Customer Reviews

Searchers - Greatest: 20 Fabulous Hits of the 60's

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Searchers, like everybody else of their era, were overshadowed by the Beatles, but they made some great music of their own. All the essential hits are here - their only American top ten hit (Love potion No. 9), plus all their big British hits, several of which were covers of American songs - which, of course, is why they didn't have much success in America.

Their chart career begin in Britain with Sweets for my sweet (Drifters) and was followed by Sugar and spice, a song written by Tony Hatch, who is best remembered for Downtown and the other songs he wrote for Petula. For their third single, they covered Needles and pins, which was first recorded by Jackie De Shannon but was actually written by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche. The group Smokie revived it in the seventies.
Although Jackie De Shannon didn't write Needles and pins, the Searchers recorded several songs that Jackie did write, most famously When you walk in the room - interestingly, this song was revived by Pam Tillis, who had a number two American country hit in the early nineties with the song. Don't throw your love away and Goodbye my love were also huge British hits. What have they done to the rain? was a top 20 hit and was one of the first ecological songs to hit the British charts.

If you only want a single CD of Searchers music, this is a good one to choose.

The mid-sixties gave us so much terrific music, it was hard for any one group (besides the Beatles) to stand out of the crowd. The Searchers were an exception. Their music was so well crafted and performed that in retrospect their best was as good as it got. Great tunes, well sung and recorded, this music stands up well even thirty years later. And one thing which you've got to love--there is a lot of diversity in their music. I don't give many 5-star ratings, so be sure to put his album on your "must-have" list of 60's rock.

Listeners of this cd will be reminded that, in the era of just three guitars and a drummer, the British Invasion provided a pleasant change from American sounds in the early 1960s. The sound quality of this cd is remarkable. On "Don't Throw Your Love Away" you can actually hear someone in the studio rustling some papers at the very start of the song. The opening drum riff on "Needles and Pins" will stir the blood of any Mersey listener. This album is nothing but pop....but pure, straight and beautiful pop it is with jingle jangle guitars and high harmonies covering songs that strongly hint of a lost era of innocence. Either you love this stuff ...or you don't!

People. Let me tell you, I may be an old Seer (that you know and love) however, it is all an illusion. I could change into a 20 year old at the snap of a finger, and I recently did that. To be honest, I am bored of the 21st century (yes, already!), and decided to use my time travel skills once more. Let's be real, everything is a mess here. Admit it. Loons trying to homoginize society and trying to fit everybody into some distorted politically correct mold. Forget it. Illustrious Seers are beyond all of this (unless, of course, Amazon gets a complaint and this review disappears). But I promise not to push the envelope (this time!).

Well I time travelled, back to London in the mid-60s. Ok, so it's a short hop from Scotland. So I'm lazy. Get over it. It takes a lot of energy for a Seer to do this. Anyway, I wound up on Carnaby Street at the Marquee Club. A famous dance bar for the uninformed. Now this is where pure energy is! Your Metamorpho felt right at home. Birds in go go boots and mini dresses were swarming around me. Twirling their fingers around my grey beard, begging me to dance with them. After a few drinks, I wasn't sure if it was me they wanted or the hundreds of pounds in my wallet, which was incredibly heavy. After my third drink, it didn't matter. I was having FUN people! And this is what this review is all about. How ironic.

I have to be honest, the Searchers were one of the top bands at the time. This was a time when the British Invasion took over the States. The Searchers never made an incredible dent into the American scene (not like the Beatles), however they did have their share of hits. I would be lying to you if I said this is very complex music. It's not. It is very time specific. But, for anyone who remembers this time, it definitely was exciting. These songs are probably very simple compared to today's standards, but I think that's the charm in this collection. The songs adhere to the youth concerns of the time, which is boy-girl relationships, and the topics really don't stray away from this concept. What we have here are simple- but memorable poppy pop songs, all done within the format of bass, rythmn and lead guitar with a constant beat. Also reliable vocal harmony.

The Searchers never really stray from the format. There are no scorching leads here or extreme musical forays. Do remember that this was a more innocent time - before popular rock lyrics expanded - before pychedelia expanded - before your consciousness expanded. But, with all that expanding yet to come, The Searchers remained firm in their niche. The wheels of time were not kind to them, or Gerry and the Pacemakers, or Herman's Hermits, or the Dave Clark Five. However, it was a fun and energetic time while it lasted.

In closing, I should mention a few notable songs on this collection. "Needles and Pins" is probably the best known song by them. Who could forget "pin-za"? Of course their rendition of "Love Potion Number Nine" and a tune by Jackie DeShannon "When You Walk In the Room". Even a slower ballad like "What Have They Done to the Rain" is memorable. The Searchers were masters of the hook within a 3 minute tune. And I would remiss if I didn't tell you that some of these songs definitely influenced future bands such as The Byrds and Love. The evolution of music includes a mix of everything that's gone before. That's how it works.

Anyway, I think I've overstayed my welcome at Carnaby Street. Some birds knocked me out, robbed my boots and wallet, and I woke up with no one in the bar at 5 in the morning. My description to the police was that they looked like Twiggy. The Bobby laughed and said 3 out of 4 birds in London looked like Twiggy. They hurt me like a bee, a bumble bee, an evil bumble bee. Oh well...........

Fab-Gear-Not Grotty -- Metamorpho ;)

In the opening paragraph of the four pages of liner notes Parke Puterbaugh says "Of the groups in the British Invasion vanguard, the Searchers were always just a little bit different. It wasn't flamboyance - long hair, loud music - but the lack of it that made them stand out among their rock 'n roll brethern."

