The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits and The Yardbirds. What do I win?
Without looking at the page or replies, the six (six? really??) I would say are:
- Beatles
- Dave Clark Five
- The Rolling Stones
- The Who
- Paul Revere and His Raiders (this doesn’t sound very British, does it? Could be a dumb guess)
- Yardbirds
I will say I’m confident about 1,2, and 3.
AFTER LOOKING: Ah, Herman’s Hermits!! I meant them instead of Paul Revere (duh). Feel like I was in the thick of it for the most part though, not bad for a 22 year old right?
Shouldnt The Pretty Things be in there somewhere?
To be considered British Invasion, they would need to have had an impact in America. The Pretty Things never had any hits here.
I’ve never heard of “Chad and Jeremy” or “Peter and Gordon”. I was even alive for the later part of the 1960s in Britain 
Well, that’s 'cause they invaded this side of the pond.
I barely remember Chad & Jeremy myself except for their guest shots on Dick Van Dyke and Batman.
When I was in the 8th grade (1964), they had a huge hit here with “A Summer Song.”
Oh, I seem to recall they were on “The Patty Duke Show” about the same time they were on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”
I remember them from TV appearances too. I just looked at their “hits” on Wiki and to be honest I don’t recognize anything. I can’t Youtube from here either.
“Yesterday’s Gone”
“A Summer Song”
“Willow Weep for Me”
“Before and After”
Nope…
I’d forgotten about “Willow Weep for Me.” It and “A Summer Song” are soft romantic ballads with nice harmonies. Not bad at all.
Before viewing other replies:
Beatles
Stones
Dave Clark Five
Kinks
Herman’s Hermits
Gerry And The Pacemakers
Because they weren’t a band.
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That is hardly a nitpick, it’s a glaring error in the Wiki list.
Not dumb, just incorrect, and not at all bad for 22.
Paul Revere and The Raiders were from Idaho, or Portland, depending on how far back you go.
Which is why I always disagree with their inclusion on British Invasion lists.
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“Yesterday’s Gone” was the bigger hit in my neck of the woods, IIRC. By the way, as a fellow 1964 8th Grader, I definitely remember their guest shot on “The Patty Duke Show” because I had a monster crush on Miss Duke. Don’t know how I missed that Dick Van Dyke Show appearance, though.
I occasionally listen to some C&J. Their pleasant songs have aged well enough.
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I remember seeing The Who when they were the opening band for Herman’s Hermits on the Herman’s Hermits tour. I knew them from My Generation, and I liked them, but I wanted to see Herman! So I, also, don’t think of them as first wave.
I remember the Searchers being part of the original British Invasion.
(Needles and Pins)
Cicero, you’re getting your information about these six bands from this Wikipedia entry:
I think you need to learn how to better use your reference sources. Look, I probably quote from Wikipedia more than anyone else on the SDMB, and I can tell you that claiming that these were definitely the big six bands of the British Invasion based on that one entry is rather weak. When a Wikipedia entry tells you when a singer was born, what bands he belonged to, what albums he put out as a soloist and as a member of each of those bands, what films he happened to do as an actor, who he was married to or dated, etc., you can generally trust what it says. This isn’t even the entry on the British Invasion, though, which is this one instead:
When the entry on Eric Burdon says that those six bands were the leading bands of the British Invasion (well, that’s not even quite what it says), that is no more than an opinion offered by someone moderately acquainted with the period. There isn’t even a clear definition of what the top six bands would be. Are they the ones that sold the most records in the U.S. at that exact point? The ones who stayed together and eventually sold the most records? The ones who appeared on American TV the most? The ones who influenced the American musicians the most who then started their own bands? The ones who are now considered the best? And the British Invasion isn’t a single point but one smeared out over time. Do only bands that charted in the U.S. in 1964 count? How about 1965? How about 1966? How about 1967?
There’s a difference between a statement of fact (which may possibly be a mistake) and an opinion (which may be useful but can’t be quite said to be definitely right or wrong).
Yeah, it doesn’t even say that much. It just names those acts as examples of British invasion artists that influenced popular culture.