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Credit: Tom Petty<\/p>\n
Tue 30 June 2026 20:15, UK <\/p>\n
Watershed moments in rock and roll history don\u2019t come much more impactful than the British invasion. From the moment that The Beatles stepped off that plane at JFK Airport in 1964, the musical landscape of the States was changed indefinitely, spawning a litany of homegrown talent, including one of the nation\u2019s most beloved songwriters, Tom Petty<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although Petty\u2019s early beginnings in Florida were about as far away from the grey drizzle of England, through the transatlantic airwaves, he was able to soak up all the rock rebellion emanating from across the ocean. Like virtually every other musician who grew up in the 1960s, The Beatles were a life-changing revelation for Petty,<\/a> who routinely cited their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show as the moment he knew he wanted to be in a band.\u00a0<\/p>\n While retrospective accounts of the British invasion invariably and inevitably place The Beatles at their centre, the Merseyside heroes weren\u2019t the only ones to be revolutionising rock on both sides of the Atlantic. Although they don\u2019t boast a reputation nearly as enduring or lauded as the Fab Four, for instance, The Dave Clark Five were key figures within that invasion period back in the 1960s, and they were a particular favourite of Petty\u2019s.<\/p>\n In their native England, The DC5 didn\u2019t have quite the same commercial power as the Fabs, even if they did manage to knock \u2018I Want to Hold Your Hand\u2019 off the number-one spot, with their defining track \u2018Glad All Over\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n When they eventually made it over to the United States, though, the group were afforded a degree of attention and hysteria that, at points, rivalled Beatlemania. According to Tom Petty, too, their raw rock and roll power might have eclipsed the Fab Four<\/a>.<\/p>\n During a chat with Rolling Stone back in 2010, the songwriter plucked out their top-20 hit \u2018Any Way You Want It\u2019 as one of his favourite anthems of the Invasion period. \u201cThey were badass,\u201d he declared, \u201cThis song sounds like a runaway train, with that sax honking down low. That was a big step, to blow the echo out that heavy. I\u2019d go crazy every time I heard it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n