend growing up . Very cool songs He wrote one about my old man called Epistle to Dippy

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was not Led Zepplin, Deep Purple etc. you're right, that group is more 70's, it was bands like Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Motorhead, Saxon, Girlschool and Def Leppard,

Cliff Richard was the British Elvis in the 50s and there were other early pop/rock stars like Lonnie Donegan, Marty Wilde, Adam Faith, Billy Fury, The Shadows, .... so the UK did have a pop/rock music scene in the 50s and early 60s prior to the Beatles

We mostly had Skiffle groups in the 50s in the UK - John Lennon started in The Quarrymen as a Skiffle group in 1956 - there were at least 40,000 Skiffle groups in the UK in the 50s. You might have heard of Lonnie Donegan - Chas McDevitt ( Freight Train)? Worth looking up some of them.

Yeah. Stone Roses! He completely skipped over 90s Britpop. Pulp and the Smiths to name a couple. And where are Radiohead?

In the fifties Britain did have a vibrant music scene,especially 'skiffle bands' , check out Lonnie Donegan

WW11 had a huge negative post war effect on everything including music in the UK until the 1960s. The BBC didn't help with promoting popular music as they refused to broadcast pop music on the radio. BBC Radio 1 started in 1967 and completely changed the approach by the BBC with regards to pop music. The first record played on the new Radio 1 was Flowers in the rain by The Move. The BBC was forced to change by pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline broadcasting pop from ships outside British waters. Radio Luxembourg was also popular with the young people but the reception quality was poor.

Yes, King Crimson, Emerson,Lake and Palmer, Genesis, and Supertramp all from the 1970's plus many others like The Kinks, Moody Blues, E.L.O.,Eric Clapton etc..

They certainly got the time line wrong with many of the bands.

They totally misrepresented NWOBHM there. Bands from a different era, and taking about ballads? Not even a mention of Iron Maiden. The guy doesn’t have a clue.

Deep purple and Cream were fantastic!

The Beatles had there apprenticeship in Hamburg

The Shoegaze scene was ours too! 🎸🎸🎸

"New Music"??? I was there and if I look back in the mists of time, I'm sure it was called "New Wave". Especially in the US (I spent a lot of time on both sides of the Pond, 79 to 88).

‘Ringo is in drag. Ringo!’

im british and never heard of taio cruz lol

"Let's all take a moment to appreciate...." I wondered where you were going with that sentence. I never expected it to be about George and Paul's ears 😂

I’m surprised it didn’t mention how influential blues artists such as muddy waters, bb king, Freddie king etc touring the uk in the early 60’s (as they still couldn’t play at a lot of US venues) was to Clapton, Page, Richards etc and shaped the British bands of that time

Listen to Donovans 'Catch the wind.' Its beautiful.

David Bowie's huge success in the 80's was, in no small part, due to his appearance in Labyrinth.... 😉

I agree with you JJLA, I'm British and I know of Amy Winehouse and Adele but I have never heard of the other three, ever.

My favorite song with Donovan is Mellow Yellow

I can't believe they left iron maiden off the list but added Robbie Williams ffs

I can’t believe how often people forget about Iron Maiden…😢

Your hurdy gurdy man was great, there’s a to show called Britannia that uses it as is there tune is well worth checking out. Differences occupying a similar space at different times? Check out Handel and Hendrix.

To be accurate, JFK was killed in Nov '63. The Beatles were in the US for a 2 week promo visit in Feb '64. They didn't actually tour inNorth America until later that year in Aug/Sept. [/end pedantic mode]

America and the UK always had a symbiotic relationship with music. America has Jazz, blues and rock n roll on their CV, so it's hard to top that, but the UK has a tradition of song that goes back a 1000 years. It's just in the culture, the way wine is in France. That's why when trying to emulate American music, Britain was able to one-up it in many cases - you gave us Elvis, we gave you back The Beatles, you gave us blues, we gave you back The Stones, you gave us hard rock, we gave you back Zeppelin...>Classic rock< Prog rock.>RamonesHip HopGrungeMeghan Markle< Piers Morgan etc.....

