Gerry and the Pacemakers

In 1963, Gerry and the Pacemakers were one of the most popular groups in Britain and the only serious rival to fellow Liverpudlians ,The Beatles.  Led by Gerry Marsden with his broad and engaging smile, their infectious brand of music they reached the No.1 position with their first three releases.

Marsden formed the group in the late '50s featuring himself on guitar and lead vocals, his brother Fred on drums, Les Chadwick on bass, and Arthur Mack on piano (to be replaced in 1961 by Les McGuire). They made their Cavern debut in October 1960 and subsequently appeared in most of the leading Mersey venues, often on the same bill as The Beatles.  They also played the same Hamburg circuit as the Beatles meeting many of their idols including Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent.

They were signed by Epstein in mid-1962 (the first band to do so besides The Beatles), and began recording for the EMI/Columbia label in early 1963, under producer George Martin. Their first single was a Mitch Murray tune that Martin had wanted The Beatles to record for their debut, "How Do You Do It?" Gerry and the Pacemakers took it to No.1 in March 1963.  

The Pacemakers turned again to Mitch Murray for the follow-up, "I Like It," which also reached the No.1 spot. They turned to the old standard "You'll Never Walk Alone" for their third release.  Marsden recalled in his autobiography, I'll Never Walk Alone, 'I first heard it when I went alone to the cinema to see the film Carousel when I was a teenager.  The melody was beautiful, the dramatic effect was strong and I immediately loved the sentiment of the message.  I still do'.  Marsden told broadcaster Spencer Leigh 'The Beatles appealed to a different audience from us.  They had more of a beatnik following.  There was always friendly rivalry between us.  Despite their rawness, Paul McCartney used to get a great reception for the sentimental songs like "Over The Rainbow" and w thought we'd like to get a song that would go over just as well.  We tried "You'll Never Walk Alone", a few times and it went down excellently.  We'd be playing rock'n'roll and then all of a sudden we'd stop and do "You'll Never Walk Alone'.  The song became the group's biggest selling single and subsequently the anthem of Liverpool supporters.  

Gerry Marsden went on the write many of the group's subsequent hits, including "It's All Right" and "I'm the One." He also wrote "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin' " (sharing credits with the rest of the group) and "Ferry Cross the Mersey," the title of their feature film.   

By 1965, in fact, the group's brand of light infectious pop was seriously declining in Britain, although they held on a bit longer in the States, where (in common with several other groups) some of their back catalog belatedly made the hit parade many months after it was first issued in the U.K. Like virtually all of the other Liverpool groups, the Pacemakers proved unable to evolve on the same plane as the Beatles or the best other British bands. In 1966, the year they had their last American Top 40 hit, "Girl on a Swing"; they disbanded in October. Gerry Marsden became a popular cabaret and children's TV entertainer, sometimes performing with the Pacemakers on the oldies circuit. He also contributed vocals to British chart-topping revivals (not with the Pacemakers) of "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Ferry Cross the Mersey" in the 1980s.

See Gerry and the Pacemakers perform 'How Do You Do It'