One could honestly say that the British invasion started with The Dave Clark Five considering they were the first English group to hit the United States, yet the second to perform on the Ed Sullivan show (the first was The Beatles) a record 18 times.
It was the late '60s through the early '70s and one band that had gained popularity at a rapid pace found themselves reigning right up there with the other top rock bands of that era, allow me to introduce you to The Kinks.
If you were growing up in the Mid 60's in the U.K. you might remember the music chart TV show titled, 'Top Of The Pops', the show ran it's course til about 2006.