Where was iron Maiden in that silly silly silly list. He had Def Leppard by no Maiden. hahahahahaha

Robbie Williams should certainly be on that list...he was and still is very very talented...

Donovan was great friends with The Beatles and was even at the famous retreat for the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi along with them. George even wrote an unrecorded verse for Hurdy Gurdy Man…though Donovan did perform it live on occasion. He was also a very nice man when I met him back in ‘92 when he played The Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow on his 46th birthday and was introduced on stage by his Dad, who referred to it as a homecoming. In 1964 JFK was assassinated? Er, I’m pretty sure it was on the 22nd of November 1964. I’m also not sure that it can be claimed with any certainty that the fact The Beatles were successful in the US is because of JFK’s assassination. Music prior to the sixties wasn’t all classical style music in the UK. One of the greatest influences on the likes of John Lennon and many of his generation in the fifties was Skiffle, with Lonnie Donegan being the biggest star of that genre but then there was Billy Fury, Adam Faith, Tommy Steele, The Shadows, Cliff Richard, Marty Wild (Kim Wild’s Dad), Ewan MacColl (Kirsty MacColl’s Dad) and Joe Brown (Sam Brown’s Dad) and the Bruvvers amongstmany others. Yes there was the slightly more operatic or classical sounding music too as well as music hall type songs but don’t be under the impression that there was no great teenage scene in the UK of the 1950’s. Maybe you need to look into the likes of The Teddy Boys who was a particular style of teenager along with Beatnik and Folk scenes amongst others. You could watch some of the documentaries available about 50’s and 60’s UK youth culture…many of which include interviews with people who went on to be very famous musicians

Your 'Glam Rock' and ours seem to be different? Ours would start in the early seventies with the likes of, Slade, T.Rex and Roxy Music etc.........I suppose you could tag Queen on the end of it. When your 'Glam Rock in the US began circa 1980, we already had, for a couple of years, 'The New Wave of British Heavy Metal', with the likes of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Saxon etc...... As for Donovan, possibly early Folk Rock? Try 'Barabajagal' by him in 1969 and then look at his backing group? Quite impressive.

All the best Metalcore bands right now are either british or Australian. Bands like sleep token. Loathe, thornhill, bring me the horizon, architects etc

As someone into the technical side yourself you should look into Joe Meek, ultra groundbreaking producer that was around before The Beatles but produced a fair few hits after as well that were really pushing boundaries but his best stuff flopped and is now very rare. Total nutjob who died young but an absolute genius. There was an actual joemeek compressor on the market. Was a movie about the end of him with James Corden in which was pretty corny but worth a look and on KZfaq, called 'Telstar" which is a clue to his biggest hit. Amazes me how few have heard of him but hes really interesting

Music in the UK in the fifties, although crooners were popular, would also incude plenty of music from American artists. British soloists like Cliff Richard and Tommy Steele sounded similar to their American counterparts. My sister was born in the early forties and in her youth she was into 'Skiffle' which was also hugely popular here at that time.

@05:18 JFK was killed in 1963 not 1964

Apart from being the most influential band of all time, The Beatles should also get credit for being absolute legends! They refused to play segregated clubs in America and they championed many up-and-coming artists. McCartney also forced Jimi Hendrix on the bill at Monterey, breaking him into the US consciousness.....Class!

That was 'fingo'!

UK had skittle music . Try researching Lonnie Donnegone! Not sure I spelt his name correct!

Agreed British and Irish influence is enormous. So was US. The former can be summed up as pubs. Small venues where acorns can grow. The US is gospel music. Incredible influence. Tina Turner bridged both. Came from the latter and then recreated her career by coming to the UK under influence of Martin Ware and Heaven 17.

