![george harrison greatest hits tidal george harrison greatest hits tidal](https://cdn-5f7e6584c1ac190fbc5797e3.closte.com/assets_c/2018/03/ConcertForGeorgeVinylCover225-thumb-225x175-11289.jpg)
![george harrison greatest hits tidal george harrison greatest hits tidal](https://resources.tidal.com/images/69ba6772/d6bb/4c41/ac14/b5d9b73d6176/640x640.jpg)
Springfield was one of the first Brits to secure a big US hit on her own with “I Only Want To Be With You”, in January 1964, at almost exactly the same time that The Beatles scored their first US No 1 with “I Want to Hold Your Hand”. Possibly the most iconic of all was Dusty Springfield, whose life story is currently being made into a for-TV biopic starring a blonde-bouffanted Gemma Arterton. But these British women exhibited the power a solo performer could bring to the recording studio, and to the stage. There were Shirley Bassey’s James Bond themes and Helen Shapiro’s brief turn as a teenage pop star, though at that time the concept of the solo female performer was still a fairly uncommon one in the US: many of the female pop and soul singers in the States came as package deals in the form of girl groups such as Martha and the Vandellas or the Shangri-Las (Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” would come two years later, in 1966).
![george harrison greatest hits tidal george harrison greatest hits tidal](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/81/4c/a8/814ca87c59d691aaf999185f99ca01af.jpg)
Fourteen more of her songs would chart consecutively in the Top 40s.īefore 1964, Americans had only been privy to a smattering of Britain’s star quality. Still, it got the ball rolling on a successful Stateside career: she won the Grammy for Best Rock and Roll Recording in 1964. “America fell in love with the song, I just happened to be singing it,” she says modestly. I was lucky because I had the song.” The song she’s referring to is “Downtown”, the delicate composition that hit the US like a tidal wave and became her first US hit. “The thing about America is, they’ll only take you on if they like you. “I wasn’t looking for a career in America,” she says now. These women commanded our attention 50 years ago, whether through their distinctive voices or cutting edge fashions – but, in the years since, their cultural contributions have become somewhat overlooked.Īsk Petula Clark, 89, about her aspirations, however, and she is nonchalant. Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw, Cilla Black and Marianne Faithful were all topping the charts during the days of “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “You Really Got Me”. However, outside of mop-top mania, British solo female artists were another major export at the time. Even today when the subject of the British Invasion comes up, these bands are the ones exalted in the US for the music they made and the impact they had. Headlines alerted “The British Are Coming” and cautioned that, like a virus, “Beatlemania Sweeps US”. The moment their Chelsea boots set foot on United States soil, all Americans could do was surrender.Īlmost overnight, the pages of Billboard and Record World were brimming with black and white photos that depicted swarms of eager teenybopper fans, arms outstretched for a chance to get close to The Beatles, The Kinks, The Yardbirds and The Animals. Charming, disarming and identical in their haircuts, British boy bands came in their droves, bewitching teenage fans, alarming parents and putting Elvis’s hips to shame.
![george harrison greatest hits tidal george harrison greatest hits tidal](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/565c1ab5e4b05079e4bfa169/1575861159786-62ZQM5LPO2SA7WMH91Q9/Glen_Campbell_20_All_Time_Greatest_Hits_Vinyl_Cover.jpg)
Pictured: Dusty Springfield, Marianne Faithfull, Cilla Black, Petula Clark and Sandie Shaw (Getty/iStock)