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70 free British Invasion trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
On 9 February 1964 the Beatles played The Ed Sullivan Show and American pop music changed direction overnight. Within three months British acts held the top five places on the Billboard chart, and for the next three years Merseybeat groups, London blues bands and a wave of solo singers crossed the Atlantic in numbers. This British Invasion trivia quiz covers that whole story: the Beatles' record-breaking first weeks, the Rolling Stones, the Dave Clark Five, the Kinks, the Who, the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Zombies, the Yardbirds, Manfred Mann, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Peter and Gordon, and singers from Dusty Springfield and Petula Clark to Tom Jones and Lulu. The questions range from easy ones any classic-rock listener will know to expert ones about who wrote which hit, which club hosted a first gig, and which acts came before the Beatles or slipped in from Australia. It works as a music-round for a pub quiz, a party warm-up for a 60s night, or a test for anyone who grew up with these records. Every answer was checked against music-history reference pages before publishing, and each question carries a citation.
30 of 70 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Roughly how many viewers watched the Beatles' first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in 1964?
About 73 million
It was a US television record at the time, and Sullivan's show had until then been described as a 'comfortable hearth-and-slippers experience'.
Q 02Which song did the Beatles open with on that first Ed Sullivan broadcast?
All My Loving
They followed it with 'Till There Was You', during which the caption 'SORRY GIRLS, HE'S MARRIED' appeared under John Lennon.
Q 03Which series finale broke the US TV audience record set by the Beatles' Ed Sullivan debut three years earlier?
The Fugitive
The 1967 finale revealed the one-armed man; the Beatles' figure had stood as the record for all of American TV, not just music.
Q 04Two days after the Sullivan show, the Beatles played their first US concert at which venue?
Washington Coliseum
Two Carnegie Hall shows followed the next day, and then the band flew to Miami Beach.
Q 05With which boxer, then training for his first title fight, did the Beatles pose in Miami Beach in 1964?
Cassius Clay
He beat Liston a week later and soon took the name Muhammad Ali.
Q 06Which single was the Beatles' first American number one, in early 1964?
I Want to Hold Your Hand
It became their best-selling single worldwide at more than 12 million copies, and was replaced at number one by 'She Loves You'.
Q 07On 4 April 1964 the Beatles held the top how many positions on the Billboard Hot 100 at once?
Five
No other act had ever held even the top four; the same week they held the top five on Cash Box, with the first two places reversed.
Q 08For how many consecutive weeks did the Beatles hold Hot 100 number one from 1 February 1964, then a record?
Fourteen
On the rival Cash Box chart the run was sixteen weeks, from 25 January to 9 May.
Q 09Which singer followed the Beatles onto the Hot 100 a week later with 'I Only Want to Be with You'?
Dusty Springfield
She had just left the folk-pop trio the Springfields; the single peaked at number twelve.
Q 10Whose 'Glad All Over' knocked the Beatles off UK number one in January 1964?
The Dave Clark Five
It was the second-best-selling UK single of 1964, and its pounding production became known as the 'Tottenham Sound'.
Q 11Which Newcastle band took "The House of the Rising Sun" to number one in the UK and US in 1964?
The Animals
Bob Dylan had recorded the folk song on his 1962 debut, in an arrangement he learned from Dave Van Ronk.
Q 12Petula Clark's 1964 hit 'Downtown' was written and produced by whom?
Tony Hatch
It reached number one on the Hot 100 but only number two in Britain; Hatch had taken over as her producer in 1963.
Q 13Which band was banned from touring the United States for years after its troubled 1965 tour?
The Kinks
Cut off from America, Ray Davies turned to observational songs about English life on albums like Village Green Preservation Society.
Q 21The Zombies' debut single 'She's Not There' was written by which member of the band?
Rod Argent
He built the opening phrase from the title of a John Lee Hooker song, 'No One Told Me'; the single reached number two in the US.
Q 22Which 1968 Zombies album was ranked number 100 on Rolling Stone's 2012 list of the 500 greatest albums?
Odessey and Oracle
The band had already split by the time 'Time of the Season' from it became a US hit in 1969.
Q 23The Zombies formed in 1962 in which Hertfordshire city?
St Albans
Three of the members had first jammed together there in 1961.
Q 14Despite a rumour crediting a session player, who actually played the guitar solo on "You Really Got Me"?
Dave Davies
The rumour named Jimmy Page, later of Led Zeppelin; the riff was written in perfect fifths and octaves and the song hit UK number one in September 1964.
Q 15Which American band released a cover of 'You Really Got Me' as its first single in 1978?
Van Halen
It peaked at number 36 on the Hot 100 and opened their self-titled debut album.
Q 16Which royal reportedly had Townshend's 1935 Packard hearse towed, inspiring 'My Generation'?
The Queen Mother
She reportedly objected to the sight of it on her daily drive through Belgravia; Townshend also credits Mose Allison's 'Young Man Blues'.
Q 17Herman's Hermits were fronted by which singer?
Peter Noone
Between March and August 1965 the group spent 24 straight weeks in the US top ten with five singles.
Q 18Which British actor wrote Herman's Hermits' 1965 hit 'Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter'?
Trevor Peacock
It was first sung by Tom Courtenay in a 1963 television play, and the Hermits never released it as a single in Britain.
Q 19Herman's Hermits' 1960s hits were all produced by whom?
Mickie Most
Most also produced Donovan and Lulu; the Hermits' only UK number one was 'I'm into Something Good'.
Q 20Freddie and the Dreamers were usually lumped in with Merseybeat, but which city were they actually from?
Manchester
They formed in West Didsbury in 1962; bassist Peter Birrell had been a shoe salesman before the band took off.
Q 24Which Liverpool group was the first act to have its first three singles all reach number one in the UK?
Gerry and the Pacemakers
Like the Beatles they were managed by Brian Epstein and produced by George Martin; the three were 'How Do You Do It?', 'I Like It' and 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.
Q 25'You'll Never Walk Alone', later adopted by Liverpool FC, was originally from which musical?
Carousel
Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote it in 1945; the Merseybeat version turned it into a football anthem.
Q 26Which group named after its keyboard player topped the charts in 1964 with 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy'?
Manfred Mann
The band had two lead singers in the decade, Paul Jones and then Mike d'Abo, and later UK number ones with 'Pretty Flamingo' and 'Mighty Quinn'.
Q 27Which band launched the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page in turn?
The Yardbirds
All three later ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone's 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists; hits included 'For Your Love' and 'Heart Full of Soul'.
Q 28Which Hollies co-founder left in late 1968 to join David Crosby and Stephen Stills?
Graham Nash
He was replaced by Terry Sylvester; the Hollies' early originals were credited to the Clarke/Hicks/Nash trio.
Q 29The Troggs' 'Wild Thing' was written by which American songwriter?
Chip Taylor
It had first been recorded, without charting, by a New York band called the Wild Ones in 1965; Taylor is the brother of actor Jon Voight.
Q 30Which Donovan single topped the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in September 1966?
Sunshine Superman
'Mellow Yellow' followed it to number two that December; in Britain the record stalled at number two.