1. their clothes
   their tastes in food
2. Brits invaded in bands.

While they identified Americans Chuck Berry, Elvis and Buddy Holly as influencing their music, the British sound came most often from bands that wrote and performed original tunes.

1. The Beatles play "The Ed Sullivan Show."
   The instrumental "Stranger on the Shore" reaches No. 1 in the U.S.
2. The Animals perform on "American Bandstand".

One-hit-wonder Acker Bilk, a clarinetist from England, has the honor of being the first British artist to top the American pop charts with his song on May 26, 1962.

1. "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals
   "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles
2. "Glad All Over" by The Dave Clark Five

The Beatles tried repeatedly to breach U.S. shores in 1963 with songs that had topped the U.K. charts. But it was 1964's "I Want to Hold Your Hand" that finally led them to No. 1.

1. the fire in Apollo 1 that killed three astronauts
   the death of Marilyn Monroe
2. the assassination of John F. Kennedy

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, sending the country into national mourning. The Beatles' energy, wit and upbeat music helped bring the U.S. out of its depression.

1. "See See Rider"
   "House of the Rising Sun"
2. "A Summer Song"

The Animals hit in 1964 with the most popular version of the folk song that has been around since at least the early 1900s and has been covered by everyone from Woody Guthrie to Andy Griffith.

1. The Kinks
   The Zombies
2. The Dave Clark Five

DC5, as all the cool kids called them, first charted with "Glad All Over." By the time it was all over, they had sold more than 50 million records.

1. The Spencer Davis Group
   The Zombies
2. The Searchers

The biggest thing to come out of the band was Steve Winwood, who left in 1967 to form Traffic and then left that for a solo career.

1. The Who
   Herman's Hermits
2. The Rolling Stones

The Stones seemed determined to be the band your parents warned you about, coming on unsmiling and raunchy. It seems to have worked for them.

1. Petula Clark
   Dusty Springfield
2. Marianne Faithfull

Petula Clark's song, written by Tony Hatch after his first trip to New York, is an upbeat tune about a nightclub that never closes.

1. Herman's Hermits
   The Zombies
2. The Kinks

The Kinks' biggest hit came in 1970 with "Lola," maybe the only hit song (or at least the first) about an encounter with a cross-dresser.

1. Donovan
   Steve Winwood
2. Tom Jones

Rolling Stone magazine called this phenom "the Dylan-esque folk singer turned psychedelic minstrel."

1. Manfred Mann
   The Who
2. The Yardbirds

The Who was already enormously popular in England with hits like "My Generation" and "I Can't Explain" before storming the U.S.

1. Lulu
   Petula Clark
2. Marianne Faithfull

The song was written for Faithfull by The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, along with their manager Andrew Loog Oldham.

1. Gerry and the Pacemakers
   The Mindbenders
2. Herman's Hermits

Gerry and the Pacemakers had their first U.S. hit in 1964 with "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying," which reached No. 4 on the Billboard charts.

1. The Yardbirds
   Herman's Hermits
2. The Zombies

Incredible musicians like Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, who went on to fame and fortune themselves, backed Noone on many of Herman's Hermits' tunes.

1. Davy Jones
   Mick Jagger
2. Tom Jones

Tom Jones began life as Thomas John Woodward. His first U.K. hit, "It's Not Unusual," led to spots on "The Ed Sullivan Show," and the rest, as they say, is history.

1. The Hollies
   The Yardbirds
2. The Zombies

Their rich harmonies of The Hollies led to 22 hits on Billboard's Hot 100 in the U.S. between 1964 and 1975, making them the No. 4 British hit-makers of the period.

1. "Meet the Beatles"
   "Please Please Me"
2. "With the Beatles"

The album features 14 songs — six covers and eight original tunes that highlight the band's range.

1. Petula Clark
   Lulu
2. Dusty Springfield

Born in Scotland, Lulu had her first British hit at age 15 with a cover of The Isley Brothers' "Shout."

1. Tarzan and the Apemen
   The Neanderthals
2. The Troggs

While they became famous for their caveman sound, The Troggs also recorded ballads, including "Love Is All Around."

1. The Nashville Teens
   the Memphis Mafia
2. The Knoxville Nine

The Nashville Teens' biggest hit, "Tobacco Road," was also American-inspired, taken from the 1932 book of the same name by Erskine Caldwell.

1. Manfred Mann
   The Zombies
2. Freddie and the Dreamers

The band also reached No. 10 in the U.S. with "Mighty Quinn" in 1968. Manfred Mann later had success with his band Manfred Mann's Earth Band.

1. "Hippy Hippy Shake"
   "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini"
2. "The Purple People Eater"

The band — from Liverpool, England, like the Fab Four — had more success in England, but it didn't manage to make hips shake again in the U.S.

1. Marianne Faithfull
   Dusty Springfield
2. Cilla Black

Springfield peaked with the 1968 album "Dusty in Memphis," produced by Jerry Wexler, who had produced Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles.

1. 25
   42
2. 56

After having held the top spot for only four weeks total before 1964, Brits took hold for more than half of the next two years. They also had 65 singles in the Top 40 in 1964 and 68 singles in 1965.

1. The Honeycombs
   The Yardbirds
2. The Moody Blues

In addition to a string of Top 40 hits, the Yardbirds graduated arguably the top three British guitar players of the era: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

1. Simon and Garfunkel
   Peter and Gordon
2. Chad and Jeremy

It's no wonder the duo — Peter Asher and Gordon Waller — was a success with material like the Lennon-McCartney written "A World Without Love."

1. The Vampires
   The Undead
2. The Zombies

OK, this one was too easy. The Zombies also had almost as much staying power as the undead of today. They hit the U.S. charts with "Time of the Season" in 1969.

1. The Hullaballoos
   The Who
2. The Rolling Stones

The Who struggled to get a foothold on American soil, until they landed with "Happy Jack" and never looked back.

1. The Rolling Stones
   The Beatles
2. British bands

The Fab Four were the undisputed leaders of the British Invasion. Seemingly overnight in January 1964, Beatlemania had the whole country in a frenzy that was just the beginning of a love for all things English.