BRITISH INVASION SONGS 1960-1968

Led initially by the Liverpool explosion, British rock'n'roll became a major force in the 1960's when local bands and artists were starting to be heard around the world. Their impact in the U.S. is historically referred to as "The British Invasion". EMI publishes many songs recorded by significant artists from that period, and the following is a rundown of more than 65 such titles.

As you will see, British groups of that era cut a lot of cover versions of American songs. For instance: The Beatles, who recorded three Motown songs on their second album, often sang versions of US R&B ballads on their early BBC radio appearances; one particular favorite was BOYS which Luther Dixon & Wes Farrell had written for The Shirelles, whose original was on the B-side of the girls' WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW in '61. BOYS turned up first on the Beatles' Live At The Star Club Hamburg" LP and later on "The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl" album.

ALL OR NOTHING (Marriott/Lane)  
by Small Faces (RCA: 1966)

ANY WAY THAT YOU WANT ME (Taylor)  
by TheTroggs (Fontana: 1966)

BABY IT'S YOU (Bacharach/Williams/David)  
by The Beatles (Parlophone/Vee-Jay: 1963)

BAD TO ME (Lennon/McCartney)  
by Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas (Imperial: 1964)

BITS AND PIECES (Clark/Smith)  
by The Dave Clark Five (Epic: 1964)

BLACK IS BLACK (Wadey/Hayes/Grainger)  
by Los Bravos (Press: 1966)

Los Bravos were actually from Spain and their lead singer was German but their hit is historically included in British Rock anthologies.

BOYS (Dixon/Farrell)  
by The Beatles (Parlophone/Vee-Jay: 1963)

BUILD ME UP BUTTERCUP (D'Abo/Macaulay)  
by The Foundations (Uni: 1968)

BUS STOP (Gouldman)  
by The Hollies (Imperial: 1966)

CAN I GET A WITNESS (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
by The Rolling Stones (London: 1964)

CAN’T YOU SEE THAT SHE’S MINE (Clark/Smith)
by The Dave Clark Five (Epic: 1964)

CHAINS (Goffin/King)
by The Beatles (Parlophone/Vee-Jay: 1963)

DELILAH (Reed/Mason)
by Tom Jones (Parrot: 1968)

DO YOU LOVE ME (Gordy)
by The Dave Clark Five (Epic: 1964)

DON’T BRING ME DOWN (Goffin/King)
by The Animals (MGM: 1966)

DON’T GO OUT INTO THE RAIN (YOU’RE GONNA MELT) (Young)
by Herman’s Hermits (MGM: 1967)

FOR YOUR LOVE (Gouldman)
by The Yardbirds (Epic: 1965)

FORTUNE TELLER (Toussaint)
by The Rolling Stones (London: 1963)

FRIDAY ON MY MIND (Vanda/Young)
by The Easybeats (United Artists: 1967)

A GROOVY KIND OF LOVE (Wine/Bayer)
by The Mindbenders (Fontana: 1966)

HE'S IN TOWN (Goffin/King)
by The Rockin' Berries (Reprise: 1964)

HEART FULL OF SOUL (Gouldman)
by The Yardbirds (Epic: 1965)

HITCH HIKE (Gaye/Paul/Stevenson)
by The Rolling Stones (London: 1965)

THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN (Price)
by The Animals (MGM: 1964)

HURT BY LOVE (Foxx/Foxx)
by Downliners Sect (UK Columbia: 1964)

I CAN'T LET GO (Taylor/Gorgoni)
by The Hollies (Imperial: 1966)

I CAN’T STAND IT (McAllister)
by The Spencer Davis Group (Fontana: 1964)

I LIKE IT LIKE THAT (Kenner)
by The Dave Clark Five (Epic: 1965)

I PUT A SPELL ON YOU (Hawkins)
by The Alan Price Set (Parrot: 1966)

I'LL KEEP YOU SATISFIED (Lennon/McCartney)
by Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas (Imperial: 1964)

I’M CRYING (Burdon/Price)
by The Animals (MGM: 1964)

I'M INTO SOMETHING GOOD (Goffin/King)
by Herman's Hermits (MGM: 1964)

