Driving home tonight I heard "Street Fighting Man" on the classic rock station ( a personal favorite), which got me to thinking. Being an old fart, who was really the best British band to hit the shore back in the 70's? I'm a big fan of Cream, The Beatles, The Kinks, The Faces and of course The Stones, but for me... the best and most under rated band was The Who. Daltrey and Townsend were the catalysts. Entwhistle set the groove, but Keith Moon powered that sucker into greatness. Am I wrong??
The Beatles made it over there in the 70's? Man, you Americans are just too damn privileged. And as per the original question - ELO without a shadow of a doubt.
My personal favorite, on a bad day is the Bonzo Dog (Doo-Dah) Band. Though they're late 60s and never caught on here.
Best british bands a part from beatles and stones? Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Genesis (Peter Gabriel era) IMHO.
Yes indeed, though with Collins gagged and chained to his drum. Some years ago they did a beautiful new version of "the carpet crawlers" with Gabriel singing. I managed to find some old movie of their concerts with winmx. Great. Peter Gabriel dressed as a flower was amazing.
The Who really were the best. The Beatles were a bit too trippy and the Stones a bit too White Boy blusey. The Who always rocked, I would say the under rated band of the British Invasion would have to be the Kinks.
Oh The British invasion. I was thinking a little more generally. But when did ELO start making it over there? Started in the early 70's (1972ish) getting chart success at least. Timing was about right by my reckoning. Maybe you're right, just a little late on the whole.
Gotta go with the Beatles. The "trippy" music is what made them great, and the sheer volume of great songs is rivalled only by Burt Bacharach. I agree on the Stones- never did like them much, except for 3 songs- Angie, Paint it Black and Ruby Tuesday. Pink Floyd's mid-70s stuff is a good second choice, followed by Zeppelin and the Who is a distant fourth, only because Fleetwood Mac's best lineup (Buckingham, Fleetwood, McVie, McVie, Nicks) wasn't all British. Well, the thread title says "British Invasion"(would be 60s), but the first post makes reference to the 70s, so I guess there's a great deal of leeway here.
Does Elton John count as a band? His music has taken a downturn in the past 20 years, but his early-mid 70s stuff was great.
Not nearly as bad as Rod Stewart. The Faces was one of the best pure rock bands out there. And then Ronnie Woods split for The Stones and Rod Stewart went disco/wuss. What a shame....... ps. I just bought The Best of The Faces CD. frickin' awesome.
Well we are talking "Rock" here and as much as I know the Beatles were loved for their "innovations" You just don't here too many pop instrumental covers of the Who on easy listen stations that senior citizens listen to. So I gotta go with the Who. Even though I know Beatles and British Invasion pretty much mean the same thing. The Beatles ruled the 60's British Invasion, but the Who Rocked the whole decade of the 70's more so then any other band, with the Stones coming in second in both the 60's and the 70's.
And then of coarse there were the Small Faces a great British mod band who never caught on in the States. If you like Stones, Who, etc. you must have the Small Faces in your collection. They would have to be my favorite British band from the 60's.
Definition of the British Invasion: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=107939&tocid=0 Generally considered to be in the mid-60s timeframe. The Animals were incredible.
I couldn't get the page to work, oh well. Post-British Invasion by a year or two, and I don't think they did much in the U.S., but Fairport Convention is massively underrated. Of course, I think Richard Thompson is God. Of the classic British Invasion bands (1964-early 1966), I'd go with The Animals as the most underrated. But the reformed Animals of the hippie era were sort of cheesy (though I have a sneaking admiration for "Sky Pilot").