This was written by Billy Jackson and Jimmy Wisner and originally released in 1963 by The Orlons as the B-side to Bon-Doo-Wah, which peaked at No 55 in the US.
The Searchers released a different (and better) arrangement in April 1964, taking it to No 1. The vocals were shared by Mike Pender and Chris Curtis.
This is a slightly dodgy recording of a live performance featuring the wonderful Tony Jackson on vocals and bass guitar. This must have been very soon before he left the group and I can’t find out why he didn’t sing on the record.
A beautiful song.
The Searchers squeezed out their two main characters, Tony Jackson and Chris Curtis, and became rather anonymous afterwards – although still making some great music.
Later still Mike Pender fell out with the rest of them and much bitterness followed over the use of the group’s name. The other Searchers won the rights, and Mike’s group became “Mike Pender’s Searchers”.
The Searchers retired last year, but Mike’s group is still going – in as much as any group can be “still going” in these peculiar times. He is 78.