The symbolic songs of the British Invasion for Little Steven

The British magazine Uncut wanted to celebrate on its pages the first American tour of Beatles of February 1964 and the subsequent British Invasion that shocked America. For the occasion Uncut asked Steven Van Zandtthe associate of Bruce Springsteento compile a Top Ten 45 rpm record of the British Invasion of the mid-Sixties. Below are the ten songs chosen by Little Steven accompanied by his concise commentary.

Beatles, “I want to hold your hand” (1964) – “They completely took over the charts. It should be mentioned because it was the opening salvo of the British Invasion.”

Billy J. Kramer, “Bad to me” (1964) – “Billy was managed by Brian Epstein, so he had some Lennon-McCartney songs like “Bad To Me,” but he would have had success with other songs too.”

Rolling Stones, “Tell Me” (1964) – “It’s one of the greatest ballads of all time. I don’t think it was released in Britain, but it was a single in the US. Although it wasn’t a hit, I got it in my shop, so it had some distribution.”

Dave Clark Five, “Any way you want it” (1964) – “This is the most powerful music there is. The sound of the drums is incredible. It’s a mystery to me why they aren’t more respected, given that they made some of the greatest sounding records of the era.”

Dusty Springfield, “I only want to be with you” (1963) – “Dusty was definitely part of it. One of the greatest white singers, she made incredible records with phenomenal sensitivity.”

Animals, “House of the rising sun” (1964) – “It was great. The Stones prepared us for a group like the Animals, a different kind of pop. Eric Burdon had the same way of singing as Mick Jagger, in a more register low. It was number one for weeks.”

Kinks, “You really got me” (1964) – “This was a radical sounding record. When it hit Top 30 radio it was completely new to us. It went very high, as did ‘All Day And All Of The Night’.”

Manfred Mann, “Do wha diddy diddy” (1964) – “Paul Jones was another great singer. The uniqueness of each of these groups cannot be emphasized enough. To our parents, they all sounded the same, but each band had to have a unique identity. It was a prerequisite.”

Herman’s Hermits, “Can’t you hear my heartbeat” (1964) – “They were great, but quite underrated. Herman’s Hermits were one of the bands along with Manfred Mann and the Animals who used the great Brill Building writers throughout the years ’60, introducing us to another group of Americans we had no idea existed.”

Zombies, “She’s not there” (1964) – “This was a different sounding record and by the end of the year the Zombies were getting big. They ended up with three big hits, one of which came after they broke up.”