Nick and Sue. This edition of the Chatterbox
Redux podcast is brought to you in association
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More from them in a bit. Chatterbox. When the
stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue. Welcome
back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast with Sue
and Nick and today our special guest is Andy
Kiriakou of Modern Romance. This is Nick and
Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need to
know about music. Mike Pender, welcome to Chatterbox
UK. How are you? Well, I'm fine. Just finding
things to do. I'm still learning how to play
the guitar. Well, you can always sing a bit.
That came in quite handy for the last almost
60 years, so... Very good answer, Mike. Do you
write new material, or was it just the old stuff
these days? Well, I mean, talking about writing
material, I mean, I gave up that years ago. any
good there's any way I mean in the 60s and 70s
we did try to write music and find our way because
obviously that's what happens when you're being
big at one time and as the years go by you do
have to start writing your own material instead
of depending on other people to write something
and I've always been a performer to this day
and the show that I have been doing down was
sensational 60s and I've been doing that three
years yeah yeah hopefully it's gonna start again
mike we can take these surges back to like 1959
somewhere around there but what i want to do
is take uh mike pender the uh say the nipper
uh when when you were a kid uh what did you come
from a musical home or what inspired you to to
start singing play the guitar etc what right
back when we were sorting the kiddy witties yeah
yeah so well i mean Thinking back to those times.
There wasn't much to do actually go to school
come home Play outside around the local gas lamp
And then of course lots of things yeah, I remember
I used to collect American comics I had a good
then so collecting train spotting lots of things
and then You know, I suddenly swapped my collection
of comics for an old acoustic guitar. I've probably
told this story before, but we'll tell it again.
I swapped my collection for an acoustic guitar,
just wanted to learn how to play. Sat in my mother's
front room in my little hometown. Many was the
time I sort of threw the thing away and said,
I'll never be able to learn this. Um, but you
know, I stuck at it and like it, you know, lots
of other guys do at the time. You stick at it
and you learn how to play. And that's what happened.
And so that would have been, I would have been
about 15, 16 years old. Um, just about leaving
school. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, of course in those
sort of 19, I left school. He was 19, 1956. And
of course, you know, I was Western cowboy, American
cowboy man. As a kid I wanted to be a cowboy.
Yeah, I know what's coming next. You're going
to answer my next question. Yeah, brilliant.
And then, you know, we started to sort of look
around and find other people who played guitar.
We found John McNally who lived not far from
me and we started to get together. and we formed
a little group and we were, you know, like probably
the way other people at the same time, obviously,
like Leonard McCartney and Jerry Morrison and
people like that, they were all pro-, I didn't
know them at the time, of course. It was only
later that we all met up with each other in places
like the Cavern and the Iron Door and the Rookies.
1957 I went to see a movie called The Searchers,
John Wayne. From the thrilling pages of life
rides a man you must fear and respect. A man
whose unconquerable will and boundless determination
carved a lusty, rough and boisterous slice of
history called The Searchers. It's John Wayne
as Ethan Edwards, who had a rare kind of courage.
The courage that simply keeps on and on, far
beyond all reasonable endurance. Never thinking
of himself as martyred, never thinking of himself
as brave. So we'll find him in the end, I promise
you. We'll find him. Here is the story of a man,
hard and relentless, tender and passionate, of
people who dared to challenge a hostile land.
Here is drama of great love and aching loneliness.
I found him. I found Lucy. What you saw was a
buck wearing Lucy's dress. I found Lucy back
in the canyon. What was she... What do you want
me to do? Draw your picture? Spell it out? Don't
ever ask me. As long as you live, don't ever
ask me more. And if you don't hear my first holler,
you better read my mind, because I don't aim
to raise no two hollers on any subject at hand.
Yes, sir. Boy! Watch that knife! Go, Martin,
please! Stand aside, Martin. No, you don't, Ethan.
