So at what venue did Scouse Rock really begin? The Beatles' home was at the Cavern and so surely it all began there. Well, give it some more thought.

One of the hallmarks of the Iron Door Club was its introduction and promotion of local talent to Liverpool music fans. Little be knownst to the organizers of the day, that a group auditioning in the cellar of a butter packing plant would soon emerge as the greatest group of all time. Out of this rough-looking warehouse venue, a new sound spread quickly around the world.

The "Beatles" were first booked when the club was known as the Iron Door. At this stage the popularity of the club was growing to the point where it was open seven nights a week. Thirsting for more, members circulated a petition to have the club opened on Sunday afternoon. After some thought the management of the Iron Door decided that, should they open, a different musical focus would be necessary. Geoff Hogarth recalls

"We decided that we weren't going to put jazz on. I mean you can really get fed up listening to jazz seven nights a week. So we decided that we were gong to put something else on. What it was we didn't know. We thought about 'Skiffle' but that was dying out."

After some reflection about local artists who had visited the establishment and were playing elsewhere, one act came to mind. It was a group that Harry Ormesher eventually booked for the purpose of an audition. Before the audition, the details surrounding the group were vague and Hogarth had no idea what to expect. He remembered the sketchy details regarding their name.

"Somebody and the Hound Dogs or the Moondogs. Whatever it was, it wasn't a booking as such. It was an audition. We didn't even know what they were, but Harry assured me that they were a different sound completely - which we were after, anyhow."

Hogarth, as it turned out, was working on the Sunday of the audition as he was covering for someone who hadn't shown up as planned. Busy at the bar, he hadn't noticed that the group had arrived and set up on the stage downstairs. The next thing he realised, the group was in full swing. Describing the sound,

They didn't sound too bad. They didn't sound musically adept, but it was different anyhow. When they came to the set, they said 'We don't want to be introduced as The Moondogs, we're called the Silver Beetles now. We'd like you to introduce us as The Silver Beetles.'

After the group and finished their audition, Hogarth went to greet them with the view of insuring a booking. They did indeed have a different and unique sound which he felt would fit the bill. It certainly was a departure from jazz but had more edge than skiffle.

"When I went to say cheerio, two of them had light motor-bike leathers on. Stuart Sutcliffe always used to wear this fluffy cowboy hat. I had never seen him without it. And he had that on with his leathers. And I said to them 'Has he given you a bookin.' The leader, John Lennon, responded 'We're going to Scotland on Thursday. We don't know how long we will be there. There's no point in even offering us another booking.'

I would say, that was the first time they'd played anywhere, at any venue as the "Beatles", was on that particular Sunday afternoon."

A review of the Silver Beatles' engagments for May 1960 supports Geoff Hogarth's argrument. The Sunday audition at the Iron Door took place on May 15, 1960 and from the information presented it is clear that the group wished to be referred to as the Silver Beetles. In fact, they had played the Saturday night before, May 14, 1960 at the Lathom Hall in Liverpool, however, they were billed that evening as the "Silver Beats." It was not until May 15, 1960 that the name of the Silver Beetles had finally been adopted by the group members.

Of some interest is the group's use of the "Silver Beetles" during a Larry Parnes audition on May 10, 1960 at the Wyvern Social Club, however, it would seem that they were undecided at this point as they had appeared but a few days later as the "Silver Beats." May 15, 2004 marked the occasion in which the name "Beetles" finally stuck. As Lennon has indicated, the group began its Scottish tour with Johnny Gentle on the following Thursday, May 19th, with their first performance on May 20th. The brief tour lasted from May 20 to 28, 1964. During this tour, Paul McCartney used the name Paul Ramon, George Harrison became Carl Harrison and Stu Sutcliffe was known as Stu deStael.

For a very good example of what the Beatles looked like in the early 1960s, please note the photo below, courtesy of Johnny Gentle and Ian Forsyth. Here you see George "Carl" Harrison on stage with Johnny Gentle. Of this tour, George was quoted in 1963 to have said "That tour was our first hope of actually making it one day." For a detailed review of the tour, including interesting quotes of the Silver Beetles along with many more period photos, the interested reader is invited to purchase the book by contacting Ian Forsyth directly.

None of those present on this May afternoon in 1960 could have foreseen the tremendous impact that the music of the Silver Beetles were about to have on the world. The following Thursday they would leave for Scotland, just beginning their famous journey to the "toppermost of the poppermost." The Iron Door is surely the birthplace of Scouse Rock and history will record that, amidst a small group of onlookers, The Beatles played there first before the Cavern.

One thing is certain, The Beatles were not finished writing history at 13 Temple Street. They would play the club again on more than one occasion, each time adding another famous footnote to the story of the Iron Door. May 15, 1960 was a turing point for the group as the "Beetles" name would remain, in one form or another, from this point forward.