27 December 1963 Did Brendan Bowyer have an Elvis franchise for Ireland? Here he is following up his first Irish number one, 'Kiss Me Quick', with another chart-topping Elvis cover - this time a whimsical acoustic ditty from the movie Blue Hawaii. Yes, it's pretty much the same thing as his 'Kiss Me Quick', but … Continue reading Brendan Bowyer and The Royal Showband – ‘No More’ →

8 November 1963 Are Gerry and The Pacemakers a Liverpool Aslan to The Beatles' U2? I ask because here in Dublin, Aslan are seen as the people's band and U2 the band for tourists. Football being the people's game and a crucial Merseyside identifier, Liverpool's terrace anthem is this Gerry track, and there's no one … Continue reading Gerry and The Pacemakers – ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ →

1 November 1963 Another slightly unsettling image (above) of clear-glasses-era Big O, as if he were a mere mortal and not the Platonic ideal of barely-holding-it-together heartache made song. Also unsettling to me: I understand a bayou to be some sort of marshy, semi-stagnant American lake. Leaving someone behind there sounds more like a mob … Continue reading Roy Orbison – ‘Blue Bayou’ →

25 October 1963 Brian Poole and The Tremeloes were from London, not Liverpool, but they nonetheless partook of the Merseybeat sound. What's more, they were the group signed by Decca Records instead of The Beatles, both having auditioned the same day. So, that's Brian Poole and The Tremeloes, the band The Beatles could have been. … Continue reading Brian Poole and The Tremeloes – ‘Do You Love Me’ →

6 September 1963 Here's the first official Irish number one single by an Irish act. It's also a first opportunity to consider the Irish phenomenon of the showbands. In one sense, the showbands weren't just an Irish phenomenon. Since Elvis never toured Europe, many countries on this side of the Atlantic cashed in with their … Continue reading Brendan Bowyer and The Royal Showband – ‘Kiss Me Quick’ →

30 August 1963 'Saccharine' is an easy reach here, I know. But what else can you call this? We'll need The Beatles and also even the Stones to cleanse our palate after this candy floss. Ostensibly another group of early-'60s Liverpool Beatles peers, The Searchers serve us up the '50s cliches of stardust and the … Continue reading The Searchers – ‘Sweets For My Sweet’ →

9 August 1963 Elvis fans: do you stick to the '50s pre-army rock n' roll stuff, i.e. Good Elvis, or are you seriously telling me you stan for Daniel O'Donnell Elvis too? I had forgotten this lump of kitsch misogyny, on which Elvis does his Elvis impersonation while wading up to his knees in fetid … Continue reading Elvis Presley – ‘(You’re The) Devil In Disguise’ →

2 August 1963 I see the silent majority of Irish record buyers in 1963 have put another bout of Frank Ifield's country-tinged yodelling at the top of our charts. There's one in the eye for all you long-haired Beatlemaniacs! Like Ifield's 'Lovesick Blues' the previous year, 'I'm Confessin'' benefits from Norrie Paramor's sumptuous orchestral production: … Continue reading Frank Ifield – ‘I’m Confessin” →

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 … Continue reading Gerry and The Pacemakers – ‘I Like It’ →