The "British Invasion". A question for you old farts out there.

Simon and Garfunkel. Never occurred to me to think of it as a clique. To me it was just the kids with good taste in music.

On the other side of the globe, when I was in primary school, it was ABBA.
Kids had AB on the left shoe, and BA facing them on the toe of the right shoes. They were from Sweden.

Pink Floyd, the Stones, U2 in Australia was a pretty massive movements too.

No Dave Clark Five or Beatles cliques I can recall. Dave Clark Five were pretty much flash in the pan with a few hits, Beatles much more. I do recall Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, watching with my grandparents, thought their long hair appalling, hilarious! While I did like the Beatles from the beginning, it was 'Rubber Soul' and 'Revolver' that made me respect them.

The Brits certainly were ahead of us at that time in bringing new form of rock to USA. Soul was newer form of pop here, what passed for rock was stuff like Frankie Avalon, Brian Hyland etc. Also served to spur American artists to offer more mature offerings over the long term.

I'm in pieces, bits and pieces at the very thought the DC5 were once held as equal to the Fab Four.  We were too young at the time to understand it was all about the enduring ability to write songs.  That has always been the secret to longevity in the Rock & Roll game.  A very few exceptions come to mind.  Joe Cocker would be one.  

ABBA is back.!
My favorite quote from the article:
" "Bringing the ladies in, we didn't really know what to expect," said Andersson. "Because I mean, they're not 30 anymore, they're 70-plus. They came in and they started to sing, it was like bang! Spot on."