Crowd left calling for more; setlist included songs
‘influenced’ by the British Invasion

The five-piece Asheville-based group the Alien Music Club played lickety-split — with no break — at “The British Are Coming!” its sold-out, song-packed, 90-minute tribute concert Jan. 25 upstairs in the supper club at Isis Music Hall in West Asheville. 

However, when lead guitarist-vocalist Jonathan “J.D.” Pearlman finally asked how much time was left, the sound man (who later identified himself as “David E.” to the Daily Planet) signaled just one more song, it triggered an uproar — albeit a playful one — from a revved-up older audience wanting to hear more songs from their youth during the popular early-evening show. 

The AMC, suddenly realizing that it still had a number of songs on what it labeled its “music menu” (a setlist, replicating a menu, that was placed on the tables for those attending the early-evining dinner show), chose to jump to its listed rousing finale, “Lola,” a 1970 hit by the Kinks. 

The audience (numbering more than 50 people) sang — and swayed  merrily — along to the song’s infectious rhythm. 

As the lights were turned up, the band bowed and waved to the crowd, which responded with a loud and sustained standing ovation. The AMC then immediately began packing up its instruments, not evening having time to perform a well-deserved encore, as another concert by another band was scheduled to start at once in Isis’ main music hall downstairs. 

Just prior to the finalé, before the band realized it could only play one more song, the AMC played Badfinger’s 1970s’ mega-hit, “No Matter What,” a high-energy song that drew much applause and was one of the best-received songs of the night.

However, arguably, the top crowd-pleaser of the evening was AMC’s rendition of the Easybeats’ 1966 hit, “Friday on My Mind.” (The Easybeats, a band formed mostly of British emigrants, were from Australia.)

An event promotion stated that, for the Isis show, “Alien Music Club presents a revolutionary take on an iconic period in music history — the British Invasion! Expect tears of joy and an uplifted spirit!” On its website, the AMC states that “Alien Music Club is an eclectic blend of alternative music in diverse musical genres ranging from all forms of rock to jazz to funk to anything in between with intelligent lyrics and a playful sense of humor.” Besides Pearlman, MAC members include Bruce Lang, rhythm guitarist and vocalist; Peggy Ratucz, vocalist and tambourine player; Micah Thomas, percussionist; and Grant Cuthberson, bassist. Besides playing various concerts around the area, the AMC plays jazz jams every Thursday night at Barley’s Taproom in downtown Asheville.

Of the musical era, Wikipedia noted, “The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising ‘counterculture’ on both sides of the Atlantic.” Music historians generally agree the era began in 1964 (the Beatles were the most popular group, followed by the Rolling Stones), with the era ending, arguably, around 1970, or slightly thereafter. 

Interestingly, Wikipedia later pointed out that “the British Invasion also drew a backlash from some American bands, e.g., Paul Revere & the Raiders and New Colony Six dressed in Revolutionary War uniforms, and Gary Puckett & The Union Gap donned Civil War uniforms. And American garage rock act the Barbarians’ song, ‘Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl,’ contained the lyrics, ‘You’re either a girl, or you come from Liverpool’ and ‘You can dance like a female monkey, but you swim like a stone, Yeah, a Rolling Stone.’”

Wikipedia also stated, “According to Robert J. Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, the British invasion pushed the counterculture into the mainstream.”

Meanwhile, at West Asheville’s Isis Music Hall, the British Invasion show, ironically, opened with an instrumental by an American, Henry Mancini’s “Pink Panther Theme.” 

That was followed by the Dave Clark Five’s “Any Way You Want it,” Gary Lewis and the Playboys’ “This Diamond Ring,” (Gary Lewis is an American), Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman,” the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses,” the Zombies’ “Time of the Season,” Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man,” the Animals’ “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”  and Elton John’s “Country Comfort,” (He was considered part of the Second British Invasion).

At that point, Pearlman told the crowd, “So we’re going to cheat a little bit because not everyone in the British Invasion was British.”

 He then said, “This is one of my favorite songs.” The band then launched into “It’s a Beautiful Morning,” a 1968 hits for the American group the Rascals, known for its blue-eyed soul sounds. Pearlman sounded fabulous singing the lead, with superb harmonies provided Ratucz and Lang. 

In fact, throughout the show, two highlights were Pearlman’s lead guitar fireworks and the soaring harmonies of Pearlman, Ratucz and Lang, who rotated on lead vocals.

Next, the AMC played the Kinks’ “Sunny Afternoon,” followed by the Hollies’ “Bus Stop,” Herman’s Hermits’ “There’s a Kind of a Hush,” the Beatles’ “Any Time at All” and the Bee Gees’ “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You.” (The Bee Gees were considered Second British Invasion artists).

Other songs included Cyrkle’s “Red Rubber Ball,” Dave Clark Five’s “Because I Love You,” the Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes” and Chad and Jeremy’s “Summer Song.”

After the show, Lang noted that what the band had meant to say about the show was that it was showcasing music either from the British Invasion, or music “influenced by” the British Invasion.” While it was clear that the show was meant to honor the original British Invasion, several songs were included from what is known as the Second British Invasion. (“The Second British Invasion consisted of music acts from the United Kingdom that became popular in the United States during the early-to-mid-1980s, primarily due to the cable music channel MTV,” Wikipedia noted.)

The Daily Planet also spoke with Pearlman after the show, who agreed with Lang that the show was not actually meant to be limited to original British Invasion songs — and that, rather, it was intended to celebrate the musical era in a wider context. For instance, he noted, Cyrkle was an American band that opened several concerts for the Beatles during their tour of the United States, but things went — precipitously — downhill for the group after that, with the band eventually playing at a bowling alley before breaking up. 

The songs on the night’s “musical menu” that were not performed included the New Vaudeville Band’s “Winchester Cathedral,” the Hollies’ “Carrie Anne,” the Beatles’ “I Call Your Name,” Elton John’s “Your Song,” Petula Clark’s “Downtown” and Procol Harem’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” 

Undeterred, Pearlman, before launching into the show’s finale, “Lola,” good-naturedly told the audience members that they just would have to attend another AMC show to hear the songs they missed.