Ambitious Look at British Invasion

What would the British Rock Invasion of the ‘60s have been like without the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who?

That’s not the question that Rhino Records’ ambitious “The British Invasion: The History of British Rock” series set out to address, but the nine volumes--which can be purchased individually or in a new box set--do help provide an answer.

The set, which includes a playful and affectionate book on the history of British rock by Rhino executive Harold Bronson, defines rock in the mid-’60s sense of virtually anything that was a hit on Top 40 radio--as opposed to today’s strict separation between rock and pop and soul.

Thus, the set includes such pop-flavored tunes as Lulu’s “To Sir With Love,” Petula Clark’s “Downtown,” the Bee Gees’ “Words” and Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual.”

There are two early Beatles numbers--”Ain’t She Sweet” and “My Bonnie”--but none of the classic Beatles tracks, for the same reason there are no Stones or Who selections: licensing difficulties.

However, there is a generous number of bands from that first wave of British rock--including Gerry & the Pacemakers’ “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” and Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas’ “Little Children”--as well as many classic entries. Among the latter: Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love,” the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me,” Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” and the Zombies’ “She’s Not There.”

Fans of the contemporary rock group Nirvana may also be intrigued to know that there was an earlier band by that name. In the liner notes, John Mendelssohn observes that the original Nirvana were “purveyors of gentle psychedelia and enormously popular in Scandinavia.” The group, he adds, was a reincarnation of another British band, Second Thoughts, whose bassist-violinist was Chris Thomas. He went on to produce albums by the Sex Pistols, the Pretenders and INXS.

More British Rock: Marc Bolan, one of the pioneers of the British glam-rock movement in the ‘70s, is saluted in “T. Rex: The Essential Collection,” a three-disc set released by Relativity Records.

Though he had a narrow pop vision, Bolan--who recorded under the group name T. Rex before being killed in a 1977 car crash--made some wonderfully enticing records, many of them blessed with a disarming affection for rock history.

But there are problems: The set doesn’t include T. Rex’s biggest U.S. hit, “Bang a Gong” (more licensing problems) and it spreads two discs worth of material over three discs.