The Searchers (band)

The Searchers were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1959. Part of the Merseybeat scene, they flourished during the British Invasion of the 1960s,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with hits including "Sweets for My Sweet", "Love Potion No. 9", "Sugar and Spice", "Needles and Pins", "Don't Throw Your Love Away", "When You Walk in the Room", "What Have They Done to the Rain" and "Goodbye My Love". With the Swinging Blue Jeans, the Searchers tied for being the second group from Liverpool, after the Beatles, to have a hit in the US, when their "Needles and Pins" and the Swinging Blue Jeans' "Hippy Hippy Shake" both reached the Hot 100 on 7 March 1964. In June 2025, The Searchers played Glastonbury Festival for the first time as the band's "final show ever" after 68 years of performing.

Band history

Origins

Founded as a skiffle group in Liverpool in 1959 by guitarist John McNally and guitarist/singer Mike Pender, the band took their name from the 1956 John Ford western film The Searchers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The band grew out of an earlier skiffle group called The Army Generations formed by McNally in 1955, with his friends Ron Woodbridge on vocals and guitar, Tony West on bass and Joe Kennedy on drums. In March 1957, they were joined by guitarist Brian Dolan. In 1959, The Army Generations changed their name to The Searchers. When Woodbridge, West and Dolan all lost interest, McNally and Kennedy were joined by Pender and lead singer/bassist Tony Jackson, with the new line-up initially playing gigs as "Tony and the Searchers".

1960s – early 1980s

Template:More citations needed section In 1960, Jackson, Pender and McNally were joined by new drummer Chris Curtis and lead singer Johnny Sandon. The band had regular bookings at Liverpool's Iron Door Club as Johnny Sandon and The Searchers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sandon left the band in late 1961<ref name="The Searchers Official Site">Template:Cite web</ref> to join The Remo Four.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The group settled into a quartet named The Searchers, with Jackson becoming the lead singer. 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 of Hamburg for 128 days, with three one-hour performances a night, starting in July 1962.<ref name="The Searchers Official Site"/>

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 Pye Records recording contract with Tony Hatch as producer. The first single, "Sweets for My Sweet", featuring Tony Jackson as main vocalist supported by Pender and Curtis, shot to No. 1 in the UK in 1963, firmly establishing the band as a major spearhead of the "Merseybeat" boom, just behind The Beatles and alongside Gerry and the Pacemakers. Their first album, Meet The Searchers, sung mostly by Jackson and Pender, was released in August 1963 and reached No. 2 on the British album charts the next month.<ref>Lazell, Barry ed., with Dafydd Rees and Luke Crampton, Rock Movers & Shakers, Billboard Publications, New York, 1989 p. 445</ref> With a slightly changed track listing, including the song "Needles and Pins", written by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzche for Jackie De Shannon, it hit No. 22 in the US albums chart in June 1964.<ref>Whitburn, Joel, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Albums, Billboard Books, NY 1991 p. 235</ref>

In the US, their first single was issued on Mercury and the second on Liberty, both without success; then a deal was arranged with US-based Kapp Records to distribute their records in America.

Philips Records then released an earlier recording they held of a cover of Brenda Lee's hit "Sweet Nuthins", which dismayed the group. It made the lower end of the UK chart, but did not disturb their momentum.

In the 1964 film Saturday Night Out, the group played the title song of the soundtrack.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Hatch played piano on some recordings and wrote "Sugar and Spice", the band's UK No. 2 hit record, under the pseudonym Fred Nightingale, a secret he kept from the band at the time. Apparently Curtis disliked this song (largely a revamp of the key aspects of first hits) and refused to sing on it. Jackson again took lead vocal, though Curtis later agreed to sing the distinctive high-harmony vocal links between verses. "Love Potion No.9", sung by Jackson, was a non-UK single lifted from the first LP that was a hit in the US on Kapp Records in 1965.

The original lineup of The Searchers in 1964. Left to right: John McNally, Chris Curtis, Mike Pender, Tony Jackson,.

