5 July 1963
It’s odd to think of music fans in 1963 experiencing The Beatles as part of a wave of Merseybeat bands from something as provincial as the Liverpool club scene. What’s more, not only did Gerry and The Pacemakers have an official UK number one before The Beatles did, but their first three singles all topped the UK charts: an achievement only matched two decades later by (coincidentally) another Liverpool band. That all suggests a level of parity and peership which, even from hearing ‘Love Me Do’, never seriously existed. There could be an alternate history where it’s Gerry and co. who become the Fab Four, slay the States and conquer pop music, which requires either a lot of imagination or none at all.
‘I Like It’ shares a little of The Beatles’ energy, as well as satisfyingly rich production by George Martin, and Gerry Marsden’s cheeky-chappie-ness is genuinely likeable. Still, band and record are fatally ensnared in the chaste tweeness—ooh all that tie-straightening and chin-tickling!—of Buddy Holly, and sorely lacking the primal raucousness and creative curiosity of those Liverpool rivals. Listening to their putative competitors is a fascinating way to realise how far ahead of the game The Beatles already were. That said, we still have two more Merseybeat bands to come at number one in Ireland this year, plus Gerry and The Pacemakers again, but none for The Beatles: ‘She Loves You’ and ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ both only peak here at number two. That alternate history I spoke of is called the 1963 Irish number one spot.