Ethan, no, you don't! Stand aside. Looks like
you've got yourself surrounded. Yeah, and I figure
on getting myself unsurrounded. Let's go! And
as people well know by now, that's where we took
the name from. And we messed around in Liverpool
trying to sort of form ourselves into a real
good combo, as it were. And we sort of made the
grade and the rest is history. Well, basically,
yeah, I mean, there's a few little steps you
took, because I understand the searchers in their
early days was actually a skiffle group. Yes,
this is one of those things that you get with
lots of people in show business, you know, you
get the noise that are bandied around. I mean,
I think John was into skiffle before I met him,
but I was never into skiffle. I was country and
western. Sure, OK. to people like Jimmy Rogers
and Carl Perkins and people like that. Hank Williams,
you know, that was the kind of music I listened
to. So, you know, it wasn't the Lonnie Donegan
thing that got me sort of started and got me,
it didn't influence me at all. The main influence
for me would arrive around about 1958. I remember
going to see Buddy Holly and the Critics in Liverpool.
20th of March, 1958, I remember the date. Well
done! That night really lived with me forever,
really. I always remember coming out and catching
the bus home thinking, that's what I want to
do, that's what I want to be. Buddy Holly was
absolutely fantastic. And of course we all know
about Buddy Holly. He was fantastic, I just died
so young. What do you think of that little trio?
Ruddy and the other two guys, and I've got none
of the other guys' names. Yes, that's right,
yeah. Well, I met the actual group, the Crickets.
Wow. Okay, well done. Well done. Yes, I mean,
you know, ever since that night. And he was the
main influence for me. And of course, you know,
we went on to actually Instead of copying people
we eventually got our own sound People sort of
knew us from sort of the early 60s as a group
who had sort of 12 string gangly guitars, harmonies
in the band and you know that was our mark in
music and people would say to me like you know
when I hit a record on a searchers record I knew
no before the guy That's who it is. I know exactly
who it is, because we had our own unique sound.
Yes, yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I hadn't
thought of it till now, but I totally agree on
that. Yeah, indeed, you did, yes. Yes, you know,
if you've got to make it in the business, you
know, you need your own sound, you need to be
unique, you know, like people have their own
sound, we have our own sound, and that's what
you've got to have, people know you've been making
that sound. And as long as you can keep that
going. and, you know, come up with different
songs all the time like we did. We had about
three, maybe four years at the top. Sure, yeah,
yeah. Just quietly down, as it were. OK, now
when you got discovered, was it at the cavern
or was it somebody... Did you actually know when
you were being watched by a record label or was
it not like that? Well, I've got it totally wrong.
Well, I suppose... It's one of those things we
were in the right place at the right time. I
remember going to, we got the offer to go to
the Star Club in Hamburg, which was absolutely
fantastic, you know, for poor young teenagers
to go to Hamburg and meet up with all those people
at the Star Club like Jerry Lee Lewis and John
Berry and Ray Charles and everyone else, and
then to come back to hometown Liverpool. We actually
thought we'd made the grade then, but of course
you haven't. It was only, you were only playing
at the Star Club. But, you know, what a start.
You know, most of the people who did go to the
Star Club made their marking music. And we did.
And of course, when we got back to Liverpool
after the second time going to the Star Club,
our manager at the time, in Liverpool, had got
in touch with some of the people in London and
we had Tony Hatch come up. Oh yes, of course.
Yes, yes, yes. when we got back and he said that
the iron door in Liverpool and we performed Sweets
From Our Suite for him and a couple of other
songs and he said, Sweets From Our Suite, that's
the one, I'm gonna take you boys to London and
that was it. Overnight success, unbelievable.
