It has been said for some time that the Iron Door was to the Searchers what The Cavern was to The Beatles. Geoffrey Hogarth recalled that the Searchers, who once asked him to be their manager, seemed to settle in to the club from the beginning and enjoyed performing there. Mr. Hogarth mentioned, perhaps surprisingly, that he really wasn't in the position to compare the Iron door with The Cavern. He explained

"I have never been to the Cavern. Many groups in addition to The Searchers played at the club who you have probably heard of including Gerry and the Pacemakers and The Dominoes."


It is to be appreciated that during the early days that many groups, including The Searchers, played several performances at different clubs on the same evening. For this reason, it was at times difficult to associate a group with a single venue. Comments made by John McNally, Mike Pender and Tony Jackson of The Searchers in the following interviews certainly underscores the importance of the Iron Door for the group.

In a most interesting interview conducted by Ray Norris entitled "John McNally - The Quiet Searcher" and posted to The Searchers' Official Website, John McNally indicates that the Searchers frequently played at the Iron Door. In speaking of Les Ackerly, a manager of the club in 1962, McNally credits Ackerly with

"organising a home recording that was to be the key to world-wide acclaim for the band."


Apparently Ackerly recorded a number of songs at the Iron Door that would eventually spark interest in Tony Hatch of Pye Records in London. Some of the recorded songs included "Maggie May", "I`ll Be Missing You", "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Sweets For My Sweet." This was one success for the Iron Door that was not masked by the romance of The Cavern as "Sweets For My Sweet" soared to top the charts in the UK.


A fan of the Searchers' at the Iron Door recalled "I used to enjoy the Searchers' music. Their guitar work was a bit more 'jangley' that the other Liverpool groups. They didn't seem to be as R & B influenced as most of the others."

John McNally spoke of the Iron Door as being "quite similar" to the Cavern in that

"It was up a back street, originally a beer cellar, damp, smelly and scruffy, but a fun place for the teenagers to hang out and listen to the music."


The fans had favourite Searchers' songs that they requested of the band at that time. According to McNally

"I remember Chris used to often get asked for "What I'd Say", and he did a pretty good interpretation of "I Who Have Nothing."


The old Iron Door was a place of considerable significance for The Searchers. John emphasized that

"It was our training ground. A good place to start and we built up a good clientele there... Chris Curtis was a good showman even in those early days, and encouraged audience participation."


By far the most special moment at the Iron Door for John McNally was the recording of the Searchers' first tape. He added to the Ray Norris interview referred to above. In discussing this unforgettable event he remembered

"Recording our first acetate there - five or six songs, which were then sent to Pye and got us our first recording contract. That was the turning point of our career. Until then, we still had our day jobs and played at the Iron Door for very small money in the evenings. After that we got the chance to go to the Star Club in Hamburg. So we gave up our day jobs and turned professional and here we are, 39 years on!"