ALONG with their fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers were one of the top selling artists of the early and mid-60s with a string of hits to their name.

The group uniquely began their career with three number one UK hits (the first group ever to do so), these being How Do You Do It (an up-tempo song that was originally offered to the Beatles), I Like It (another up-tempo song) and You’ll Never Walk Alone (the Rodgers-Hammerstein ballad from Carousel that became the anthem of both Celtic and Liverpool football clubs).

They never had another number one hit but they had three further top ten hits - I’m The One (a number two hit), Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying (their first American hit) and Ferry Cross The Mersey (also an American hit). Their only other UK hits were It’s Gonna Be Alright, I’ll Be there and Walk Hand In Hand.

Their early UK hits charted in America following the success of Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying, though without the impact they’d had in the UK. Girl On A Swing missed the UK charts completely but made the USA top thirty.

Those ten hits are the only essential tracks to make the charts but they recorded many other fine songs on their albums including covers of fifties songs made famous by Chuck Berry, Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis and others. Unlike some other Liverpool groups of the time, they did not look to the Beatles as a source of songs.

Many of these songs featured in their visit last week to the King’s Hall in Ilkley when a capacity audience wallowed in the nostalgia of the 60s when, judging by the grey or white hair, many of the audience would have been in their teens.

When John Lennon once described Gerry Marsden as the northern equivalent of Joe Brown, he had it just about right. Gerry was (and is) Liverpool’s local lad and stand-up geezer, even more than Lennon himself. Gerry is an exceptional raconteur and kept the audience highly amused with his tales from the “Swinging Sixties” throughout the evening.

The first half of the show opened and closed with comedian Mike Lancaster from Bury, a very funny man who had a great rapport with the audience. In between his two 15 minute spots we were treated to half a dozen numbers by the members of The Pacemakers. These included Can’t Explain, The Beatles Day Tripper, a medley of four Searchers songs – Don’t Throw Your Love Away, Sweets For My Sweet, Sugar And Spice and When You Walk In The Room, and then they concluded with Chris Farlow’s song Out Of Time.

Gerry joined the band for the second half of the evening, opening with How do you do it, and then continuing with It’s Gonna Be Alright, The Way You Look Tonight, Great Balls Of Fire, Give Me Your Hand, Slow Down, I’ll Be There and I’m The One. He then told how he had split up with his girlfriend 50 years ago but wrote the song Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying for her which brought them back together and how they have now been together since. The final four numbers were firstly The Eagle’s song Peaceful Easy Feeling, Ferry Cross The Mersey, I Like It and ending with the classic You’ll Never Walk Alone which had the audience on their feet, swaying to the music.

Two hours of great entertainment and thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. It may have been cold and blustery outside the King’s Hall, but the music inside warmed everyone’s hearts!