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The Searchers (band)

The Searchers are an English Merseybeat group who emerged during the British Invasion of the 1960s.[1][2] The band's hits include a remake of the Drifters' 1961 hit, "Sweets for My Sweet"; "Sugar and Spice" (written by their producer Tony Hatch); remakes of Jackie DeShannon's "Needles and Pins" and "When You Walk in the Room"; a cover of the Orlons' "Don't Throw Your Love Away"; and a cover of the Clovers' "Love Potion No. 9". 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.

The Searchers

Liverpool, England

  • 1959–2019
  • 2023–present

John McNally
Frank Allen
Spencer James
Scott Ottaway
Tony Jackson
Mike Pender
Chris Curtis
Billy Adamson
John Blunt
Norman McGarry
Eddie Rothe
Ron Woodbridge
Brian Dolan
Tony West
Joe Kennedy
Johnny Sandon

Band history[edit]

Origins[edit]

Founded as a skiffle group in Liverpool in 1959 by John McNally and Mike Pender, the band took their name from the 1956 John Ford western film The Searchers.[3]


The band grew out of an earlier skiffle group formed by McNally in 1957, with his friends Brian Dolan (guitar) and Tony West (bass). When the other two members lost interest, McNally was joined by his guitarist neighbour Mike Prendergast. They soon recruited Tony Jackson with his homemade bass guitar and amplifier, who was recruited as a lead singer, but took a back seat at first in order to learn the bass. The band styled themselves as "Tony and the Searchers" with Joe Kennedy on drums. Kennedy soon left to be replaced by Norman McGarry, and it is this line-up – McNally, Pender (as Prendergast soon became known), Jackson and McGarry – that is usually cited as the original foursome.

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

The Searchers have a core catalogue consisting of nine studio albums.[25]


Studio Albums

. The-searchers.co.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2011.

"The Searchers Story – The 60s and 70s – Peaks and Troughs"

Frank Allen (2009). . Thesearchersandme.com. Retrieved 11 October 2011.

"The Searchers and Me"

. Retrieved 18 June 2005

McCormack, Peter. "The Searchers History", Needles & Pins (2005)

Fabgear, "Tommy Quickly & The Remo Four", The British Beat Boom

co-writer of "The System"

Mike Pratt

Official website

Mike Pender's Searchers official site

Articles about The Searchers by Roy Clough

discography at Discogs

The Searchers

at IMDb

The Searchers