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Post by graham hammond on Apr 6, 2012 10:33:47 GMT
The Searchers performing "Needles and Pins" on Blue Peter in 1964 is on the BBC Motion Gallery site, looks like a live version as well, wonder why this has never been repeated.
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Post by markjhaley on Apr 6, 2012 12:13:33 GMT
A Link ?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2012 12:22:35 GMT
It is infuriating this performance has never been repeated... a shock to see clips of it in a documentary a few years back!
I think one possible reason why it's not been re-screened is maybe The Searchers themselves have failed to agree to let it be shown? There remains the bitter feud between John McNally and Mike Pender which I believe effectively derailed a Reelin' In The Years DVD project which is a real shame since I think their legacy is becoming increasingly overlooked with each passing year. They were a great band, very influential but barely anybody ever mentions them now.
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Post by John Wilson on Apr 6, 2012 16:57:44 GMT
Re The Searchers
A fair bit of complete song footage does exist:
Black & White: Needles And Pins - Blue Peter Don't Throw Your Love Away - NME Poll Winners concert (Lead vocal sung by Mike Pender And Tony Jackson in duet) Needles & Pins - Ed Sullivan Show (again Pender & Jackson sing Lead vocal in duet) What Have The Done To The Rain ? - Ready Steady Go ! This Feeling Inside - Ready Steady Go ! When I Get Home - Sunday night at The London Palladium DVD (1965) Have You Ever Loved Somebody - German Beat Club C.C. Rider - German Beat Club
Colour: Sugar 'N' Spice' - colour film footage as if they are recording the song circa 1963 Needles And Pins - 'Rooftop' promo film in Liverpool circa 1969 with Frank Allen & Billy Adamson (tho' mimed to original single) When You Walk in The Room - 'Unforgettable' ITV show (Billy Adamson on Drums) Needles And Pins - 'Unforgettable' ITV show (introduced by Alan 'Fluff' Freeman) Needles And Pins - Royal Command Performance circa 1980 I Don't Wanna Be The One - The Leo Sayer Show (BBC TV)
I think ''Love Potion Number Nine' (USA footage) also exists & no doubt alot more besides - that's just the searchers footage I can recall seeing offhand
There was a later 'In Concert' DVD but with the current band line up including Spencer James & Eddie Rolfe.
Pity about the ongoing acrimonious Mike Pender v John McNally feud apparently holding up any 'Reeling in The Years' DVD Searchers retrospective as a proper chronological Searchers DVD featuring the various line up's put in order would be terrific !
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2012 17:31:12 GMT
Two more from UK TV...
Sugar and Spice - December 1963 Thank Your Lucky Stars Merseybeat special on VT
Saturday Night Out - Blue Peter... yes they performed both sides of their then current single. A brief clip of this song also seen in documentary, notable for Val Singleton and Christopher Trace "jiving" along to it!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2012 18:13:05 GMT
Theres also umbrella man from beat club & somewhere I have footage of them performing needles & pins with Leo Sayer from the same show as I dont wanna be the one. This dates back to around 1981 bbc I believe. I'm pretty sure I also have a performance of popcorn double feature which may also be from beat club. And also needles & pins from shindig & love potion no 9 which is also from an american tv show
I suspect theres little chance of either John Mcnally or Frank Allen burying the hatchet with Mike Pender, Frank Allen has spoken at length about the group in various interviews including 2 Vintage TV appearances but i'm guessing that neither Frank or John would want to contribute to a DVD that would also feature Mike which is a shame as I would love to see a proper DVD issue from Reelin in the years but Mike did leave them very much in the lurch & then attempted to take the group name for himself so its not surprising that the bad blood persists.
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Post by Richard Marple on Apr 6, 2012 19:13:51 GMT
The colour film of Sugar & Spice was used in The Rock & Roll Years, my Dad pointed out that the drummer's miming was very off-beat in more than one way!
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Post by Chris Barratt on Apr 7, 2012 9:50:56 GMT
Perhaps it's about time Searchers fans started letting Pender, McNally & Allen aware that the three of them are bitter has-beens soiling their own legacy and that they are a long-time dead. Stupid silly old men who can't see the wood for the trees - maybe, as per Dave Clark - the fans should just wish the three of them dead?
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Post by Sal Mohammed on Apr 7, 2012 13:06:04 GMT
The same can be said of the feud between Shel Talmy and The Who over the master tape of the My Generation album. I think Shel wouldn't release them until it was pointed out that Who fans aren't getting any younger so it was pointless holding onto them. It's probably the same for Searchers fans, the longer the feud, the less interest there will be as time passes by.
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Post by ajsmith on Apr 8, 2012 7:07:23 GMT
Perhaps it's about time Searchers fans started letting Pender, McNally & Allen aware that the three of them are bitter has-beens soiling their own legacy and that they are a long-time dead. Stupid silly old men who can't see the wood for the trees - maybe, as per Dave Clark - the fans should just wish the three of them dead? Wow, what a hilariously mean-spirited post!
