4 Bands That Carried the Second British Invasion

The Second British Invasion occurred in the early 80s and highlighted the rise of synth-pop music in America. Here are four artists who really made an impact musically during this time.

Soft Cell

With hits like “Tainted Love”, Soft Cell got everyone excited about new wave music as early as 1981. Formed originally in 1978 in West Yorkshire, England, Soft Cell was a duo that consisted of Mark Almond and David Ball.

Almond told uDiscoverMusic about when he discovered “Tainted Love”, which had been released first by Gloria Jones in 1964.

“Dave introduced me to the record,” he explained. “I loved it so much, and we wanted an interesting song for an encore number in our show. Dave loved northern soul, and it was a novelty to have an electronic synthesizer band doing a soul song.”

The Police 

With songs like “Every Breath You Take”, from their final album as a group, Synchronicity, The Police truly put their personal mark on the American music scene at the very end of their joint career. 

Ex-lead singer Sting, who went on to have a successful solo career post The Police, once shared with Rick Beato that he felt a bit limited by the band.

“I just wanted a larger palette,” Sting shared. “The three-piece is a wonderful vehicle but it’s limited; drums, bass and guitar. I think we achieved an amazing amount of stuff in the short time we were together. Very unique, but I just wanted a broader palette because I was song-driven and not necessarily band-driven.”

Pretenders

From the release of their self-titled project in 1980, the Pretenders were able to prove that they could have a chokehold on audiences in the UK and America at the same time. Their 1982 song, “Back In The Chain Gang” was their biggest US track. The Pretenders were more punk than synth pop, but still influential nonetheless. 

The Human League 

With their song, “Don’t You Want Me”, The Human League got experimental. The English band opted to make a song without guitars and with a lot of synths, and they ended up making their biggest song as a result.

Phil Oakley, the lead singer of the band, even once said of the track: “It’s the best song I’ve ever written. It’s a proper song like the kind that Earth, Wind and Fire or Abba would write.” 

Photo by: John Rodgers/Redferns

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