Three unrelated American expats in swinging London at the height of the British Invasion, The Walker Brothers were as cool and exotic to English teens as The Beatles were to kids in the States. Though they started as an R&B-based band in their native Los Angeles, John Maus, Gary Leeds, and Scott Engel soon began to specialize in dramatic pop ballads that showed off the latter's swoon-worthy baritone. After several hits, Engel—now known as Scott Walker—split off for an idiosyncratic solo career in '67. The Walkers briefly reunited for three increasingly experimental albums in the late '70s.