From Jay Sean To JLS: The British Invasion Of The New Millennium?

18 Mar, 2010 matt Articles, Featured, Front Page

British Boy Band JLS (Left) in The Bottom 3 of British Talent Show XFactor

The Beatles are credited with the first British invasion in 1964, as their distinctive Liverpool sound infected American Teens everywhere, and undeniably changed the culture of American music forever. Bands like Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, and George Michael spearheaded the second wave in the early 80’s. Nearly thirty years later the trend is cycling around for a whole new wave, and new generation. 2009 saw the begining of a steady import of UK pop super stars dictating the face of the American music scene yet again. Look at the interviews that have been collected recently just by us here at Clizbeats.com, and you will see a noticeable pattern building in the industry. The success of overseas sensations, like the UK’s Jay Sean, Australia’s Daniel Merriweather, and Ireland’s The Script, (all multi platinum in England) has shown a reliable system for making hits for US music executives in 2010.

In addition to those previously mentioned Clizbeats Featured Artists which represent major labels like Universal Republic, Epic, RCA, and J Records , Island Def Jam decided to also join the party. Island Records Imported Taio Cruz, an established English singer song writer with an album of previously proven success before coming to America. Now as of this week, he and Ludacris have the #1 song on the Itunes sales chart, “Break Your Heart”.

So why is this important? History has shown us that whenever the importing of foreign trends in music reaches a high peak, it is because of pivotal events that are happening or about to happen in our culture. The first British invasion of The Beatles in 1964 was led up to by several American stars of Rock & Roll being forced to publicly step down. This abruptly began in 1957, when Rock & Roll heavy weight Little Richard bowed out of the game for religious resons. Fans were then dealt another blow in 1958 when Elvis was drafted for the Korean War, and temporarily detained from hit making. The sting of Elvis’s temporary departure would only burn greater by the deaths of Rock & Roll pioneers, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper from a tragic plane crash in 1959. After losing many of their favorite artists, coupled with the controversy of fellow Rock & Roll leader Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his 14 year old cousin, fans became disenfranchised from the genre they helped popularize. There was a hole in the music market, and British Rock fans like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were eager to lend their talent.

Technological advances were the reason for invasion number two in the 1980s. This time it wasn’t the lack of American artists, but more so, their lack of faith in a fledgling cable network known as MTV. In many cases it took the then established American music industry longer to catch on to it’s value. This in turn helped instill to American music fans the value of the English and New Wave bands whom embraced MTV. As the channel’s popularity grew so did their influence over the young music buyers. This effectively helped set the musical tone for the rest of the decade.

Fast forward to 2010. Now the issues aren’t musicians, or a lack of faith in advancing technology , but a simple lack of money. Just as any average news reporter probably told you, the US economy is obviously tight. This is specifically true in the over-extended entertainment and media landscapes, stretching across broadband, cable and broadcast platforms for the same number of ears and eye balls. Our media system has become so broad, and so expensive in a country that clearly has no money; we make the Simon Cowells of the world rich wanting a sure thing. Ever since producing for The Power Rangers and Teletubbies, Simon Cowell has been America’s best friend for successfully importing both TV shows and music that MAKE MONEY! That seems to be proof enough for executives at Jive Records.

Jive Records has made arrangements to handle the US leg of record distribution for JLS, a boy band developed on Simon Cowell’s UK talent search show, X Factor (which is also planning on coming to the US via the Fox Network). Though they didn’t win the competition, the boys received plenty of praise from Simon who reportedly considered signing them to his Sysco Music. Now JLS is 3 times platinum back home, setting great proof that US music buyers just might bite. Many in the industry are calling them, the next *NSYNC. Could it be that the effect of this generation’s British invasion will in fact be the resurgence of late 90’s teen pop? JLS’ US debut, “Everybody In Love” is very catchy, and grows on you with every listen. Best of luck JLS! Can’t want to see what you bring us!

Check Out

JLS’ US Debut Single:

“Everybody In Love”

Jive Records/JLG