Gerry and the Pacemakers

Gerry Marsden formed the group in 1959 with his brother Fred, Les Chadwick, and Arthur McMahon. They rivalled the Beatles early in their career, playing in the same areas of Hamburg and Liverpool.[1] McMahon (known as Arthur Mack) was replaced on piano by Les Maguire around 1961.[1] The group's original name was Gerry Marsden and the Mars Bars,[3] but they were forced to change this when the Mars Company, producers of the chocolate Mars Bar, complained.[4]

The band was the second to sign with Brian Epstein, who later signed them to Columbia Records (a sister label to the Beatles' label Parlophone under EMI).[1] They began recording in early 1963 with "How Do You Do It?", a song written by Mitch Murray.[5] The song was produced by George Martin and became a number one hit in the UK, the first by an Epstein-managed Liverpool group to achieve this on all charts.[6] "How Do You Do It?" was also reluctantly recorded by the Beatles (they eventually convinced Martin to let them release their song "Love Me Do" as a single instead).

Gerry Marsden was quoted as saying:

The Beatles and ourselves (The Pacemakers) – we let go, when we get on-stage. I'm not being detrimental, but in the south, I think the groups have let themselves get a bit too formal. On Merseyside, it's beat, beat, beat all the way. We go on and really have a ball.[7]

The 'Shankly Gates' entrance to Liverpool's home stadium Anfield. The anthem of Liverpool F.C., "You'll Never Walk Alone" is sung by its fans before the start of each home game, with the Gerry and the Pacemakers version played over the PA system.

Gerry and the Pacemakers' next two singles, Murray's "I Like It" and Rodgers and Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone", both also reached number one in the UK Singles Chart,[8] the latter recorded instead of the Beatles' "Hello Little Girl". "You'll Never Walk Alone" had been a favourite of Marsden's since seeing Carousel when he was growing up. It quickly became the signature tune of Liverpool Football Club and, later, other sports teams around the world.[9][10] The song remains a football anthem.[11] The group narrowly missed a fourth consecutive number one when "I'm the One" was kept off the top spot for two weeks in February 1964 by fellow Liverpudlians The Searchers' "Needles and Pins".

The group's New York arrival in 1964.

Despite this early success, Gerry and the Pacemakers never had another number one single in the UK. Marsden began writing most of their songs, including "I'm the One", "It's Gonna Be All Right" and "Ferry Cross the Mersey", as well as their first and biggest US hit, "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying", which peaked at #4.[1]

The band also starred in an early 1965 film, Ferry Cross the Mersey (sometimes referred to as "Gerry and the Pacemakers' version of A Hard Day's Night"), for which Marsden wrote much of the soundtrack.[1] The title song was revived in 1989 as a charity single for an appeal in response to the Hillsborough football crowd disaster, giving Marsden – in association with other Liverpool stars, including Paul McCartney and Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Holly Johnson – another British number one.[1][12]

In the US, their recordings were released by the small New York City record label Laurie in 1963, with which they issued four singles without success. When the Beatles broke through in January 1964, Laurie's next regular single release of "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" became a big hit and, during 1964, Laurie coupled "How Do You Do It?" with "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Laurie 3261), and "I Like It" with "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" (Laurie 3271), with some success.

By late 1965, their popularity was rapidly declining on both sides of the Atlantic.[1] They disbanded in October 1966,[1] with much of their later recorded material never released in the UK. Gerry Marsden became a popular cabaret and children's TV entertainer. He reformed the Pacemakers in 1972 with prominent Liverpool musicians Jose McLaughlin, Billy Kinsley and Pete Clarke.[13]

In April 1973, this second version of the group became the only Merseybeat band to ever record for the John Peel Show on BBC Radio. The tracks from that show have now been included on the album Gerry and the Pacemakers Live at the BBC, released on Parlophone Records in October 2018.[14][15][16] Since then, Marsden occasionally toured with various line-ups of the band on the oldies circuit.

Drummer Freddie Marsden died on 9 December 2006 in Southport, age 66.[17]

On 15 March 2017, Gerry Marsden collapsed onstage while performing at a concert in Newport, Wales, due to a sore knee. After being helped offstage, Marsden did not return, but was quoted as saying the incident was "nothing serious".[18]

Gerry Marsden announced his retirement on 29 November 2018, in order to spend more time with family,[19] but, on 6 June 2019, to commemorate Liverpool's win against Tottenham in the Champions League, he surprised Take That fans by singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at their show at Anfield.[20]

Original bass player Les Chadwick died on 26 December 2019.[21]

• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• List of artists by total number of UK number one singles
• List of Columbia Graphophone Company artists
• List of bands and artists from Merseyside
• List of performers on Top of the Pops

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gerry and the Pacemakers.

• Official Site
• Classic Bands history page
• Gerry and the Pacemakers fan site