Liverpool produced the Merseybeat sound led by The Beatles, taking the British charts by storm in 1963, while in London the Rolling Stones heralded a boom in the British Rhythm and Blues that included the Animals from Newcastle, Spencer Davis from Birmingham and scores more.

Folk inspired artists, like The Byrds, and even America’s most influential contemporary performer Bob Dylan also turned to sound of the Beatles for new direction. The quintessential Californian group, The Beach Boys, helped fly the flag for Surf Music.

Black Soul Music (containing the beat of Rhythm and Blues combined with the exuberance of Gospel), may have been overshadowed in the media but it still made a indelible impression. Between them, they had all the early soul stars of note, including The Drifters, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.

‘The Godfather of Soul’, James Brown, through the rest of the '60s dispensed with melodies in favour of chunky rhythms, horn interplay and scratching guitar giving a whole new sound which would become essential ingredients of what is known as Funk. Weird lyrics and music that seemed to have few rules and less form: names like The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and the The Doors became synonymous with meditation, levitation and drugs.

By then America began to worship the posturing and volume of what became known as Heavy Metal. Pioneered by Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Jeff Beck and culminated by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple, the term ‘Heavy Metal’ was characterised by heavy guitar riffs/ostinato, a high register male vocal and more punch particularly in the lower frequencies of the bass drum and bass guitar.

Britain started the 1970’s pointing towards a hybrid known as ‘Glam-rock’, which produced Marc Bolan, David Bowie, and groups such as Slade and The Sweet. Their theatrical style of dress (which consisted of heavy make-up and women’s clothes) further emphasised the sartorial overkill of Psychedelia.

The advance in technology would give birth to a genre of Progressive rock groups such as Genesis and Yes, followed by E.L.O., Supertramp, Queen, and 10cc – The recording process itself had become much more sophisticated and the expansion of multitracking enabled artists to isolate each instrument and use a myriad of multi-layered harmony vocals creating an orchestral sound which would give these bands their trademark.

Bob Marley and the Wailers introduced Reggae and Ska to the international community after being signed to London’s Island Records. (Reggae is a Jamaican form of Rhythm and Blues with accents on the half beats.)