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Post by john wilson on Apr 8, 2012 13:20:47 GMT
Re the Mike Pender feud situation.... I believe - well so I've heard - it began back in the mid 80's when Mike Pender discovered how Gerry Marsden was paying three young musicians to be his 'Pacemakers' & Gerry of course understandably cleaned up the lion's share of gig fees (& very possibly paid his young 'Pacemakers' backup guys the basic Musician's Union fees - maybe not of course, but that's all he was legally required to do so I understand...) Mike Pender had been the 'voice' & Lead guitarist, plus onstage main figure of The Searchers since Bassist Tony Jackson (in 1964) & then Drummer Chris Curtis (in 1966) left the group...so possibly Mike felt he could be doing so much better (Like Gerry was ?) Mike apparently then decided to give "solo stardom" a go - after 20 odd years ! the split was sadly acrimonious with I believe a bitter dispute over the legal rights to the group's band name (shades of Roger Waters & Pink Floyd plus Alan Lancaster & Status Quo etc) - John McNally had formed the band originally. Mike since fronts 'Mike Pender's Searchers' - like Gerry Marsden employing a backup band of younger musicians.... hence the ongoing conflict between Mike & The John McNally and Frank Allen led 'Searchers' featuring Spencer James (guitar/Lead Vocals) & now Drummer Eddie Rolfe. I've been told by someone very knowlegable re all things Searchers that sadly the 'feud' is still as acrimonious as ever The band always was dogged by internal conflicts with Tony Jackson apparently being first 'marginalised' then forced out (?)....later Chris Curtis surprisingly exited after an Australian tour in 1966 in strange circumstances... The band were unfairly dumped by PYE Records in 1967 - at one point I believe all four original band members Pender, McNally, Jackson & Curtis were not on speaking terms ! I don't wish any 'ill' on messers Pender, McNally, or Allen personally...of course....but remember none of the guys are getting any younger - sadly neither Tony Jackson or Chris Curtis are still with us anymore.... I only hope whatever has passed Mike, John, & Frank can agree to at least be 'civil' towards each other & get together to sort out a proper Searchers DVD Historical retrospective which might have helped get them alot more recognition today & critical appreciation. - In the end their place in Rock History is FAR more important than money or pride etc... Remember as their Liverpool colleagues sang: 'Life is very short...and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend...'
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Post by ajsmith on Apr 8, 2012 14:20:29 GMT
hanks for that post - I always had a morbid curioisty as to why Pender left in 1985.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2012 15:16:04 GMT
It's a sad state of affairs and I can understand McNally and Allen's feelings since Pender did indeed declare he was leaving to go solo... Allen and McNally thought it was strange and a bit late in the day to be going solo, but wished him well. So when Pender instead started gigging as "The Searchers" one can understand why they felt betrayed. Pender and McNally had worked together since 1959 so with Pender leaving in such a deceitful manner, it's little surprise McNally reacted so badly. What didn't help either was when Tony Jackson left, Mike Pender became frontman and wasn't really cut out for that role... he was rather hesitant onstage and in 1967, Frank Allen took over as the main man onstage making all the announcements and everybody agrees that Allen was far more professional, so Pender believing he and he alone was The Searchers didn't go down well either.
As for The Searchers' place in rock history, this frustrates me. They certainly pioneered the 12 string Rickenbacker jingle jangle sound which Roger McGuinn drew inspiration from, but all McGuinn ever goes on about is he got that from George Harrison, and gushes on and on about The Beatles, never mentioning The Searchers. Toss in the fact that Pye Records were the worst major label to be signed to... once the band were booted from the label, Pye released tons of dreadful compilations and repackages that cheapened their name. The Sire Records period did help remind everybody they were still a credible band with something to offer, but Sire dropped the band and things started drifting too close to the nostalgia circuit for comfort.
The Searchers in my eyes were VERY important. They were the only Merseybeat era band that managed to change with the times alongside The Beatles... listen to their 1966 and 1967 singles - great records that fitted perfectly into the era unlike those by Gerry and The Pacemakers, Swinging Blue Jeans and Billy J.Kramer who were clearly getting ever more out of tune with the times. Their Pye work stands up very well and was influential. Their absence from the farce that is the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame is also damning, but even if they were to be nominated, the hall of fame would insist that McNally, Pender and Allen be present and there is no way McNally and Pender are going to share a stage again. Sadly, this has resulted in their legacy and standing being ever more diminished over the years, but sadly it seems nobody is ever gonna change McNally's or Pender's feelings so, it's a no-win situation.
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Post by Chris Barratt on Apr 8, 2012 19:14:01 GMT
How sad an important bands legacy be left to the dogs due to squabbling over what are now basically a pair of creaky 'tribute' acts treading the boards of every UK small-town. Another nail in the credibility coffin of all the supposedly 'also-ran' early 60s non-Beatles/non-blues acts who were actually important but who have, for various reasons, ensured very few music fans outside of their own fanbase realise this.
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Post by Matt Taylor on Apr 11, 2012 11:02:22 GMT
i was always a Tony Jackson fan and followed him & his Vibrations after his split from the Searchers and never understood why he left the band but if he was 'forced' out as you say, followed by a 'strange' sudden exit of Chris Curtis, then i'm surprised Mike Pender stayed so long, assuming John Mc Nally was weilding a big stick !! they've got through a few drummers over the years and had another new one when Rothe left. Jackson and Pender would have been great together in a band and Curtis with them would've been great !! i didn't realise they all fell out in 1967 when PYE dumped them, surprised they kept going until Pender left, which might be because he felt that playing in dingey northern clubs wasn't where he wanted to be !! why would a feud that happened when Pender left still be ongoing now when both Mc Nally's band and Pender's band are still touring ? bet it's Mc Nally's doing 'cos he lost what everyone knows was the 'voice of the Searchers' as you called him !! true what you said 'Life is very short...and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend...' especially when they must be nearing their 70's and could please fans of both bands by Mc Nally getting Pender back for their 50th year while they're able toplay !!
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