I'd argue that the US is in the midst of a 4th "female" British invasion. With artists such as Dua Lipa, Kate Bush, Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora, Annie Lennox, even Sophie Ellis-Bextor having all been in the Billboard Hot 100 recently :)

The UK had quite a few rock and roll acts like Cliff Richard and the Shadows in the late 50s, and that's when the Beatles got their start. The Beatles were a part of the emerging Merseybeat scene in the early 60s, though not the originators. They had the great luck to be first to make it really big in the USA, and maybe the JFK assassination helped. That's not meant to denigrate the band; it's more along the lines of the better you get, the luckier you get. If they hadn't been good, no amount of poster campaigns or presidential killings would've made them popular. Btw, a big part of the Beatles' influence was early 'imports' coming in through Liverpool docks. The Shirelles had a deep impact.

I think Jeff Lynne (ELO) said it best when asked why so many bands sprung up from the UK. He came from the city of Birmingham in the 60s, like so many other bands (Ozzy/Sabbath Wizard, Judas Priest etc.). What was known as the Black country cos of all the heavy industry, anyone who's seen Peaky Blinders would understand. There was not many prospects for young people stuck in regional cities and towns especially when those industries all went down the toilet later on. What better way to escape that and go on the road with your mates by starting a band. It was kind of like running away and joining the circus! Except you could have a great life if you were lucky.

I mean Britain's tendency to lean towards America (almost in musical prostration) has ensured it a generous welcome in the US. How that translates more broadly, I don't know. My other half is German in her early thirties and far more aware of American acts than British ones. Which, in terms of language, can sometimes be the same thing. What doesn't translate is a type of folk or music hall tradition, common in my parents' time.

No music act is a success until they are a success here🇬🇧

Before the 60s Britain had Skiffle,

Try, "Barabajagal,' by Donovan and Jeff Beck, not quite so 'folky.'

Not one comment about the Punk invasion 1976 to 78 , Sex Pistols , The Damned etc

PS, other great Bands are, Killing Joke, The Sisters of Mercy, New Order, U2, and many more.

Wasn't Herman's Hermits stars in the USA first. ????

ringo is not in rad. that is a swedish singer named Lill Babs

This video stated that Kennedy was assassinated in 1964. He wasnt, he was assassinated on 22nd November 1963 the same day or next day the first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast! They had to reshow the first episode before the second one as nobody would have watched due to the assassination. Thank God they did reshow the first episode as otherwise no one would understand what the earth was going on in the second episode and Doctor Who would have died without notice but 60 years on Doctor Who is still alive and kicking with a brand new lease of life being established on disney +. Here is to another 60 years!

No mention of Skiffle?

Dude the Beatles were scheduled to tour the USA anyway, not anticipating the very dad JFK death of course! I assume they would have been very concerned about their USA tour when JFK passed! I think their choice of 'I wanna hold your hand' was approp for the tragic time of their first USA tour.

Adele, early 2000s? hahahahahaah No Coldplay?? hahahahahaha

People often forget that a huge part of rocks origins come from british and irish folk music. Add a heavier beat and a bit more grit and youd probably have something very familiar. Even sailors songs too (with rhythm to keep them all pulling things at the same time). Not sure why those origins get over looked. Also much of English folk music has almost completely died out. It's a shame.

Carl Perkins was with Sun Records in early 50`s with numbers like Blue Suede Shoes pre Elvis but never gets a mention. Shame on Americans who only love a winner.

I think Donovan was a bit later, second half of the sixties. Flower power was 67/68.... and the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) played a huge part for the rise of Thrash Metal and bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer or Anthrax in the US. Metallica always quotes Motörhead as one of their main influences. Other influential NWOBHM from that era are Diamond Head, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Saxon.

Jazz, Blues, Country, Rock, Funk and Rap are all American in origin - they are essentially Anglo-American musics (When was the last time you heard a decent rock song from France or Belgium?)

The USA did not appreciate its own blues and jazz, but a few brits did, and brought the blackman's music here then did it their way, and then took it back across the pond.

Of course, he missed out the seventies, Led Zeppelin had been around during the 70s, and I think that you must have heard of them in the USA along with Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, Electric Light Orchestra and Black Sabbath et al.!! And then there was Punk with Sid Vicious and the Sex pistols and so on, why on Earth is he missing these for. The 70s were perhaps more important than the 60s once the foundations had been laid. I wouldn't call Culture club 'Rock' music, dance club yes, but not rock. He mentioned Santana in his mid 80s section, I saw Carlos Santana and his band in the late 1960s at the Bath Festival of Progressive Rock and Blues, along with Led Zeppelin (and many other great bands including Jefferson Airplane with Grace Slick).

