the invaders

they called us the invaders

americana. it started as a flickering black and white image through an old movie projector. faces of cowboys and indians. the good guys victorious over the emissaries of evil. my early visions of america came from the cinema. then there were the guns; deliverers of truth

justice and the american way. the day the invaders came

in the early 1950's

communism was still the scourge of the so-called free world. ufos had been sighted across america

and films such as 'the invaders from mars'

'the blob' and 'creatures from the black lagoon' served as a warning that there were still forces of evil waiting if america ever dropped its guard. they called us the invaders

as i grew up the music took over. rock

jazz

skiffle and blues - those country songs came to liberate me. the music gave me hope

a feeling that i could express myself. the cowboys in those old black and white movies seem to have values. you knew who the good guys were. then

as i toured america with my band

i saw the place first hand: from the roadside of a dreary bus stop to the big gigs at the hollywood bowl and madison square garden. america was secure. its borders were safe. it was against such a backdrop that the unbelievable happened: the invaders landed. the british pop invasion had arrived. cos the world as we knew it turned upside down

and things would never be the same

the day the invaders came

at the height of our success in the 1960s

the kinks were banned from touring the u.s.a. for 4 years. when we did return

we toured the u.s.a. relentlessly. tour after tour. year after year. to win back what we'd lost. they called us the invaders.