Mike Pender took the main lead vocal on the next two singles, both of which topped the UK charts, "Needles And Pins" and "Don't Throw Your Love Away", each featuring Chris Curtis on co-lead/high-harmony vocal, though live footage of these songs, as performed on The Ed Sullivan Show and NME Poll Winners concert respectively, show Pender and Jackson singing the lead vocal together in close harmony, with vocal support from Curtis. Both tracks also featured a distinct 12-string electric guitar sound, which was actually dual 6-strings. This combination of vocal harmonies and 12-string electric guitar would provide a key influence for American band the Byrds.

After scoring with their hit "Needles And Pins", bassist Tony Jackson, who had gone from being lead singer to being only allowed one co-lead vocal on their third album (on "Sho' Know A Lot About Love"), left the band and was replaced by a Searchers' Hamburg pal, Frank Allen from Cliff Bennett and The Rebel Rousers. Jackson was then signed to Pye as a solo act and, backed by The Vibrations, issued a few singles of which the first, "Bye Bye Baby", charted in the UK in 1964. He also re-cut "Love Potion No. 9" but it failed to chart. The last Searchers single recorded with Jackson was "Some Day We're Gonna Love Again".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Frank Allen's debut single with the band, a cover of Jackie DeShannon's "When You Walk in the Room", by now featuring John McNally’s actual 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, peaked at No. 3 in the UK, and subsequent UK chart hits followed with "What Have They Done to the Rain", "Goodbye My Love" and "Take Me For What I'm Worth" (written by P.F. Sloan). Some lesser UK chart hits followed in 1965 and 1966, with "He's Got No Love", "When I Get Home" and covers of the Rolling Stones' "Take It Or Leave It" and the Hollies' "Have You Ever Loved Somebody". An EP release, Ain't Gonna Kiss Ya, featuring The Searchers' first LP track, "Ain't Gonna Kiss Ya" (sung by Jackson), also charted in 1963.

The Searchers' second album Sugar and Spice was quickly issued in late 1963, consisting of tracks not used on the first album and others, plus the second single. Further Pye albums were It's the Searchers (1964), Sounds Like Searchers and finally Take Me for What I'm Worth (both 1965). A budget "Golden Guinea" reissue of the second album, plus the compilations Smash Hits and Smash Hits Vol 2, on Pye's budget "Marble Arch" label, were issued during 1966 and 1967 in place of any later album of new material. As late as 1970, Marble Arch issued an edited version of It's the Searchers, the group's third album, originally released in 1964.

The Searchers in late 1964

Chris Curtis's choice of Bobby Darin's "When I Get Home" was a relative chart failure by the band's standards. This to an extent undermined Curtis's position as song selector for the band, and some internal disagreements resurfaced over musical policy and direction that had been evident earlier when Tony Jackson had left, and likely played a part in Curtis leaving as well. This departure was a major blow, as Curtis had been chief songwriter, song selector, and key high harmony voice, as well as a figurehead member and the main PR man. Curtis left the band in April 1966 and was replaced by the Keith Moon-influenced John Blunt. In January 1970 he was replaced by Billy Adamson. After Curtis' departure Frank Allen handled the high harmonies. In 1967, Curtis formed a new band called Roundabout with keyboard player Jon Lord and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Curtis's involvement in the project was short-lived; Roundabout evolved into Deep Purple the following year.

As musical styles evolved, the Searchers did attempt to move with the times, recording covers of songs by the Rolling Stones ("Take It Or Leave it") and the Hollies ("Have You Ever Loved Somebody"), which was a minor UK chart hit, though a rival cover of the latter by Paul & Barry Ryan probably robbed both parties of a bigger hit. They began to write their singles' A-sides, first with the Curtis-Pender track "He's Got No Love", which had a Stones-style guitar hook, and later a Pender-Allen song, "Secondhand Dealer", the final Pye single, which was a Ray Davies-style "observational" song. However, Pye records dropped the group in 1967 when their original contract expired. No further chart successes occurred.

