3 Rock Bands From the 1960s Who Had One Pop Crossover and Never Looked Back

These three rock bands from the 1960s achieved major pop crossover success, which completely changed their careers. Earning this type of success opened up new doors for these legendary groups. They couldn’t help but appeal to the masses once they caught their attention. These hits singlehandedly changed the artistry of these rockers.

[RELATED: 3 Rock Songs From 1964 That Every 60s Kid Can Still Sing by Heart Today]

The Kinks

The Kinks earned their first big crossover in 1964 with “You Really Got Me”. This song transformed the band’s sound. They left their jazzy influence behind for something far more accessible. After this hit, they were forever pop-leaning.

The simple lyrics to this song were digestible enough to bring in pop listeners, but edgy enough to make them seem dangerous. “Girl, you really got me goin’ / You got me so I don’t know what I’m doin‘,” they sing in this highly influential 1960s pop-rock crossover.

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys transformed surf rock from a regional fad into a nationwide phenomenon with “Surfin’ U.S.A.” This song basically kicked the band’s career off with a pop crossover. “If everybody had an ocean / Across the U.S.A. / Then everybody’d be surfin’ / Like Californ-I-A,” the lyrics to this hit read. They would eventually leave that pop appeal behind, but it impacted their early career greatly and influenced their eventual innovation.

Their pop-leaning songs earned them international fame. But, as their career developed, it seemed Brian Wilson wanted to reject the universal appeal of their early music. This gave them two distinctive career eras, one that made them mainstream and one that made them legendary artists.

The Monkees

The Monkees pop crossover, “I”m A Believer”, completely changed their career. “I thought love was only true in fairy tales / Meant for someone else but not for me / Love was out to get me / That’s the way it seemed,” the lyrics to this hit read. It earned them massive, albeit fabricated success. This hit gave them fame, which gave them financial freedom. That freedom helped them push against their TV image and break free of industry demands.

Ironically, the biggest hit of their career helped them defy their success. They didn’t want to be puppeted by their label anymore. They wanted to write their own songs, play their own instruments, and become true artists. They never looked back from this one hit, choosing to move away from the sound that made them famous.

(Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)