Survey

jjr · Post by **jjr** » Sun Nov 19, 2000 4:49 pm

How about a survey for the best tune written by any individual Searcher, or group combination. Can be single ("A" or "B" side), EP cut or album cut from beginning up through "Hungry Hearts". I'll vote for "Noone Else Could Love Me"

admin · Post by **admin** » Sun Nov 19, 2000 5:11 pm

Well John this is going to be a short list. Nevertheless, I have always liked "I Pretend I'm With You" for many reasons. The song speaks to the universal theme of wanting to be with a loved one during those times in which one can't. Musically, I find that the variation on a "Memphis rhythm" of sorts is unique and really moves the song along. I find this to be a strong composition and just one example of why Curtis' leaving hurt The Searchers.

RJHC · Post by **RJHC** » Sun Nov 19, 2000 5:24 pm

_"IT'S BEEN A DREAM" DEFINITELY "IT'S BEEN A

DREAM" . TONY JACKSON'S HIGH SOARING VOCALS ,

EXCELLENT VOCAL HARMONIES , GUITARS STRUMMED FAST ,

CHRIS TAPPING OUT 16TH NOTES ON THE CYMBALS,

EXCELLENT MELODY . IT IS DIFFICULT TO ASK FOR

MORE .

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » Mon Nov 20, 2000 7:44 am

"I'll Cry Tomorrow" is a favorite of mine...It's the flip side of "Western Union". It have a lovely vocal from Mike and just the slightest touch of psychedellia...A dark horse favorite.

Jeff

Erwin_Zerbe · Post by **Erwin_Zerbe** » Thu Apr 19, 2001 11:56 pm

I also feel that some of the best Searchers songs were of their own compositions. In particular I think that Chris Curtis' compositions "You Wanna Make Her Happy" and "If I could find Someone" are outstanding. Also John's "Till I Met You" and "This Feeling Inside" are great songs and terrific to listen to. This brings me to the point of asking everyone, "What is a good song"?

"Till I Met You" in my opinion, is in the same league as The Beatles' "And I Love Her", so why wasn't it just as big? Why didn't it get any airplay? Analyse "Second Hand Dealer" against The Beatles' "Paperback Writer' and tell me why the latter was such a big hit. If the Beatles had recorded "Second Hand Dealer" it would have been hailed as a masterpiece and been an instant number one hit. But for the Searchers it wasn't a hit and it deserved to be. Don't get me wrong, I love The Beatles and I have collected just about all their records as they came out, but it does annoy me when great songs are just buried and never get the credit they deserve. The Searchers were talented song writers and it appauls me that their management of the time did not have the courage or foresight to push their material towards "A" side singles. I'm sure Brian Epstein would have. Does anyone disagree with what I am trying to say/ Please give me your feedback.

Best wishes from a dedicated Searchers fan.

Erwin Zerbe Brisbane Australia

admin · Post by **admin** » Fri Apr 20, 2001 2:14 am

Erwin: You have made excellent points here and you won't get much disagreement from me. I have always thought that it was the wealth of original material that set the Beatles apart from many other equally talented Scousers. The Beatles were on a roll and nothing was going to stop them once things got set in motion.

The Searchers' original recordings and I'll add one of my my favourites, "I Pretend I'm With You" were very unique and I feel were the beginnings of greatness. Unfortunately emotional issues and personalities took over. While management, or the lack thereof, certainly played a role in keeping them back in the charts, I consider that it was the interpersonal dynamics within the group that was there ultimate downfall.

Fortunately we have the great recording of The Searchers and listening to them actually brings me more joy today than it did in the 1960s. Very nice to here from Australia. If you saw The Searchers' 2001 Tour why not give us a review of one of their performances.

Erwin_Zerbe · Post by **Erwin_Zerbe** » Fri Apr 20, 2001 8:20 pm

Peter: Yes, I was fortunate enough to get to see The Searchers when they performed here in Australia recently. And what a performance it was. The boys got a standing ovation at the end of the night. I saw them previously in 1999. They were good then, but what a performance they turned on this time. The harmonies were so precise and the musicianship was superb, especially John's lead guitar work. Frank was in great form as usual, and had the audience immediately in stitches with his good sense of humour and his impecable timing. They played all the hits and even put in some of what I call the lost numbers, such as "Bumble Bee' and "Four Strong Winds" which John and Frank harmonised on beautifully. After the show we were able to purchase the new "live" CD and lucky enough to have all the boys sign it. They all appeared so happy and willing to spend time with their audience. Right from the start of the show Frank was a hit when he announced,"This is a party folks. Whatever you want us to do, you tell us. We are in no hurry to go anywhere tonight so just let us know what you want." The Searchers are simply loved down here in Australia.

Best wishes from the land of OZ

Erwin Zerbe

Erwin_Zerbe · Post by **Erwin_Zerbe** » Sat Apr 21, 2001 4:14 am

Dear all

If anyone would like to respond to me, please feel free to e-mail me.

Best wishes from Australia.

Erwin Zerbe

royclough · Post by **royclough** » Sat Apr 21, 2001 5:24 am

A good topic and one which I wrote a article about in the spring of 97 and T Viney kindly published in the Fanzine.
I called the article Searchers sing Searchers and listed twenty tracks I thought would make a excellent CD, if some record exec wanted to take up the mantle. The tracks I chose were designed to cover the band's career through the years,
Here are my listings I suggested

1. It's all been a dream 2. I pretend I'm with you
3. I'll be missing you 4, Till I met you
5. Don't hide it away 6. If I could find someone
7. I'll cry tomorrow 8 Lovers
9. Don't you know why 10. Secondhand dealer
11. Suzanna 12. World is waiting for tomorrow
13. Come on Back to me 14 Little bit of heaven
15. This kind of love affair 16. aNOTHER nIGHT
17. Changing 18. Love lies bleeding
19. This Boy's in love 20. Fooled myself once again

Judging by comments from others alrady posted, looks like I may have got it about right

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat Apr 21, 2001 8:57 am

Without a doubt Roy, you got it right. With your agreement and the permission of the publisher I would be very interested in giving the article a permanent home on "Needles and Pins." If it is already online, a link to the article would be appreciated by Searchers' fans everywhere.

royclough · Post by **royclough** » Sun Apr 22, 2001 7:39 am

I would be extremely honoured to have the article given a permanent home, T Viney published the article but I am sure Tim has no objection, I presume I own the copyright.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sun Apr 22, 2001 10:25 am

Roy: If you decide to post post it online, please contact me directly via email and we will get to work on it.

Mike_Fraser · Post by **Mike_Fraser** » Sun Apr 29, 2001 8:40 pm

I've given this topic some thought and John's Another Night from the Sire days comes to mind as a favourite for me, I thought at the time that this could have been a single given the good reviews that the album received especially the first one and also this song in particular.
Other favorites of mine include, Till I met you, He's got no love which was unlucky not to be a big hit (in my opinion of course) and Spence's Fooled Myself once again off the Two Hearts album (I think).
By the way I saw two of the recent Searcher concerts in Australia and they were on form the crowd, and it was a crowd, gave them a standing ovation on both nights, Frank can certainly work an audience as good as anyone. The sound was excellent with the harmonies as good as I have ever heard from them. I have probably seen more than a hundred Searchers concerts over the last 30 years from the Fiesta in Stockton through the Middle East and down to Australia they are getting better with age.
The Australian venues are a bit like very up-market working mens clubs in England with approx 600 seat concert rooms.
Evidently the demand is such that they have been asked to come back again next year which will be the forth year running, looking at the audience the ages are very mixed so hopefully most will still be around next year. I certainly will be.
All the best from Aus
Mike