3 British Invasion Bands From 1965 Whose Melodies Still Echo Decades Later

In the mid-1960s, rock bands landed in the U.S. from the U.K. and made major headlines. There was seemingly a never-ending stream of creative, bombastic, magnetic artists who captivated the hearts of millions.

And that’s just what we wanted to explore below. We wanted to dive into three bands from back in the day that still impact our lives now. Indeed, these are three British Invasion bands from 1965 whose melodies still echo decades later.

Pink Floyd

Founded in 1965, the original Pink Floyd lineup included singer and frontman Syd Barrett. The outfit released their debut LP, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, in 1967 and followed it up with their next album, A Saucerful Of Secrets, in 1968. But that same year, Barrett left the group due to mental health issues. Thankfully for music fans, that wasn’t the end of Pink Floyd. Indeed, it was in the mid-1970s when things really took off for the band. That’s when they released The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall—all in a row.

Small Faces

Small Faces got started in London, England, in 1965. A year later, the group released its self-titled debut album, which included the popular singles “Whatcha Gonna Do About It” and “Sha-La-La-La-Lee”. Like other British Invasion groups from the era, the members of Small Faces prided themselves on their ability to change, adapt, and evolve. What started as a mod rock group turned into a psychedelic one. But none of that could have transpired had it not been for the origins of Small Faces in the middle of the 1960s.

The Who

The Who first got together in 1964, but the band released its debut album, My Generation, a year later in 1965. That record kicked off a legendary career for the entertaining (and at times destructive) British Invasion classic rock band. The titular single from the LP remains a big part of rock culture today. In total, The Who released four records in the 1960s before releasing another four in the 1970s. Among the myriad British Invasion bands from the era, The Who has to be the most bombastic of them all. But it all started for them in the middle of the 1960s.

Photo by Andrew Whittuck/Redferns