British Invasion - Interactive Map

0: Adam Ant

1: Adam Ant (Sex Pistols)

St. Martin's College - Here in London in November of 1975, Ant's band Bazooka Joe booked the Sex Pistols to open for them which was the first ever performance for the Sex Pistols

2: Adam Ant

First ever gig played was at the ICA in London in 1977

 

3: Adam Ant

First ever gig played as a solo artist was at The Astoria Theater in 1982

 

4: Adam Ant

Performed for Live Aid 1985 at Wembley Stadium

5: The Alarm

6: The Alarm

Lyceum Ballroom, London - Place where on December 22nd, 1981 The Alarm opened for U2 to help propel The Alarm to success

 

7: The Alarm

Hammersmith Palais, London - Place where Mike Peters of The Alarm joins U2 onstage for a performance

8: The Alarm

Good Earth Studios, London - Where The Alarm recorded their debut album

9: The Alarm

Royal Albert Hall, London - In 1996 Mike Peters of The Alarm performs there for the first time

10: Badfinger

Olympic Studios - Place where Badfinger recorded debut album

11: Badfinger

Clearwell Castle, Gloucestershire - Place rented out by Badfinger to live and record in 1971

12: Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas

Bootle, Liverpool, England - Birthplace of Billy J. Kramer on August 19th, 1943

13: Boy George

Bexley, Kent, England - Birthplace of Boy George on June 14th, 1961

14: Boy George

Planet's club in Piccadilly, England - Nightclub where Boy George played first gig as a DJ

15: The Beatles

St. Peter's Church Woolton, Liverpool - Place where John Lennon and Paul McCartney met on July 6th, 1957

16: The Beatles

17: The Beatles

18: The Chemical Brothers

Owens Park Manchester, United Kingdom - Place of The Chemical Brothers first show ever played as The Chemical Brothers

19: Cilla Black

The Majestic Ballroom Birkenhead, United Kingdom - Here Cilla Black auditioned for Brian Epstein and The Beatles for the first time to be signed under Brian Epstein

20: Coldplay

Rockfield Studios, United Kingdom - Place where Coldplay recorded their debut album Parachutes

21: John Waite

Lancaster, England - Birthplace of John Waite

22: Syd Barrett

Roundhouse Club, London - Syd Barrett along with Pink Floyd perform here for first ever all night rave concert

23: Limahl

Pemberton, Wigan, England - Birthplace of Limahl

24: Soul II Soul

Electric formerly The Fridge - PRS for Music honors Soul II Soul by placing a plaque on the venue Electric marking it as the venue that held the first ever show played by Soul II Soul

25: Robert Palmer

Singer, songwriter. Born on January 19, 1949, in Batley, England. Iconized the "Palmer Girl" style in the video for "Addicted to Love" which is seen annually reemerge on Halloween

26: Robert Palmer

On July 23, 1983, Palmer performed at Duran Duran's charity concert at Aston Villa football ground

27: Joe Cocker

Cocker was born on May 20, 1944 at 38 Tasker Road, Crookes, Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire

28: Joe Cocker

In 1963, they booked their first significant gig when they supported the Rolling Stones at Sheffield City Hall. Joe Cocker, under the stage name Vance Arnold, performed this show as Vance Arnold and the Avengers

29: Joe Cocker

On June 3, 2002, Cocker performed "With A Little Help From My Friends" accompanied by Phil Collins on drums and Queen guitarist Brian May at the Party at the Palace concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, an event in commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II

30: The Verve

The founding members of Verve met at Winstanley Sixth Form College, in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester. The band's first gig was at a friend's birthday party at the Honeysuckle Pub, in Wigan, on August 15, 1990.

31: Blur

Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon met Alex James when they began studying at London's Goldsmiths College in 1988

32: Blur

In December 2008, Albarn and Coxon stated that Blur would reunite for a concert at Hyde Park on July 3, 2009, but after tickets for the concert sold out within 2 minutes of release, Blur announced an additional performance at Hyde Park on July 2nd

33: Blur

Blur to perform the 2012 Olympics closing ceremony at Hyde Park.

34: Billy Idol

Idol was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, November 30, 1955

35: Cliff Richard and the Drifters

Regal Ballroom in Ripley, Derbyshire, 1958, first large-scale appearance by Cliff Richard and the Drifters

36: The Hollies

EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London, England, Stay With The Hollies, the first album by the group, recorded here in 1963

37: Pink Floyd

1976, Pink Floyd began eight months of continuous recording on their next album, Animals. The recording took place at their own studio facility, Britannia Row, in North London

38: Pink Floyd

Dec 2-4, 1976: Album sleeve designers Hipgnosis arranged a three day photo shoot at London's Battersea Power Station. With a concept suggested by Roger Waters, the team photographed a 40ft helium-filled inflatable pig floating above the power station for the cover of the new Floyd album, Animals. On the first day, the marksman who had been hired to shoot down the pig if it escaped its mooring ropes was not needed, but it took so long to inflate the pig that the photographers could only get coverage of the building. On the second day the pig was installed but broke free and sailed away; the marksman hadn't been rehired so it escaped, coming down in Kent. On the third day, Hipgnosis got their shot, but the final cover was a composite of Day 3 pig and Day 1 location

39: Pink Floyd

1977: Pink Floyd's new album, Animals, was played at a press launch held at Battersea Power Station 

40: Pink Floyd

January 20, 1972 - What should have been the live debut of The Dark Side Of The Moon at Brighton's The Dome was cut short when technical problems led to the band abandoning the piece mid-way through the song "Money." After a break, the group completed the gig with performances of Atom Heart Mother, Careful With That Axe, Eugene, One of These Days, and Echoes. The encore was A Saucerful of Secrets

41: Joss Stone

Joscelyn Eve Stoker, known as Joss Stone, was born in Dover, Kent, England. She left school at the age of 16 for New York to pursue her singing career.

42: Spandau Ballet

The band was formed under a different name while Kemp & Norman were both students at Dame Alice Owen's School, Islington

43: Lily Allen

Lily Allen attended 13 different schools, including Prince Charles' junior alma mater, Hill House School in London.

44: Spice Girls

Geri Halliwell unexpectedly left The Spice Girls in 1998, but all five members got together for the reunion tour in December 2007 which included a 17 night stand at London's O2 Arena.