I'M TELLING YOU NOW (Garrity/Murray)
by Freddie & The Dreamers (Capitol: 1963)

ITCHYCOO PARK (Marriott/Lane)
by Small Faces (Immediate: 1967)

IT’S MY LIFE (Atkins/D’Errico)
by The Animals (MGM: 1965)

KISS ME GOODBYE (Reed/Mason)
by Petula Clark (Warner Bros: 1968)

KNIGHT IN RUSTY ARMOUR (Leander/Mills)
by Peter & Gordon (Capitol: 1966)

LAZY SUNDAY (Marriott/Lane)
by Small Faces (Immediate: 1968)

LIPSTICK TRACES (Toussaint)
by Chris Farlowe (Immediate: 1966)

MAKING TIME (Phillips/Pickett)
by Creation (Planet: 1966)

MONEY (Gordy/Bradford)
by The Beatles (Parlophone: 1963/Capitol: 1964)

MY BOY LOLLIPOP (Roberts/Levy)
by Millie Small (Smash: 1964)

NEEDLES AND PINS (Nitzsche/Bono)
by The Searchers (Kapp: 1964)

NO MILK TODAY (Gouldman)
by Herman's Hermits (MGM: 1967)

OVER UNDER SIDEWAYS DOWN (McCarty/Beck/Relf/Dreja/Samwell-Smith)
by The Yardbirds (Epic: 1966)

PAINTER MAN (Phillips/Pickett)
by Creation (Planet: 1966)

PAMELA PAMELA (Gouldman)
by Wayne Fontana (MGM: 1967)

PLEASE MR. POSTMAN (Bateman/Holland/Garrett/Dobbins/Gorman)
by The Beatles (Parlophone: 1963/Capitol: 1964)

POOR MAN'S SON (Jackson/Hamilton/Hamilton/Venetoulis)
by The Rockin' Berries (Reprise: 1965)

SHA LA LA (Taylor/Mosley/Dixon)
by Manfred Mann (Ascot: 1964)

SHAKIN’ ALL OVER (Kidd)
by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates (Apt: 1960)

SHAPES OF THINGS (Samwell-Smith/McCarty/Relf)
by The Yardbirds (Epic: 1966)

SHOUT (Isley/Isley/Isley)
by Lulu & The Luvvers (Parrot: 1964)

SILENCE IS GOLDEN (Crewe/Gaudio)
by The Tremeloes (Epic: 1966)

A SUMMER SONG (Metcalf/Stuart/Noble)
by Chad & Jeremy (World Artists: 1964)

THERE'S A KIND OF HUSH (Reed/Stephens)
by Herman's Hermits (MGM: 1967)

THIS DOOR SWINGS BOTH WAYS (Levitt/Thomas)
by Herman’s Hermits (MGM: 1966)

TIN SOLDIER (Marriott/Lane)
by Small Faces (Immediate: 1968)

TO SIR WITH LOVE (Black/London)
by Lulu (Epic: 1967)

WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE (Mann/Weil)
by The Animals (MGM: 1965)

WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM (DeShannon)
by The Searchers (Kapp: 1964)

WILD THING (Taylor)
by The Troggs (Atco: 1966)

YESTERDAY'S GONE (Stuart/Kidd)
by Chad & Jeremy (World Artists: 1964)

YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME (Donaggio/Pallavacini/Wickham/Napier-Bell)
by Dusty Springfield (Philips: 1966)

YOU’VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES (Gordy/Gordy/Carlo)
by The Dave Clark Five (Epic: 1967)

YOU'VE GOT YOUR TROUBLES (Cook/Greenaway)
by The Fortunes (Press: 1965)

YOU’VE REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME (Robinson)
b y The Beatles (Parlophone: 1963/Capitol: 1964)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Extracts of most of the above songs can be heard on our website
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The above songs are published by EMI MP here in the U.S. but please remember that control of certain titles can differ by territory
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Where possible in the above list, I’ve indicated the American labels on which the recordings were originally issued which is why some tracks by The Beatles show Vee-Jay and not Capitol although all those masters are now controlled by Capitol/EMI.

ROCK ON !
Alan Warner

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