The band continued to record for Liberty Records and RCA Records, and worked on the British "Chicken-in-a-Basket" touring circuit. They had a minor US hit in 1971 with "Desdemona". A contract with RCA Victor's UK wing resulted in an album of rerecorded hits titled Second Take (1972), later reissued on the budget RCA International label as Needles & Pins. However, that was overshadowed by Pye's Golden Hour of the Searchers compilation of the original hits that came out at the same time. Despite recording new material, including covers of Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire" and the Bee Gees' "Spicks And Specks", which were issued as RCA singles with scant promotion, much of their new work was not issued at the time, and RCA later dropped the group.

The group continued to tour through the 1970s, playing both the expected old hits as well as contemporary songs such as an extended live version of Neil Young's "Southern Man". They were rewarded in 1979 when Sire Records signed them 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 and featured some original tracks, as well as covers of songs such as Alex Chilton's "September Gurls" and John Fogerty's "Almost Saturday Night". But with scant promotion and little if any radio airplay, they did not break into the charts. The first album was quickly revamped following release with a few extra tracks added, one song dropped (a cover of Bob Dylan's "Coming From The Heart"), and a new sleeve.

The albums did, however, revive the group's career, because concerts from then on alternated classic hits with the newer songs that were well received. A Sire single, "Hearts in Her Eyes", written by Will Birch and John Wicks of the Records, and successfully updating their distinctive 12-string guitars/vocal harmonies sound, picked up some radio airplay. Meanwhile, PRT Records actively promoted the group's sixties back catalogue, with compilations such as The Searchers File and Spotlight on the Searchers, which were on sale at group gigs, along with the Sire albums, and helped re-establish them.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

According to John McNally, the band was ready to head into the studio to record a third album for Sire when they were informed that, due to label reorganisation, 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"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> backed with "Hollywood", ended up being released. They promoted this with a UK Television appearance on "The Leo Sayer Show", which was rare for them by then, but the single got little if any radio airplay (like their Sire singles) and was not stocked by most record shops.Template:Cn The rest of the tracks, except one, would be included as part of 1992's The Searchers 30th Anniversary Collection 1962-1992.

Mid-1980s – 2025

After a farewell performance in London in December 1985, Mike Pender left the group to form a new band<ref name="Sounds">"Search Party", Sounds, 14 December 1985, p. 4</ref> and now tours as Mike Pender's Searchers (originally a permanent band but now made up of musicians hired as necessary), performing Searchers' songs and some new material of his own.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> McNally, Allen and Adamson recruited former First Class vocalist Spencer James as Pender's replacement.<ref name="Sounds" />

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 Sweet" 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The band continued to tour, with Eddie Rothe replacing Adamson on drums, and during that period was consideredTemplate:By whom to be one of the most popular 1960s bands on the UK concert circuit. In turn, in 2010, Eddie Rothe left The Searchers after becoming engaged to singer Jane McDonald,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was replaced on 26 February by Scott Ottaway. Rothe died on 26 March 2021 aged 67.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The original bassist for the Searchers, Tony West (born 1938 in Liverpool), died in his sleep on 11 November 2010, aged 72 in Hightown, Merseyside.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Billy Adamson, the band's drummer from 1970 to 1998, died in France on 11 November 2013, aged 69.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2017, John McNally had a stroke and stood aside from the band for two months to recover.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2018, The Searchers announced that the band would be retiring, and they ended their farewell tour on 31 March 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They did not rule out the possibility of a reunion tour,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and it was announced on the band's website in 2021 that they would undertake a further farewell tour in 2023, this time with drummer Richard Burns.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2023, Frank Allen announced that the band were to be doing yet another farewell tour in 2024.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> The original drummer for the Searchers, Joe Kennedy, later served in the United States Navy. He died on 21 November 2023, aged 81.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Drummer John Blunt died on 13 March 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2025, the band announced a UK tour for June, including their final appearance at their first time slot at Glastonbury.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2025, it was announced the original vocalist Ron Woodbridge had died.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Searchers gave their last performance on 27 June 2025 at the Glastonbury Festival 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Members

