OLD ROCKERS NEVER DIE
| John Walker
New York born, John Maus, grew up in California and taught Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys to play guitar! His first success was as a duo with his big sister, Judy, but she left and John was joined by Scott Engel and Gary Leeds and it was then they made the huge decision to go to England. Gary takes the credit for persuading John and Scott to step out of their Californian comfort zone to head for ‘Swinging London’ where everything was ‘hip and happening!’ It was Gary’s father who wisely invested the $10,000 needed to pay for their flights and initial living costs and on a bitterly cold and snowy day this young, handsome, musically talented trio, landed on British soil in February 1965. The biggest gamble of their lives was about to pay off!  |
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| The Merseybeats
Founded in 1961 as The Mavericks by Tony Crane (guitar and vocals) and Billy Kinsley (bass and vocals) the band scored some big hits in the 60s starting with their Gold Record, “I Think of You”. They received further success with two more major hits, ‘Don’t Turn Around’ and ‘Wishin & Hopin’, Other successful recordings include ‘Last Night’ ‘Don’t Let It Happen To Us’ ‘I Love You Yes I Do’ ‘I Stand Accused’. ‘Mister Moonlight‘ ‘Really Mystified‘ ‘The Fortune Teller‘ ‘Lovely Loretta’ and ‘It’s Love That Really Counts’. They hold the unique distinction of appearing with The Beatles on more occasions than any other band from that era. They are still touring and appearing throughout the world. |
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| > | The Searchers
The Searchers were originally formed in Liverpool in 1960 as a backing group for Johnny Sandon, and took their name from the 1956 John Wayne film. The founder members were John McNally (who still leads the group today), Mike Pender, Tony Jackson and drummer Norman McGarry. In 1961 they were joined by drummer, Chris Curtis and In early 1962 they forged contacts with the Star Club in Hamburg, the beat mecca of the Continent, and appeared there for the first time in July 1962. In all they played there for 128 days, with three one-hour performances a night. On their return from Hamburg they signed a contract with Pye, under the management of Tony Hatch issuing their first single "Sweets for My Sweet" in July 1963; it got off to a slow start, but reached the top of the "Hit Parade" in October, knocking the Beatles off the No 1 spot. The Beatles got their own back later when their album "Please Please Me" just stopped the Searchers' first album "Meet The Searchers" from reaching No.1 in the LP charts. The Searchers' second single "Sugar and Spice" - written by Tony Hatch under the pseudonym Fred Nightingale - reached No 2, and then in January 1964 came another No 1 - their most famous song "Needles and Pins" - followed very quickly by more hits such as "Don't Throw Your Love Away" and "Some Day We're Gonna Love Again". In the summer of 1964, at the peak of this success Tony Jackson, vocalist and bass guitarist, decided to leave and form his own group The Vibrations, but from what could have been a disaster came the arrival of Frank Allen, who is still with the group today. |