And Tony Hatch was equally at the top in the
60s definitely, most definitely. Yeah, I'm very
pleased. Yeah, well done. Well done. Tony Hatch,
sort of dragging you down in London. That's brilliant,
Mike. Absolutely amazing. Nick and Sue. Supporting
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Don't forget CBUKRDUX. Chatterbox Chatterbox
Chatterbox You're listening to Nick Prince and
Sue L on Chatterbox UK Yeah, well Yeah, yeah
Yes So we were a bit of a change for him. And
I think he jumped at the idea, you know, because
pop groups were making their mark then, you know,
1962, 1963. And yeah, it worked well, Tony was
good for us, even though he kitted us up on the
second single, which was Sugar and Spice. He
said, I've just got this song off a friend of
mine. it's called sugar and spice and he played
it in the studio and I said it sounds a bit naff
actually but it got to number two but that's
not bad at all it was Tony who wrote the song
ah brilliant brilliant I like that Of course
he was at that area you're talking about He was
actually at the top, you know, it was he who
wrote the crossroads theme at much the same time
You know, he was even doing TV and film themes
that Lona take a new one as a group I can picture
your record later. I can picture it now. It was
in the days when Pi were sort of like a pink
and black colour for labels. That's your era,
wasn't it? Yes, pink colour it was, yeah. okay
okay well that's that's all very good and i'm
glad you know that that unique sound and you
are right it is a unique sound and uh and the
only reason i don't remember the 60s is because
i was in nappies not for any other reason so
uh i i unfortunately have listened to you you
know the second generation of listener if you
like and no i can tell i can definitely tell
that well i'd like to ask you now mike okay so
you get number two in the charts with your second
record and things like that um I usually ask
people what was it like on Top of the Pox, but
because of your era, and I don't get to ask this
an awful lot, did you get to play on Ready Steady
Go, Niff, so what was it like? Ready Steady Go,
yeah. Well, yeah, we made many performances on
there. I remember doing an interview for it till
last year. Well. They had Ready Steady Go down
memory lane on TV. But yeah, I mean, it was one
of the TV shows, it was the top TV show, really.
They were all there, the Stones, the Peoples,
ourselves. You know, I remember Vicki Wick and
she was the producer. She liked the band, actually,
and she liked our songs. And we got many, many
plays on Ready Steady Go. It was one of the top
pop shows at the time, along with two other pops
and Vicki Lucky Stars. And we did them all, yeah.
That's what you had to do. The Ready Steady Go
looks to me as being quite exciting and of course
it did have Cathy McGowan present it and she
still looks the same today. How does she do it?
She must write a book about how she does that.
Amazing. Absolutely beautiful. I've always thought
that. Okay, so we've got your Ready Steady Going
in the 60s. At what point, I mean, your height
in the 60s, at what point did the sort of the
singles start slowing up in terms of music chase
changing and the first generation of Circus fans
perhaps growing up, starting families and whatever?
What sort of year are we talking about that you
sort of like went on basically touring and not
releasing songs? Well, if I think back now, of
course, you know, I think probably the last Big
hit we had was probably Goodbye My Love, which
was 1965 or 66, if I remember. We had a couple
of singles after that, of course, but they never
got sort of into the top five or anything like
that. You know, as the years went by, we still
kept on recording. The singles didn't really
make their mark. We left Pie Studios. I mean
all these record companies obviously thought
we can bring the searchers back, we can make
them big again, which is usually what happens
in the record business, you know, you look at
everybody and they start off with a record company
and then when they've had so much success they
leave one record company because the record company
think, you know, We've won them as far as we
can and we'll get a deal for them with somebody
else and they ask you, you know, do you want
to leave or things aren't looking good. You know,
you end up and your manager at the time says,
come on, boys, we're not going to go, we're going
to join this company. And that's what we did.
That's what happens. And of course, as you go
on and the years go by, it's so difficult to
make a comeback. I mean, we tried it several
times. We signed for Sire Records in the early
80s, and the product was good. Even Rolling Stone
magazine in America said, wow, The Searchers
have got two new albums out. But of course, it
doesn't matter how good the product is, if it
doesn't sell, that's it, goodbye. And we tried
so many times, but to make a comeback in show
business in the recording world is so, so difficult.
I'm looking at the sort of, I've actually got
Wikipedia up, but I'm only checking, you know,
what years things hit, what number in the charts,
and it seems to be, and there's nothing you've
done, I mean, I could sit here for the next hour
and dish out, well, next 40 minutes, and I could
give you, fill up that entire time by naming
groups and singers. They'd all sort of stopped
having big hits at the same time. I put it down,
tell me if I'm wrong, you know, that's your business,
but I put it down as an outsider looking in,
that it all ties up with the arrival of the teeny
-bop scene, you know, the turtles, the monkeys
even, and I think they snatched away the younger,
what would be your new audience, I think they
possibly snatched it away, no fault of your own,
your songs have been just as good right through
to, you know, right through to the end of 66
onwards, they still sound as good, I assure you,
and that's what I put it down to, is that right?