The Searchers in 1965. From left: Allen, Curtis, McNally, Pender

Final lineup

• John McNally – lead guitar, backing vocals Template:Small
• Frank Allen – bass, backing and lead vocals Template:Small
• Spencer James – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar synthesizer Template:Small
• Richie Burns – drums, backing vocals Template:Small

Former members

• Ron Woodbridge – lead vocals Template:Small
• Brian Dolan – lead guitar Template:Small
• Tony West – bass Template:Small
• Joe Kennedy – drums Template:Small
• Johnny Sandon – lead vocals Template:Small
• Mike Pender – lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitar Template:Small
• Tony Jackson – lead and backing vocals, bass Template:Small
• Chris Curtis – drums, backing vocals Template:Small
• John Blunt – drums Template:Small
• Billy Adamson – drums Template:Small
• Eddie Rothe – drums, backing vocals Template:Small
• Scott Ottaway – drums, backing vocals Template:Small

Lineups

1955 – 1957 (The Army Generations)	1957 – 1959 (The Army Generations until January 1959, The Searchers from January 1959 onwards)	1960 – February 1962	February 1962 – July 1964
Ron Woodbridge – vocals, rhythm guitar John McNally – lead guitar Tony West – bass Joe Kennedy: drums	Ron Woodbridge – vocals Brian Dolan – lead guitar John McNally – rhythm guitar Tony West – bass Joe Kennedy – drums	Johnny Sandon – lead vocals Mike Pender – lead guitar, backing vocals John McNally – rhythm guitar, backing vocals Tony Jackson – bass, backing vocals Chris Curtis – drums, backing vocals	Tony Jackson – lead and backing vocals, bass Mike Pender – lead guitar, lead and backing vocals John McNally – rhythm guitar, backing and lead vocals Chris Curtis – drums, lead and backing vocals
August 1964 – May 1966	May 1966 – January 1970	January 1970 – December 1985	December 1985 – November 1998
Mike Pender – lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitar John McNally – rhythm and lead guitar, backing and lead vocals Frank Allen – bass, backing and lead vocals Chris Curtis – drums, lead and backing vocals	Mike Pender – lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitar John McNally – rhythm and lead guitar, backing and lead vocals Frank Allen – bass, backing and lead vocals John Blunt – drums	Mike Pender – lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitar John McNally – lead and rhythm guitar, backing and lead vocals Frank Allen – bass, backing and lead vocals Billy Adamson – drums	Spencer James – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar synthesizer John McNally – lead guitar, backing vocals Frank Allen – bass, backing vocals Billy Adamson – drums
November 1998 – February 2010	February 2010 – March 2019	March 2019 – April 2023	April 2023 – June 2025<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spencer James – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar synthesizer John McNally – lead guitar, backing vocals Frank Allen – bass, backing vocals Eddie Rothe – drums, backing vocals	Spencer James – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar synthesizer John McNally – lead guitar, backing vocals Frank Allen – bass, backing vocals Scott Ottaway – drums, backing vocals	Disbanded	Spencer James – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar synthesizer John McNally – lead guitar, backing vocals Frank Allen – bass, backing vocals Richie Burns – drums, backing vocals

Timeline

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Discography

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Searchers have a core catalogue consisting of nine studio albums.<ref name="Discography">Template:Cite book</ref>

Studio Albums

• 1963 – Meet The Searchers
• 1963 – Sugar and Spice
• 1964 – It's the Searchers
• 1965 – Sounds Like Searchers
• 1965 – Take Me for What I'm Worth
• 1972 – Second Take
• 1979 – Searchers
• 1981 – Play for Today
• 1988 – Hungry Hearts

Further reading

• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite web
• McCormack, Peter. "The Searchers History", Needles & Pins (2005). Retrieved 18 June 2005
• Fabgear, "Tommy Quickly & The Remo Four", The British Beat Boom
• Mike Pratt co-writer of "The System"

External links

• Template:Official website
• Mike Pender's Searchers official site
• The Searchers plus Solo discography
• Articles about The Searchers by Roy Clough
• Template:Discogs artist
• Template:Imdb name