With that intro out of the way, here it is: the Second British Invasion was better than the First.
In order to explain my rationale, let me list off some favourites. From the sixties, I love The Beatles, really like the Stones, Kinks and Dusty Springfield and am fairly into The Who and Hollies. That's about it as far as it goes: the rest I have no opinion on at best. Shifting over to the early eighties, there's The Human League, Madness, Dexys Midnight Runners, Kate Bush, ABC, Scritti Politti, Culture Club, XTC, The Jam, Soft Cell, Tears for Fears, Kim Wilde, Haircut One Hundred, Wham! and Duran Duran and that's not even accounting for groups who I don't care for all that much. While only a handful became superstars on the other side of the Atlantic, this lot represents a significant uptick in overall quality. (The British seemed to have the good sense to keep their disposable pop acts — Bucks Fizz, Bardo — at home) While the presence of The Beatles alone puts the sixties' British Invasion at a significant advantage, the eighties' equivalent makes up for it with shear depth.
The creative spark that drove The Beatles and their legitimate contenders failed to inspire much in the likes of Herman's Hermits and Peter and Gordon but at least it helped push American pop forward. (While The Beach Boys and The Four Seasons were already having hits prior to the emergence of Beatlemania, it's likely that The Byrds and The Lovin' Spoonful would have had a tougher time breaking through without the Fab Four paving the way) A great deal has been made of Bob Dylan influencing John Lennon and Pet Sounds inspiring Paul McCartney but it wasn't just the heavyweights who were upping their game. Even the son of a renowned comedian who possessed a cheesy grin and a less than impressive vocal range proved up to the challenge — at least as far as he was capable at least.
As Tom Breihan notes in his mostly savage review of "This Diamond Ring", Gary Lewis and the Playboys nabbed an unlikely number one smash on the Billboard Hot 100 hot on the heels of several pop classics (he evidently likes Petula Clark's "Downtown" a lot more than I do) which must've seemed like such a clash - either that or American teenagers of the era figured it was just as great as "My Girl" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling". Not a great song to begin with, it isn't helped along by many of the great songs it followed but it's possible that still managed to learn a thing or two in the process. "This Diamond Ring" came up short of the top spot on the RPM listings but the equally poor "Save Your Heart for Me" nabbed them up north later in the year.
Over the course of 1965, the quality of their work began to modestly improve. Hit singles "Everybody Loves a Clown", "She's Just My Style" and "Sure Gonna Miss Her" proved to be surprisingly engaging while remaining reliably facile. Jerry Lewis was one of those comedians who could be equal parts funny and irritating and there's something about son Gary that indicates he picked up some of his pop's habits. Not a great singer to begin with, he often sounds like he's trying a little too hard to be an 'awe, shucks' everyman. On "Green Grass", however, his vocals are just about good enough and, thus, there's not the same need to play up to the crowd. Lewis could be a charming gentleman when he wanted to be and that's precisely how he sounds here.
Over the years, Lewis has maintained that the band he formed while still in high school played on all their recordings from "This Diamond Ring" on. I have no reason to doubt this claim though it has also been pointed out that studio pros added overdubs along the way. As the months rolled by, the lineup changed to the point where it was just Lewis and buddy John West remaining. Filling in were some of the finest studio musicians a trust fund baby like Lewis could find. Leon Russell had been present to do the arrangements while Jim Keltner came on board for percussion duties. These changes resulted in some tighter playing on later Playboys releases.
"Green Grass" is far from a masterpiece of sixties pop but it is a good deal better than the dreck Lewis had been putting out a year earlier. Unfortunately, his path towards musical respectability was halted when he ended up being drafted into the American armed forces. The hits would continue but the Top 10 stopped being what was expected. He never quite reached the next level though it could very well have been beyond his talents anyway. The circumstances of a pop music golden age helped him get this far so well done for trying and just about succeeding. Many who were a part of the First British Invasion weren't nearly as capable.
Score: 6
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