Gerry & the Pacemakers
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| Gerry and the Pacemakers | ||
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 Gerry and the Pacemakers, 1963
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Liverpool, England | |
| Genre(s) | Beat, Rock, Pop, British Invasion | |
| Years active | 1950s-1966 | |
| Label(s) | Columbia (EMI) | |
| Former members | ||
| Gerry Marsden (1950s-1966) Freddie Marsden (1950s-1966) Arthur Mack (1950s-1961) Les Chadwick (1959-1966) Les Maguire (1961-1966) |
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Gerry and the Pacemakers were an English rock and roll group during the 1960s, and one of the few groups to initially challenge The Beatles in popularity. Like The Beatles, they came from Liverpool and were also managed by Brian Epstein.
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[edit] History
Gerry Marsden formed the group in the late 1950s with his brother, Fred, Les Chadwick and Arthur Mack. They rivalled the Beatles early in their career, playing in the same areas of Hamburg, Germany and Liverpool, England. Mack was replaced on piano by Les Maguire around 1961. They are known to have rehearsed at Camell Laird shipping yard at Birkenhead.
The band was the second to sign with Brian Epstein, who later signed them with Columbia Records (a sister label to The Beatles label Parlophone under EMI). They began recording in early 1963 with "How Do You Do It?", a song written by Mitch Murray that both Adam Faith and The Beatles had turned down (in the latter case because they wanted to record their own material, specifically "Please Please Me"). The song was produced by George Martin and became a number one hit, until being replaced at the top by "From Me to You", The Beatles' third single.
Gerry and the Pacemakers next two singles, Murray's "I Like It" and Rodgers and Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone", both also reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. Never before had the first three singles by a performer all reached the top spot (the feat would not be duplicated until Frankie Goes to Hollywood did it in the 1980s). "You'll Never Walk Alone" had been a favourite of Gerry Marsden's since seeing Carousel growing up (he turned down the Beatles' "Hello Little Girl" for this slot, which then became the first hit for The Fourmost), and in subsequent years it would become an anthem for Liverpool Football Club's supporters.
Despite this early success, Gerry and the Pacemakers never had another number one single in the UK. Gerry Marsden began writing most of their own songs, including "It's All Right", "I'm the One", and "Ferry Cross the Mersey", as well as their first and biggest U.S. hit, "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying". All of these represented the band's light, poppy, enjoyable sound. They also starred in a moderately successful early 1965 film called Ferry Cross the Mersey, for which Marsden wrote much of the soundtrack.
By later in 1965, though, their popularity was rapidly declining on both sides of the Atlantic. They lacked both the innovations of the Beatles and the rawer musical and visual edge of some of the other British Invasion groups, and they soon seemed un-hip. They disbanded in October 1966 (see 1966 in music), with much of their latter recorded material never released in the UK.
[edit] Main personnel
- Gerry Marsden (born Gerard Marsden, 24 September 1942, at 8 Menzies Street, The Dingle, Liverpool) - Guitarist / Lead Vocalist
- Freddie Marsden (born Frederick John Marsden, 23 October 1940, at 8 Menzies Street, The Dingle, Liverpool - died 9 December 2006) - (Gerry's brother) - Drummer
- Les Maguire (born Leslie Charles Maguire, 27 December 1941, in Wallasey, Cheshire) - Keyboardist
- Les Chadwick (born John Leslie Chadwick, 1 May 1943, in Liverpool) - Bassist
[edit] Post-Pacemakers
After the break up, Gerry Marsden maintained a career as a television personality, and starred in the West End musical, Charlie Girl. With a new set of Pacemakers, he has made over twice as many albums than he did in the 1960s, including one of Beatles songs. In the 1980s he returned to top the charts as part of The Crowd, and in 1989 with Paul McCartney, The Christians and Holly Johnson on remakes of two of his old hits, with the proceeds going to victims' families of the Bradford and Hillsborough football crowd disasters.
In 2001 he recorded a John Lennon tribute called "Much Missed Man", written twenty years earlier by the musician, Joe Flannery.
Freddie Marsden went to work for British Telecom. He put his drum kit in his garage and never touched it again. Marsden died 9 December 2006, in Southport, at the age of sixty six.
Les Maguire joined the Royal Navy, and is occasionally recognised playing piano in Wallasey. Les Chadwick moved to Australia, where he formed a successful employment agency. Chadwick's long-term partner, Jo Siopis, joined him in Australia where they married. Siopis is known for her production work on Gerry & The Pacemakers debut album How Do You Like It? as well as The Simon Sisters' second album Cuddlebug. Chadwick and Siopis gained notoriety when they publicly spoke out against the controversial Australian reality television show Push the Limit, of which Siopis's sister was a contestant. Siopis infamously labelled the conduct of the show's contestants "licentious".
[edit] Discography
[edit] UK singles
- Mar 1963 "How Do You Do It?" #1
- May 1963 "I Like It" #1
- Oct 1963 "You'll Never Walk Alone" #1
- Jan 1964 "I'm the One" #2
- Apr 1964 "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" #6
- Sep 1964 "It's Gonna Be Alright" #24
- Dec 1964 "Ferry Cross the Mersey" #8
- Mar 1965 "I'll Be There" #15
- Nov 1965 "Walk Hand in Hand" #29
- Feb 1966 "La La La" Did Not Chart
- Sep 1966 "Girl on a Swing" Did Not Chart
[edit] UK albums
- How Do You Like It? (October 1963) #2
- Ferry Cross the Mersey soundtrack, includes other artists (March 1965) #19
[edit] U.S. singles
In U.S., a different series of Gerry and the Pacemakers singles was issued, as their Laurie Records label created more albums, and at least two singles which were never issued in England. This was a standard practice at the time. It also happened with The Beatles and the Dave Clark 5. Peak chart positions are from the Billboard Hot 100.
- 1964 "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" #4
- 1964 "How Do You Do It?" #6
- 1964 "I Like It" #17
- 1965 "I'll Be There" #14
- 1965 "Ferry Cross the Mersey" #6
- 1965 "It's Gonna Be Alright" #23
- 1966 "Girl on a Swing" #28
[edit] U.S. albums
- Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying (July 1964) #29
- Gerry & the Pacemakers' Second Album (November 1964) Did Not Chart
- Ferry Cross the Mersey [soundtrack] (February 1965) #12
- I'll Be There! (February 1965) Did Not Chart
- Gerry and the Pacemakers Greatest Hits (May 1965) #103
- Girl on a Swing (December 1966) Did Not Chart