Elton John was successful in the 70s in the US.

Did I hear him say JFK was assassinated in 1964? 1963!

A picture of Lemmy but no mention of Motorhead? Or the Sex Pistols? Pfft!

Small correction. JFK was assassinated in Nov 1963 (not 64 as per the video) on almost the same date as the death of CS Lewis (Narnia etc) and Aldous Huxley (Brave New World). And the world mourned Kennedy....Oh and you need to remember that, unlike the US, the UK in the late 50's and early 60's was still recovering from the privations and the cost of WW2 (we only finished paying back the USA in 2006 for helping us through the war (and helping dismantle our empire). So young people in the UK were eager to break free from social norms and poverty and Rocknroll seemed a whole new thing...

They missed out Punk

Am I the only one fixated on the fact Kennedy was assassinated in 1963?

The woman that jj said is Ringo in disguise is not Ringo.

STATUS QUO.

Thanks for nothing, thats 12 minutes I'll never get back

JFK was not assassinated in 1964? It was 22 Nov 1963. You should of picked up on that. KorkyTheKat UK

Bill Haley and the Comets toured Britain and were massive. We had loads of solo rock singers and groups here. We also worshipped your Elvis. J.H.

Add soul

JFK was shot in 1963 not 64

Jessie j? Is he having a laugh

I think your Commentator is a but mixed up. He jumps from the Suxties to the Eighties, then back to the Seventies, placing some people in the wrong category or forgetting them altogether. J.H.

No Maiden!

Pink floyd

The flavor of British rock appealed to audiences. It was new and different at a time when US rock was safe and boring.

Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple are not New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Bands like Iron Maiden, Saxon, Def Leppard, Preying Mantis and Diamond Head were

...that video you reacted to, seems like its made by someone struggling to put out content... pretty pointless and no real information. ...but I enjoy watching your videos. (....the one where you lose it over the bagpipe music has me on the floor )

JFK assassination kicked it off? Or, was it Doctor Who 1st episode (Nov 23rd, 1963) which kicked it off??? :) But the source vid did not answer the "how" - it just listed what happened; not the same thing. OK. So the UK after WW2 was in an ultra-bad place, but at least the people alive and not subject to Hitler (or Stalin). The Empire like x10 the size of UK was lost / went up in smoke. The country was not only bankrupt, but deeply in debt. Food rationing got worse (till about '53). The economy was non-existent. Plus, the guys who had fought the Nazis and won the war were like 80-90% akin (in retrospect) to a Nazi outlook - rigid authoritarianism, rules everywhere, "we-are-the-best-not-them", all sorts of rules + nationalist bullshit - really, as much part of the problem as the cause. If continued, it was all end up looking like Orwell's _1984_ - a very bad place to be. Hence PF's _The Wall_ album. So the young kids said "No!" (this in the UK) - and chucked the lot out. The easiest way to rebel was - via music, and awesome changes were coming out of the US (I remember _Rock Around the Clock_ arriving! :). But there was a problem. New US sounds were really difficult to come by, so the locals started imitating the style. The kids here were white, so they didn't realise they were copying Black US musical tropes - they just went what sounded good. There was an explosion of sound-alike bands, then original material, then they got good (through 100's hours practice) and the rest is history. The permissive society, flower-power, hippies - then around 1973 it came back down to earth with a bump - with the OPEC Oil/fuel price rises. Hope you cover the modern UK bands up there with Pink Floyd, like Porcupine Tree ( _Trains, Halo, The Sound of Musak_ ) :) Great video!

Check out dr k for boggie woogie

Basically US and UK music since the 50s to today has dominated world music. To sum up.. US in the 50s were top. UK 60s70 80s and 90s was on top. US dominated 2000s. UK dominated 2010. US dominates 2020s. World music trends are either US or UK lead.