point I mean yeah I mean it is it is probably
things like that that have new groups come along
new American pop groups come and you know bubblegum
the store whatever friends you had when you started
like four or five years before they've grown
up five years on and they do different things
and so that's that sort of appeal falls by the
wayside a little bit you know you do need new
friends but new songs, great songs. When you
have a great song, you've got to come up with
another one. Yes, yes, yeah. Unless you're writing
your own material, which, you know, groups like,
you know, I can think of the Eagles, they're
one of my favorite bands. They just, they wrote
so many good songs. They had this thing in the
band where they wrote, you know, hit after hit
after hit. you've got to do you know to keep
going yeah and to be successful and so you know
like you say comes 66 67 um it started to fall
away a bit and new people were coming on the
scene but yes it wasn't it wasn't just ourselves
it was other groups as well yeah lots of them
now um At some point between 1960s, I think you
took us to one of your signings. Let's look at
what era was it, what year roughly did you start
your successful touring? I don't mean first time
round, I mean after the records dried up, when
did you start doing your, you know, because you've
had successful tours since, ever since almost,
but what year did you actually decide that is
the way forward to earn your living? You're talking
about after the initial hit? Yes. Yeah, whether
it's 1970, 75, 80 or whatever it was, I just
wondered when you started the touring up. Well,
yes, I mean, you start, once you've had record
success, I mean, in the recording years, from
1963 to 1966, 1967, when the records started
to dry up, you've got to start working, you've
got to start traveling, touring. We were always
good to go to Australia, always good to go to
America. But as the years go by, of course, places
like America only came around every sort of 10
years. But we had to start traveling to places
like Germany and Norway, Sweden, Holland. There
was always work there, but you had to travel
for it. And the traveling really took it out
of you. Of course we were still quite young then,
and we could do it. I doubt we could do it today.
But we started to, yes, I would say, about 1968,
we have to start working for a living, yeah.
Sure, that's cool, I'm glad you did, and it's
good that, you know, there's a, I mean, you've
been down to my hometown, White Rock Theatre,
Hastings, and that's, well, 1066 seats, as I
always remember, so it's a, you know, municipal
theatre that's, you know, if you could get a
thousand a night, that's probably quite a good
living, isn't it, really? Well, yeah, I mean,
yeah, thinking back, the money was good, but,
you know, I always say to my wife now, I said,
you know, if you were as big today, as we were
then. We'd be sort of well on millionaires, you
know? Sure. No, no. No, I see that. I see that.
Yeah, that's the difference. In fact, it's like
when they talk about footballers from the 60s.
When they were here, they'd have 15 quid a week.
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good, do some good to the planet and show your
true colours. Now, at some point you toured as
Mike Pender Searchers. Was that straight away
as touring? Late 60s or was that just something
that came by as people left or whatever? Because
that's what you're known as now, I think, isn't
it, Mike Pender Searchers? Well, yes, I still
have the name and we still use the name on our
website. Sure. But the Mike Pender Searchers
gigs have dried up mainly because I sort of decided
about three years ago that I wanted to do more
solo stuff on my own. I thought it was the right
age to do it. Because it's difficult to run a
group, you know, like four people, you've got
to organize hotels, you've got to organize sound
checks, you've got to organize PA systems, you've
got to organize so many things. You know, you
can't do it, but it gets harder as the years
go by. And so I decided to, when I signed on
with Sensational 60s, which, which, uh, tours
probably about, uh, just about 60 shows a year.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, you've got all those groups
who are still around. The trends, the fortunes,
you know, it's still still performing. Um, even
though a lot of them don't have any, uh, the
original members anymore and just look up the
name of the songs and the same. Um, so, you know,
I decided to do that. If a Mike Pendle Searches
gig does come in, we can still do it. For me,
I do like performing as a solo artist now. That's
what I'm going to do for as long as I can. Best
of luck with it. Do keep in touch and let us
know how it's going. You can always use me for
a little bit of publicity to announce that you're
starting your tours or tickets that are on sale,
etc. You're listening to Nick Prince and Sue
Earl on Chatterbox. Where would you like to be
in five years time, ideally being a soloist,
or is there something that you've got that you
want to do before, you know, before time runs
out and we'll, you know, move on, as it were?
