The Searchers
John McNally: guitar
b. 30 August 1941, Liverpool
Mike Pender: guitar and vocals
b. Michael Prendergast, 3 March 1942, Liverpool
Tony Jackson: bass and vocals
b. Anthony Paul Jackson, 16 July 1940, Liverpool;
d. 18 August 2003
Chris Curtis: drums and vocals
b. Christopher Crummey, 26 August 1942, Oldham, England;
d. 28 February 2005, Liverpool
 
1960 [JMc 18-19, CC and MP 17-18]
John McNally, Chris Curtis and Mike Pender formed the band in Liverpool to accompany singer Johnny Sandon. They took their name from the John Wayne movie, The Searchers (Romanowski and George-Warren 1995: 880).
1961-63
Tony Jackson joins.
Like other Liverpool groups of the era, the Searchers perform at the Cavern Club, the Iron Door Club, and at the Star Club (Hamburg).
 
1963 [JMc 21-22, CC & MP 20-21]
In the rush to sign Liverpool groups, Tony Hatch becomes their producer (one of the only major Liverpool bands NOT managed by Brian Epstein) and the Searchers sign with Pye Records. Roger Stinton of Tito Burns' Agency becomes their manager.
27 June. "Sweets for My Sweet" [enters chart; reaches UK#1]
10 August. Bob Dawbarn, "The Searchers' Secret? Guitars Stuck Together with Tape" [Melody Maker, page 6]:
Tony Jackson: "...we are still using our original battered guitars stuck together with tape."
John McNally: "We're frightened to get new ones in case it spoils the sound."
Tony Jackson: "You may think we're joking, but it's true. It gives us a rough raw sound." ... "We are deliberately using old material, although Chris does originals, including the B side of our single ... It's simply that the American stuff is better."
August. Meet the Searchers [LP UK release, UK #2]
24 October. "Sugar and Spice" [charts; reaches UK#2, (Gerry and the Pacemakers' "You'll Never Walk Alone" holds #1)]
November. Sugar and Spice [LP UK release, UK #5]
 
1964 [JMc 22-23, CC & MP 21-22]
In many ways, they had a peculiarly "folksy" sound for 1963-64 and presaged the folk-rock sound of 1965 American groups.

Johnny Sandon and the Searchers
Like many of the groups who emerged during this era they either did not compose their own music or were unable to match the consistency and output of Lennon and McCartney. Without the kind of control over material that the Beatles had over theirs, most of these groups disappeared from the radar screens of pop music by 1966. This was the case with the Searchers, even though some press articles described them as "the Beatles' favorite English band" (Schaffner 1983: 259).
16 January. "Needles and Pins" / "Saturday Night Out" [Charts; reaches UK#1 and US#13]
16 April. "Don't Throw Your Love Away" / "I Pretend I'm with You" [enters UK charts; reaches UK #1 and US #16]
May. It's the Searchers. [LP UK release, UK #4]
The Searchers underwent personnel changes in mid-1964 with Frank Allen replacing Tony Jackson on bass and (later) John Blunt replacing Chris Curtis on drums.
September. "When You Walk in that Room" / "I'll Be Missing You" [release, UK #3, US #35]
November. "What Have They Done to the Rain?" / "This Feeling Inside" [UK release, UK #13, US #29]
December. "Love Potion Number Nine" / "High Heel Sneakers" [Released in the US only.]

The Searchers had both a clean-cut image and sound. Frank Allen observed, "You sound like who you are. . . . If your voices sound a particular way and you've got a kind of naive sound, that will come out on the record." (Schaffner 1983)

Merseyside Schedule Manchester
  13-Feb-2012