What happened to punk here?

I'm a little disappointed that they glossed over metal so quickly. Also that they did so without mentioning great British Metal acts as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. People often say that rock is dead. And I tend to agree. There are some modern rock bands. Foo Fighters, Muse, Nickleback, Red Hot Chili Peppers. But even they feel a bit pop inspired. And in the 80s and 90s, rock was just pop music. Elton John, David Bowie, Queen, Duran Duran, U2. It's all pop in disguise. Even Britpop bands like Oasis, Stone Roses and Blur are British POP. It's in the name. To me, when I think about rock, I think about bands like Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, KISS, Aerosmith, Guns and Roses, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones. Your real rock stars are Slash, Lemmy, Gene Simons, Phil Lynott, Mick Jagger, Ozzy Osbourne, Ronnie James Dio. They are the rock stars from real rock bands. But today, those rock stars and famous rock bands don't get their dues in the charts, or in the fancy walks of fame or with special awards named in their honour. They are honored in a different circle. The Metal circle. They may be rock, but they are embraced more by metal fans across the world. Thin Lizzy isn't Metal but damn are they respected by the metal community. Same with the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Rainbow. Even bands like Motorhead are mistaken for Metal bands despite Lemmy himself objecting. They even showed Motorhead in the metal part of this video. To me, in the 70s, rock split into two directions. One direction went mainstream rock and became todays pop. Bands like Queen, Oasis, Elton John and David Bowie whose 80s efforts are undoubtedly as much pop as they are rock. And the other direction being metal with bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pantera, Slipknot and Machine Head embodying the rock and roll spirit more than any Queen song. Go to a music festival like Bloodstock here in the UK and you will find the Ronnie James Dio stage, Lemmy's Bar, Motorhead beer in every bar, an art gallery showcasing the work of the festivals founder Paul Gregory who designed album art for bands like Saxon, Motorhead, Molly Hatchet and Candlemass. This is all as rock and roll as it gets in the 21st century. This is where rock is honored. Because metal embodies that rock and roll lifestyle and image that most of us think of. And the reason i'm saying all of this is because I believe that Rock was made great by the Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zeppelin and Queen. But rock exists today in the form of Metal and it was British rock that made that happen. It was British bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Rainbow and The Rolling Stones who directed rock in a direction which was perfected by Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Def Leppard and Diamond Head. Anyone who wants to talk about rock, has to give credit to metal for keeping the spirit of rock alive and no nation did that better than Britain. I do think that sometimes, some rock fans can over look this.

Ìf you knew what was in most of the water ... *see reason for needing new super sewer in London, blame privatized water companies

1. Like so many people talking about 50s rock & roll this guy totally ignores the influence of contemporary country music on the style. Bill Haley came out of country music. 2. No home-grown music in 50s Britain? Has he not heard of skiffle; Lonnie Donegan et al.. There are three acknowledged classic 50s British rock & roll singles - Cliff Richard's 'Move It', Johnny Kidd's 'Shakin' All Over' and Vince Taylor's 'Brand New Cadillac'. I must say I thought this was a terrible video, which jumped around chronologically back and forth with no rhyme or reason. Heavy Metal evolved out of the late 60s blues boom in the UK (a similar scene in the US gave rise to acid rock).

The music video in this is ill informed dross

I'm giving up on this at the point at which you talk about Elton John, Bowie and Queen 'starting to have hits again' in the '80's. They never went away or stopped producing hits.... The source video is totally rubbish, by the way.

Totally disagree with the premise that JFK assassination was partly responsible for Beatles' success.. they would have succeeded just as well solely on their own merits.

Van Halen are one of the best bands to come out of the US. I would argue that Eddie is as influential as Hendrix, if not more so.

I wouldn't bother reacting to any of this channels videos again. It's like the writer doesn't even like music. I wouldn't be surprised if it was written by ChatGPT.

Basically a lot of white boys learnt to play blues fast and loud

Hold on Hold on.... this list is invalid.... how can you not include The Hollies..... the Hollies had more hits than the beatles, get that sorted!!!

This guy has not listened to much British rock.