Well, I mean, you're talking about in five years
time. I tell you what, if I live another five
years, I'll be... The oldest, happiest man in
show business. You hear about people from the
60s and a lot of them have passed on. I feel
as good as ever, to be honest with you. I feel
as though I could go on for another five, ten
years. I think you've got to feel like that if
you're still in the show, if you're still in
the business of performing and you come from
the 60s, I think you still ought to enjoy it.
Because once you stop enjoying it, I think it
is time to... I loved you in Sensational 60s.
The audiences are great and it's good to speak
to the people after the show. You can meet them
all in the foyer and they're all dying to meet
you and talk to you and remember you. You get
lots of them looking at you saying, yeah, you
haven't changed a bit. They're such liars, you
know, these people. It could be their cataracts,
or if not, the Grecian's working well. Whatever
it is, don't worry about it. Listen... People
say to me on the Cementation 60 show, I mean,
the people who run the show, the promoters, they
say to me, you know, you still sound good, you
can still sing, you know, which you have to.
Because basically, that's what you've still got
with you, the voice, the vocal. No, no, absolutely.
You're not looking the same, obviously. And you
can move your legs. You can carry on, cool down.
No, fingers crossed, let's hope so. Very good,
like I say, if you still sound good and look
good, it's half the battle. And of course, these
60s things, the nights that you're talking about,
I'll be to some, not one with you in as yet,
but there's similar things that go around with
a few of the groups in the 60s. And it gets to
me, and I'm in my 50s, and obviously, you know,
that generation that came out in the 60s, so
I'm the next one on. And there's plenty of people
my age watching you and some are bringing their
kids along so you have got unlike unfortunately
in the when it would come to record sales in
the late 60s when people like my parents were
having me and uh you know and the record sales
sort of dropped out dropped out a bit but uh
i think you are getting that generation now that's
what i think well you know i can only tell you
about the people who come to the show you know
they are obviously my age from my age group But
you do get a lot of younger people. Yeah. You
know, people from the 70s and a couple from the
80s, actually. Well, very good. Very good, yeah.
And, you know, they come in and they enjoy the
music. They certainly do. I mean, a lot of the
60s stuff still appeals, to be honest with you,
because a lot of people from that generation,
they don't like today's music. It's like any
other music, you know? Absolutely. You're caught
up with something and you're so used to hearing
it and playing it. missing it. When you get the
opportunity to go back to those years, you go
to the show and you watch your favorite artists
from that period of time. And that's what people
do. They go back, they say, oh, I remember Needles
and Pins. I remember when you walk in the room,
I was getting married and this stuff. They want
to relive those memories. That's why they go
to the show still. Absolutely, and thank God
for it. And I'm glad that you're playing your
part in those shows. I still have my autobiography
which is on sale through Amazon and it's still
on sale through the web, through the Frank Club.
I was really pleased that I could do something
like that. It's probably every artist, whether
it's movies, show business or whatever, or sports,
they can write their autobiography before they
depart this world. you know it's something that
they've done and it's a feather in the cap and
i'm so glad that i was able to do it to talk
about things i've been through um so that's one
of the great things i feel that i've that i've
done and i'm most happy with personally you know
we've still got the the website and anybody wants
to get in touch my friend has searched us um
really that's the main thing you know this facebook
as well of course yeah uh and that's about it
Brilliant Mike and I've got a late message just
come in it's from V Goddard listening on the
Isle of Wight I think she's saying down way and
she's just looked you up On your website. She's
saying you're looking really really good for
your age Well isn't that lovely? Tell her thank
you very much if you see her Yes, well I shall
message her back. Thank you Mike. There you go
Well it was a pleasure and it's always just a
pleasure to talk on the radio to people. Thank
you very much You have been listening to the
Chatterbox Redux podcast with Sue and Nick and
our special guest today was Andy Kiriakou of
Modern Romance. If you're interested in becoming
a future guest on the Chatterbox Redux podcast,
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