Sunday Morning Playlist: British Invasion - Page 10

13. Peter & Gordon: A World Without Love

The second British Invasion act to hit #1 with a single in America (after the Beatles), Peter and Gordon's 1964 #1 "A World Without Love" could pass for The Beatles on a (very) off-day. The song was written by Lennon/McCartney (i.e. McCartney) and given to the duo, primarily because McCartney was dating Peter Asher's sister Jane at the time. Not blessed with great voices, nor a commanding stage presence, nor great songwriting ability, Peter and Gordon nontheless did manage to place ten songs in the American top-40 from 1964-1967; "I Don't Want To See You Again" and "Nobody I Know" were also Lennon/McCartney leftovers. Despite this string of hits, Peter and Gordon weren't popular enough to survive the end of the British Invasion, and split in 1968. McCartney continued to help Asher, giving him a job at Apple records, where he produced James Taylor's debut; Asher went on to become an enormously successful record producer for Warner Brothers in the 1970's, best known for his production work on Linda Ronstadt albums.

14. Lulu: Shout

Lulu (Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie) was a little spitfire of an r&b influenced singer, who first hit big in the U.K. in 1964 with "Shout", a cover of the Isley Brothers' hit. At the time, she was only 16 years old, but displayed a commanding voice that displayed more grit than many of the male singers among her peers. Despite its success in England, where she belted the number on a TV special starring The Beatles, it only reached #94 in America; her American breakthrough wouldn't come until 1967, when she had a huge international #1 with the theme song to the Sidney Poitier film, To Sir With Love, in which she co-starred. Much of her late 60's and early 70's music is in a similar vein to Dusty Springfield's, although Lulu had a few interesting twists and turns, including hosting her own TV show, singing the theme to the James Bond flick The Man WIth The Golden Gun, and recording an interesting session with David Bowie in 1973 that yielded the single "The Man Who Sold the World". She reached the top-40 in America as late as 1981 with "I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)".

15. Petula Clark: I Know A Place

In many respects, Petula Clark doesn't belong on this list; she wasn't really a "rock" singer, and she was about 10 years older than most of the performers on this list. She had a movie role as early as 1944, at the age of 12, and would appear in over two dozen; she had her first U.K. top-20 hit as a singer in 1954, before rock even existed. However, as the U.S. suddenly thirsted for all things British in 1964, Clark, a well-established star in her 30's at this point, rode the wave and broke through in America with "Downtown", making her the first British woman to reach #1 on the American pop charts. "I Know A Place", despite its piano-driven melody and enormous orchestra still manages to capture a little of the British Invasion feel, and name-drops the title of Beatle manager Brian Epstien's book, "A Cellarful Of Noise". Clark became a mainstay on the American pop charts through 1968, hitting #1 again with "My Love" and "Don't Sleep In The Subway" before beginning to fade. She appeared on Broadway in "Blood Brothers" in 1993, and is still working at the age of 73.

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