For more than two hours Tuesday night, a crowd of 150 ranging in age from mid-50s to late 70s were young again.

Bodies were swaying, heads were bobbing, hands were clapping and toes were tapping to covers of everything from “Twist and Shout” by the Beatles to “Light My Fire” by the Doors to “Inna Gadda Da Vida” by Iron Butterfly inside the B.A. Niblock Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) Welcome Center on East Main Street.

The vehicle that sent the crowd figuratively back in time was vintage rock n’ roll by lead singer Jim Downs and the Inner Lite band all of Marshalltown.

The event was “The British Invasion of the 1960s and its Influence on the Marshalltown Music Scene” sponsored by the Historical Society of Marshall County (HSMC) as part of their popular monthly “History on Second Tuesday” programs.

Downs and the band, who were inducted into the Iowa Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, presented the lively history lesson through music and commentary. Assisting as tutor was event emcee and fellow Iowa Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee Kyle Martin of Grinnell. Martin had earned his induction for his work as a disc jockey at Des Moines radio stations years ago. He is now a host on Marshalltown radio station KFJB.

Inner Lite’s set list was impressive in the musical challenges it offered the band, according to Downs and drummer Bill Wilson of Marshalltown.

It also provided a musical history lesson in how popular music evolved from 1963 when “Twist and Shout” debuted to the more complex arrangements “Light My Fire” (1967) and “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” (1968).

Regardless, Downs and the band did not disappoint the crowd, which was clearly fired up during “Light My Fire” and “In-A-Gadda-Da Vida.”

Inner Lite also played their regional hit “Hold Onto Him” which was popular on KIOA in Des Moines and in New York state, according to Wilson.

“Ritchie Cordell wrote the song which was also performed by Tommy James and the Shondells,” said Downs.

“Cordell was a frequent collaborator with James and the two co-wrote and produced many of the band’s biggest hits,” according to social media sources.

Between songs, Downs and Wilson discussed the history and praised several local garage bands that rose to prominence. They were Bottom of the Fifth, Molly McGuires, The Mystic Minds, and The Red Cross and Blues Band.

Art McClure, Dirk Weber, Eric Hartwig and Jim Davison were members of the Molly McGuires, according to a poster on display in the Orpheum lobby. Davison would later gain national recognition as an ophthalmologist at Wolfe Eye Clinic in Marshalltown.

The bands played at venues such as the “The Attic” – then on the second floor of the since demolished Senior Citizens Center on State Street (the site is now occupied by apartments) and the Veterans Memorial Coliseum – then informally referred to as the ‘Marshalltown Armory’ in promotional material.

Larry Soderberg of Marshalltown, a member of The Mystic Minds, was in attendance with his wife Cindy Soderberg.

“One week after ‘Hey Jude’ was released, Inner Lite played it at a performance and nailed it,” said Soderberg to the delight of the audience.

Trudy Wilson of Marshalltown, Wilson’s spouse, was ecstatic after the band’s encore performance of “Cinnamon Girl” by Neil Young.

“Bill has been looking forward to this (event) for a while,” she said. “He was promoting far and wide, handing out cards and putting up posters.”

“The term British Invasion refers to the surge of British rock bands who swept the American music charts beginning in 1964,” said Bill Wilson. “The Beatles’ exciting performance on the Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 7, 1964 opened America’s doors to a wealth of musical talent. They were soon followed by The Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, The Yardbirds and more.”

“We were extremely pleased with the band’s exciting performance and tonight’s attendance which included a number of residents from the Iowa Veterans Home,” said event organizer and HSMC board member Julie Lang of Marshalltown. “The band played free-of-charge and for that we are grateful. The theater seats 130 and there were only four empty seats. We had many standing in the back and in the aisles. We were also grateful for the Marshalltown Community School District, the venue owner, who did not charge us for use of this state-of-the-art facility.” For more information, contact HSMC at 641-752-6664 or info@hsmcia.org.