The British Invasion and the Completion of the Beat
Pop
The British Invasion and the Completion of the Beat
The Rock And Roll Free University's next lecture will be on the British invasion of the US between 1964 and 1966 and the rise of beat on the island. B-Day and the Beatles, The Dave Clark Five and Herman's Hermits, The Troggs and The Who, The Kinks and Pretty Things. And of course, the most important media of the era, above all else: Radio Luxembourg and Top Of The Pops.
Rock and roll is, somewhat simplistically, the result of a particular cultural-historical fusion: that of when the musical traditions of Black slaves brought over from Africa met those of white settlers who had emigrated from Europe to the new world, the Americas. Moreover, all this took place in a radically transforming society, following technological progress and its associated industrialisation and urbanisation. In the second season of this series, we look at the social, cultural and musical events of the period from Elvis to the twilight of the rock and roll era in the Fifties.
