Mods, Rockers, and the Music of the British Invasion

An insightful examination of what, in both US and UK popular music, led up to and constituted the so-called 'British invasion' of the 1960s. From the author's encyclopaedic knowledge of pop music and expertly (possibly bewilderingly so to many) musicological analyses of much of the music the reader is left in no doubt about who deserved success and who just 'rode the wave'. Three puzzles though: the title of the book, with its initial focus on 'mod' and 'rocker' subcultures and music styles becomes increasingly dissipated through the book and one is left wondering, why did the author choose that starting point?; secondly, and thirdly, the book desperately cries out for editing: it contains many inexcusable typos and, more importantly, the author frequently (obsessively?) makes various points, in some detail, then repeats them a short time later, in just as much detail, where a simple reference to the the original would have sufficed. Nevertheless, an important and authoritative study of the impact of British pop music of the '60s.