1965: The year seven British acts dominated the US charts
By 1965, The Beatles had become a global phenomenon, and the cultural swell of Beatlemania was in full effect.
One year after their famed performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which generated a then-record-breaking viewer count of 73 million and at a time when they began to cross-pollinate their stardom by featuring in Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night, the power of their influence had become completely inarguable.
In its wake came the emergence of British invasion music, which stormed the American charts with a similar brand of rock perfected by the Liverpudlian band and suddenly the cultural landscape was awash with the humble ideas born on this small island.
But despite the perceived dominance of British invasion music, America was a cultural behemoth rarely knocked off its perch of cultural supremacy. So the influx of British music still had a large musical mountain to climb, where they were willing to know any American big hitters off the chart top spots.
The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley and The Supremes were just three artists who held firm on the US Billboard charts’ top spot and regularly batted off the fleeting popularity of these British newcomers.
But 1965 was indeed a turning point, and The Beatles were the catalyst for that. After The Ed Sullivan Show and ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ in 1964, which was effectively the two-punch combination delivered in round one, the Fab Four delivered the knockout blow in 1965 with their album Help! And more specifically, Paul McCartney’s stunning number, ‘Yesterday’.
This record and that song proved that The Beatles’ popularity was no flash in the pan, and right behind it was a fleet of songs that would further cement their legacy as a once-in-a-generation act. In the slipstream of that came a generation of artists, all building on this appetite for British sensibilities wrapped up in a big red rock and roll bow.
So, who joined The Beatles at the top of the charts in 1965?
Well, first, it’s worth clarifying just how dominant The Beatles’ American reign was in ‘65. They spent 12 weeks in total at number one, starting in the very week of the year with ‘I Feel Fine,’ before returning back to the top with ‘Eight Days A Week’, ‘Ticket To Ride,’ ‘Help!’ and ‘Yesterday’.
The Rolling Stones played their part also, with a total of six weeks at the number one spot with ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ and ‘Get Off My Cloud’. They were joined by Herman’s Hermits, who spent four weeks at the top spot, while Petula Clark, Freddie and The Dreamers spent two weeks at number one, before Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders, and The Dave Clark Five backed them up with a week at the top spot each.
But while The Beatles dominated proceedings from an accumulative point of view, their biggest hit was levelled by their so-called rivals, The Rolling Stones. ‘Yesterday’ was joined by The Stones’ monster hit ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’, in the record books, as both songs became the longest standing number one singles of the year, with four weeks at the top respectively.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.