The Searchers (band)
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The Searchers are a British rock act who emerged as part of the 1960s merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry and the Pacemakers.
The band's hits included "Sweets for My Sweet," "Sugar and Spice," "Needles and Pins," and "Don't Throw Your Love Away", as well as a cover of The Clovers' "Love Potion No. 9". For a brief period in the early 1960s their fame rivalled that of the Beatles. They were, in fact, the second group from Liverpool after the Beatles to have a hit in America when "Needles and Pins" charted during the first week of March, 1964.
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[edit] 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, in 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, in Liverpool, Lancashire), their first lead singer. The issue 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, in The Dingle, Liverpool, Lancashire, died 18 August 2003, in 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, in 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. The band had regular bookings at Liverpool's Iron Door Club as Johnny Sandon and the Searchers.
Sandon left the band in late 1961 to join The Remo Four in February 1962. 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.
The band returned to a residence, 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.
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 their monumental hit "Needles and Pins", bassist Tony Jackson went solo and was replaced by Hamburg pal Frank Allen of 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, Chris Curtis formed a new band called Roundabout with keyboard Player Jon Lord and Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and althouth 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 and while they continued to record for Liberty Records and RCA Records, 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 by them, The Searchers and Play for Today (retitled Love's Melodies outside the UK). Both records garnered great critical acclaim but did not break into the charts. They did however revitalize 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.
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" backed with "Hollywood", saw the light of day at that time. The rest of the tracks would be released 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. A very contemporary sounding release, it featured modern sounding remakes of "Needles and Pins" and "Sweets For My Sweets" plus live favourite "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.
[edit] Hit singles
| Release date | Title | Chart Positions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | US Charts | ||||||||||
| 1963 | "Sweets for My Sweet" | #1 | - | ||||||||
| 1963 | "Sweet Nothins" | #48 | - | ||||||||
| 1963 | "Sugar and Spice" | #2 | #44 | ||||||||
| 1964 | "Needles and Pins" | #1 | #13 | ||||||||
| 1964 | "Ain't That Just Like Me" | - | #61 | ||||||||
| 1964 | "Don't Throw Your Love Away" | #1 | #16 | ||||||||
| 1964 | "Some Day We're Gonna Love Again" | #11 | #34 | ||||||||
| 1964 | "When You Walk in the Room" | #3 | #35 | ||||||||
| 1964 | "Love Potion No. 9" | - | #3 | ||||||||
| 1964 | "What Have They Done to the Rain" | #13 | #29 | ||||||||
| 1965 | "Bumble Bee" | - | #21 | ||||||||
| 1965 | "Goodbye My Love" | #4 | #52 | ||||||||
| 1965 | "He's Got No Love" | #12 | #79 | ||||||||
| 1965 | "When I Get Home" | #35 | - | ||||||||
| 1965 | "Take Me For What I'm Worth" | #20 | #76 | ||||||||
| 1966 | "Take It Or Leave It" | #31 | - | ||||||||
| 1966 | "Have You Ever Loved Somebody" | #48 | #94 | ||||||||
| 1971 | "Desdemona" | - | #94 | ||||||||
[edit] Cover versions of songs by The Searchers
- "Needles and Pins" (first recorded by Jackie DeShannon) was also released by:
- The Ramones, as a single and on their 1978 album Road to Ruin.
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on their 1986 album Pack up the Plantation: Live!.
- "Popcorn Double Feature" was released as a single by The Fall in 1990, and is also included on their album Extricate.
[edit] The Searchers Timeline
1957-1959
- John McNally: Guitar, Vocals
- Ron Woodbridge: Vocals
- Brian Dolan: Guitar
- Joe West: Bass
- Joe Kennedy: Drums
1960-Feb 1962
- John McNally: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
- Mike Pender: Lead Guitar, Vocals
- Chris Curtis: Drums, Vocals
- Tony Jackson: Bass, Vocals
- Johnny Sandon: Lead Vocals
Feb 1962-July 1964
- John McNally: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
- Mike Pender: Lead Guitar, Vocals
- Chris Curtis: Drums, Lead Vocals
- Tony Jackson: Bass, Lead Vocals
July 1964-April 1966
- John McNally: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
- Mike Pender: Lead Guitar, Vocals
- Chris Curtis: Drums, Lead Vocals
- Frank Allen: Bass, Lead Vocals
May 1966-December 1969
- John McNally: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
- Mike Pender: Lead Guitar, Vocals
- Frank Allen: Bass, Lead Vocals
- John Blunt: Drums
January 1970-December 1985
- John McNally: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
- Mike Pender: Lead Guitar, Vocals
- Frank Allen: Bass, Lead Vocals
- Billy Adamson: Drums
January 1986-November 1998
- John McNally: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
- Frank Allen: Bass, Lead Vocals
- Billy Adamson: Drums
- Spencer James: Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals
November 1998-present
- John McNally: Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
- Frank Allen: Bass, Lead Vocals
- Spencer James: Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals
- Eddie Roth: Drums
[edit] References
- 'The Searchers Story—The 60s and 70s—Peaks and Troughs' <http://www.the-searchers.co.uk/>
- McCormack, Peter. 'The Searchers History', Needles & Pins (2005). Retrieved June 18, 2005.
- Fabgear, 'Tommy Quickly & The Remo Four', The British Beat Boom
- Mike Pratt "The System"