That is so true. And something else that set them apart from most of the British groups was the constant change-over in personnel. After serving as the back-up band for British singer Johnny Sandon until 1962, and playing gigs at Hamburg's Star Club, the original group of Mike Pender, John McNally [vocals and guitars], Tony Jackson [vocals and bass], and drummer Chris Curtis scored their first hit in the U.K. in June 1963 with a cover of The Drifter's hit Sweets For My Sweet [track 1], followed in August by an album [# 2 in the UK], Meet The Searchers, for the Pye label.

In October they had their second UK hit, Sugar And Spice, reach # 2, but a North American release by Liberty failed to chart. Again, that was followed by an album, Sugar And Spice [# 5 in the UK] in November. By the start of the following year the Kapp label had taken over distribution in the U.S. just in time for Needles And Pins, written by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche, which was a # 1 in the UK and a # 13 Billboard Hot 100 in April 1964 in North America. Their third album, Meet The Searchers - Needles And Pins, combined tracks from their first two and went to # 22 in North America [not released in the UK].

From there to the end of 1964 they chalked up six more hit singles: Ain't That Just Like Me [# 61 Hot 100]; a Liberty re-release of Sugar And Spice [# 44 Hot 100]; Don't Throw Your Love Away [# 16 Hot 100]; Some Day We're Gonna Love Again [# 34 Hot 100]; When You Walk In The Room [# 35 Hot 100 and written by Jackie DeShannon]; and their only # 1 Hot 100 over her, a cover of The Clovers' 1959 hit Love Potion Number Nine.

In 1965 Jackson was replaced by Frank Allen, and that year they had four more hits: What Have They Done To The Rain [# 29 Hot 100]; a cover of the 1960 LaVern Baker hit Bumble Bee [# 21 Hot 100]; Goodbye My Lover, Goodbye [# 52 Hot 100 and erroneously listed at track 10]; and He's Got No Love [# 79 Hot 100].

After John Blunt replaced Curtis in 1966 they had two hits: Take Me For What I'm Worth [# 76 Hot 100]; and Have You Ever Loved Somebody [# 94 Hot 100]. When nothing else worked for them, either here or in the UK, Blunt was replaced in 1969 by Billy Adamson, and in 1971, with a new U.S. contract with RCA Victor, they had their final hit with Desdemona, a # 94 Hot 100 in September. They carried on, however, until 1985 when Pender left to form a new Searchers, replaced in the old group by Spencer James.

So, a British Invasion group with a slightly different approach, and whose recordings [note that tracks 15, 16, and 18 were initially released on LPs] are offered up on a fair number of CDs, including a couple of multi-disc sets. However, this AAD release by Rhino is by far your best bet if your memory of the group was related solely to their North American releases.

The Brits came over and blasted us not only with the Stones and Beatles, but with groups like Gerry and the Pacemakers, Peter and Gordon and the best of them, The Searchers. They gave us hit after hit. Songs with a beat we could dance to and sing along to. Love Potion #9 was sung by many groups, but it is their version we remember. If you like music with that heavy beat this is the album for you.

Its a shame that The Searchers were one of the most underatted bands of the British Invasion and that they only had a couple of hits here in the States. But yet over in England the only other group to give these guys trouble chart wise was of course The Beatles. Play this disc and youll understand and hear why. Fantastic guitar work, vocals drums, AWESOME DOUBLE TRACKING done correctly by these guys not just using the same vocals from the first track which used to be the norm. These guys worked very hard on all of their material. There is no way I could pick who was the better lead vocalist overall of the two main guys Tony Jackson Or Frank Allen. If your thinking that its like all the other British invasion type of material you will be extremely pleased to find that The Searchers were not the typical British acts. The Searchers truly have THE BEST version of Some Other Guy which sadly is not on this disc. No matter for now, youll love this music, find it different from other acts hear them grow and mature to the point you yourself will become a Searcher attempting to find their other material. This is truly an act that belongs in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Clearly influenced by the Everley Brothers, Buddy Holly and various Skiffle groups, the Searchers served up American-inspired folk-pop-rock that kept the noise-filled disco caverns of sixties Britain bouncing along with catchy, lively dance numbers. The best of the British groups - The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Hollies, Tremeloes, and others - went on to develop new and distinctive music. Others, like The Merseybeats and The Searchers, lacked the songwriting talent to move forward. And their up-tempo Where Have All the Flowers Gone vies with The Hollies' big band rendition of Blowin' in the Wind as the most kitsch version of a protest song ever. They were actually more folk-influenced than a collection of their hits suggests. This collection is worth hearing for some interesting covers of classic American pop hits, and is essential for the completist sixties music enthusiast. They are still going, in changed lineups of course, and in rival versions. They were big enough back in the day to live off all that nostalgia for years to come.

Not only a great reminder and roundup of great SEARCHERS tracks and "covers," it is one of the best sounding CD's of their tracks. While it's easy to find LOVE POTION #9 (I must have it on 10 collections) but the audio quality on this one beats them all ... same with NEEDLES & PINS ... so if you're a fan of early rock or just music - this is a great starter capsule of how cool and great they were AND the CD soudn quality is excellent!

The Searchers are still touring and I saw them last year in Bay Shore, new York state. This album here is fine, BUT the group's work is much more worth getting INTO. We need the biggest most complete set possible. It is hard to get new listeners to hear some of their best songs: The World is Waiting for Tomorrow, Lovers Will, All a Dream, Till I Met You, and so many more. Buy this if it's the best in your price range and then join the groups on the web where you can expand your Searchers appreciation! And don't forget to read Frank Allen's memoir of the group's history. It's fun!