Here's To The Second British Invasion: Music Acts That Dominated 40 Years Ago

The year 1983 brought forward some amazing music, with the biggest artist of the year being Michael Jackson.

This year also represented the peak of the Second British Invasion of America, a period where many UK based acts landed hit singles in the US.

The First British Invasion of American happened 20 years prior, led by The Beatles. This new wave brought forward acts like Duran Duran, Culture Club, the Human League, Eurythmics, Spandau Ballet, A Flock of Seagulls, and Thompson Twins.

Each became big for their mostly synthesiser-dominated pop music and entertaining music videos. New British music became the biggest import for America, and contributed to an increase in record sales.

Evidence can be found on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of July 16, 1983. 7/10 of the Top 10 were recorded by British artists.

Dave Rimmer wrote, “In 1983, British music and British artists occupied a solid and presumably lucrative 35 percent of the Billboard top 100 in both singles and albums.”

So 40 years later, let's recap the seven Top 10 singles from that week. The three non-British singles in the Top 10 were: 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'' by Michael Jackson at number five, 'Never Gonna Let You Go' by Sergio Mendes at number four, and 'Flashdance... What a Feeling' by Irene Cara at number three.

Keep scrolling to see the seven Top 10 British hits for that week:

'Every Breath You Take' by The Police at Number One

It was the band's first and only number one US hit, regarded as their signature song. By the time they released their fifth and final album, they had shed the reggae/punk-pop influence for mainstream art-rock.

As part of the evolution, Sting's lyrics took a dark and serious turn, due to the split from his wife Frances Tomelty.

'Every Breath You Take' was big for the entire year, posing a serious challenge to Michael Jackson's reign.

40 years later, it continues to reign supreme, hitting the question on whether it's a love song, or jealousy and surveillance track.

Sting said at the time, “I woke up in the middle of the night with that line – ‘Every breath you take, every move you make, I’ll be watching you’ – in my head. I sat down at the piano and had written it in half an hour.”

'Electric Avenue' by Eddy Grant at Number Two

Funk, New Wave and reggae influence, accompanied by a video propelling the popularity, 'Electric Avenue' is a reference to a street in Brixton, London.

Grant said the lyrics were inspired by the 1981 Brixton riots.

“I had been talking to politicians and people at a high level about the lack of opportunity for black people, and I knew what was brewing... I myself might have been successful, but I could have easily been one of those guys with no hope, and I knew that when people felt they were being left behind, there was potential for violence. The song was intended as a wake-up call.”

'Come Dancing' by The Kinks at Number Six

Being part of the First British Invasion in the 1960s alongside The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who first, 20 years later came 'Come Dancing.'

The lyrics were partly autobiographical for the singer and songwriter Ray Davies.

“[My sisters] used to go dancing. The dance hall was called the Palais and I wrote a musical about seven years ago called 'Come Dancing' about my sisters and it was - we actually made a record called 'Come Dancing,' as well. So they're a very big influence and we used to watch them dance with their boyfriends, look through the keyhole when we shouldn't be looking. They're a vital part of our musical education.”

'Too Shy' by Kajagoogoo at Number Seven

Sounding a bit like Duran Duran due to the band's Nick Rhodes co-producing the song, it remains the band's biggest and only US Top 10 hit 40 years later.

“Nick [Beggs, the band's bassist] was into prog rock, Frank Zappa and some of the weird, weird stuff. I was crazy about this jazz vocal group, the Manhattan Transfer. So you had all of that influence pointing towards this. That's why you cannot bottle the formula of a hit record. It has to be organic, it has to be experimental. You have to try things and stumble on stuff that works and then you go, ‘Oh that’s interesting, Well I like that. Let's keep that.’ And that's how it came about.”

'Our House' by Madness at Number Eight

Part of the two-tone ska revival in the late 1970s/early 1980s, Madness had already become successful with several Top 10 hits in the UK, including 'Baggy Trousers,' 'One Step Beyond,' and 'It Must Be Love.'

Today, it is nostalgic sounding, and continues to be a presence in commercials.

Graham "Suggs" McPherson said, “'Our House' is a phenomenon that is a bit beyond anything else we did because of its global reach. They use it on all those adverts funny enough. I suppose it's got some resonance, yeah... I knew that the riff was great. We were all into Motown, I thought, ‘We're onto something here.’ But nobody really thought the chorus would become what it did, anthemic, whatever the word is.”

'Is There Something I Should Know' by Duran Duran at Number Nine

Already a smash hit in the UK, this song became the band's third Billboard Top 20 hit. Accompanied by a surrealistic and stylish video, capturing the band at the height of Duranmania.

The opening lyrics, “Please, please tell me now” echoed the early Beatles.

Bassist John Taylor said, “The hits we had previously to this had almost been accidents–we had thought ourselves as an art-club band, with arena aspirations for sure, but not No 1 on the Hit Parade. And we were responding directly to parallels being drawn, particularly in the U.S.A., which excitedly referred to ‘The Second British Invasion,’ to the Beatles. We never saw that coming.”

'Time (Clock Of The Heart)' by Culture Club at Number Ten

Led by Boy George, the band caused a stir in the UK when breakthrough single 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?' reached number one.

Over several months, the success carried over to the US, and follow-up 'Time (Clock of the Heart)' also became a hit.

The band went on to become a phenomenon, with many fans dressing up like Boy George at shows.

Boy George said in his memoir, "The song was a blatant plea to Jon [Moss, Culture Club's then-drummer and George's former romantic partner] but as always he was oblivious. The woeful violins and violins and rumbling cellos understood perfectly. Steve [Levine, producer] hired a twenty-four-piece string section. It was his most lavish production to date...The end result was a dream.”