The Shadows

Everything in British pop was American before The Shadows hit Number 1. Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard - they all looked to Elvis and the US for inspiration. Then, from behind Cliff, The Shadows stepped out and achieved success in their own right in 1960 when Apache took them to the Number One spot in the UK.  Hank Marvin may have sported Buddy Holly's specs, but the Shads were British boys.

The mainstays of the group, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, had joined Cliff at the very start as members of The Drifters (not to be confused with the American band of the same name). Bruce (real name Bruce Cripps) and Hank (born Brian Rankin) originally played behind Cliff alongside Ian Samwell (who wrote Move It) and Terry Stuart. Jet Harris (real name Terence Harris) replaced Samwell while his friend, Tony Meehan (born Daniel Meehan) replaced Terry Stuart.

Quickly developing their own unique sound and identity, The Shads became the most successful and most copied British instrumental group of the era, reaching the top again with Kon-Tiki, Wonderful Land, Dance On! and Foot Tapper.

Lead guitarist Hank Marvin precipitated the most widespread guitar-buying epidemic since the days of skiffle. They split up in 1969 but re-formed in 1977 when a hits compilation became the second biggest selling UK album of that year.