18. The return of the Cunard Yanks
The ships which plied the waterways between Liverpool and New York and other American ports carried British culture and change back to the Americas as well. The large number of American troops which had passed through Great Britain during World War II generated interest in aspects of British culture. Coming back to New York from Britain were a number of British products, including British records. Music from newer British bands seeped into the United States in the months before the full-fledged British Invasion of the mid-1960s. This created a small demand for British acts in the early 1960s.
A British group from Tottenham, the Dave Clark 5, cut their teeth playing the enlisted clubs on military bases, developing a fanbase which included American GIs. Their popularity created a demand for their records in the early 1960s, which sold well enough in America that they were actually the lead band of the British Invasion, the first to go on a full tour of the United States (though their Ed Sullivan appearance followed the Beatles). The new sound of rock and roll came to America in a manner similar to how its predecessor went to England, carried in the holds of the ships linking the ports of the two countries.