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Searchers Band history
Originally founded as a skiffle group in
Liverpool in 1959 by
John McNally (born
30 August 1941, at Walton General Hospital,
107 Rice Lane, Walton,
Liverpool,
Lancashire) and
Mike Pender (born Michael John Prendergast,
3 March 1942, Kirkdale, Liverpool, Lancashire),
the band took their name from the classic 1956
John Wayne
western
The Searchers. Prendergast claims that the name
was his idea, but McNally ascribes it to 'Big Ron' Woodbridge
(born Ronald Woodbridge, 1938, Liverpool, Lancashire), their
first lead singer. The genesis remains
unresolved.
The band grew out of an earlier skiffle group
formed by McNally, with his friends Brian Dolan (guitar)
and Tony West (bass). When the other two members lost
interest McNally was joined by his guitarist neighbour
Mike Prendergast. They soon recruited
Tony Jackson (born Anthony Paul Jackson,
16 July 1938, The Dingle, Liverpool,
Lancashire — died
18 August 2003,
Nottingham,
Nottinghamshire) with his home-made bass guitar and
amplifier and styled themselves Tony and the Searchers
with
Joe Kelly on drums. Kelly
soon left to be replaced by
Norman McGarry (born
1 March 1942, Liverpool, Lancashire), and
it is this line-up — McNally, Pender (as he soon became
known), Jackson and McGarry — that is usually cited as the
original foursome.
McGarry did not stay long, however, and in 1960
his place was taken by
Chris Crummey (who later changed his name to
Curtis). Later that year Big Ron had a successful audition with
Mecca and became a ballroom singer. He was replaced by Billy
Beck, who changed his name to Johnny Sandon (born Wıllıam Beck,
ın 1941, ın Lıverpool dıed 23 December 1996). The band had
regular bookings at Liverpool's
Iron Door Club as Johnny Sandon and the
Searchers.
Sandon left the band in late 1961
[1] to join
The Remo Four in February
1962
[2]. The group
settled into a quartet sharing the vocal lead and billed simply
as The Searchers. They continued to play at the Iron
Door,
The Cavern, and other Liverpool clubs. Like many
similar acts they would do as many as three shows at different
venues in one night. They negotiated a contract with the
Star-Club in the
St. Pauli district Hamburg for 128 days, with three
one-hour performances a night, starting in July
1962.
[3]
The band returned to a residency at the Iron
Door Club and it was there that they tape-recorded the
sessions that led to a recording contract with
Pye Records with
Tony Hatch as
producer. Their first single was issued in US on
Mercury, the second on
Liberty without success and then a deal was arranged
with U.S. based
Kapp Records to distribute their records in
America.
Hatch played piano on some recordings and wrote
"Sugar and Spice"—the band’s second number one
record—under the pseudonym Fred Nightingale; a secret he
kept from the band at the time.
After scoring with their hit "Needles and
Pins", bassist Tony Jackson was fired from the band and
was replaced by Hamburg pal
Frank Allen (born Francis Renaud McNeice,
14 December 1943,
Hayes,
Middlesex) from
Cliff Bennett and the Rebel
Rousers.
Chris Curtis left the band in 1966 and was
replaced by the
Keith Moon-influenced John Blunt, who in turn was
replaced by Billy Adamson in 1970. In 1967, Curtis formed a new
band called Roundabout with keyboard player Jon Lord and guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore. Although Curtis's involvement in
the project was short-lived, Roundabout would eventually evolve
into
Deep Purple the following year.
As musical styles evolved, the Searchers could
not keep up and as a result, the hits ran out. While they
continued to record for
Liberty Records and
RCA Records, they ended up on the British "Chicken
in a Basket" circuit, although they did score a minor US hit in
1971 with "Desdemona".
The group continued to tour through the 1970s
and were rewarded in 1979 when
Sire Records signed the band to a multi-record deal.
Two albums were released: The Searchers and Play for
Today (retitled Love's Melodies outside the UK).
Both records garnered critical acclaim but did not break into
the charts. They did, however, revive the group's
career.
According to John McNally, the band were ready
to head into the studio to record a third album for Sire
when they were informed that due to label reorganization,
their contract had been dropped. It was, in fact, because
so few people bought the second album, although it was
beloved by fans.
In 1981, the band signed to
PRT Records (formerly Pye, their original label) and
began recording an album. But only one single, "I Don't Want To
Be The One"
[4] backed with
"Hollywood", ended up being released. The rest of the tracks
would be included as part of 2004's 40th Anniversary
collection.
Soon after the PRT release, Mike Pender left
the group amidst great acrimony and now tours as
Mike Pender's Searchers. McNally and Allan recruited
former
First Class vocalist
Spencer James to fill
Pender's shoes.
In 1988,
Coconut Records signed The Searchers and the album
Hungry Hearts was the result. It featured updated
remakes of "Needles and Pins" and "Sweets For My Sweets" plus
live favorite "Somebody Told Me You Were Crying". While the
album was not a major hit, it did keep the group in the public
eye.
The band continues to tour with
Eddie Rothe replacing
Adamson on drums and is considered to be one of the most
popular 1960s bands on the UK concert circuit. The Searchers
incorporate full band electric performances with an acoustic
set as well. Creating ample amounts of confusion, former
Searchers lead singer
Mike Pender also tours, but with his new full band
electric outfit Mike Pender's Searchers, as they perform hits
of the Searchers and some new material of their
own.
Hit singles
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