Gerry And The

Gerry & the Pacemakers are fated to eternal comparisons to the Beatles, their onetime Merseybeat rivals who rapidly eclipsed the quartet in popularity and accomplishment, leaving them as something of a pop culture punchline. In the wake of the Beatles, it was hard to look back at Gerry Marsden and his irrepressibly cheerful music and think it was in the same league as the Fab Four, or any of the British Invasion groups that followed. That may be true, but Gerry & the Pacemakers shouldn't be judged against such R&B-schooled rockers as the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Kinks but rather against the stiff, starched rock & roll of pre-Beatles Britain. Compared to this prim, proper pop, the skiffle beats and bouncy melodies of Gerry & the Pacemakers seem fresh, almost serving as a bridge between formative English rock and the bright blast of the Beatles…

Gerry & the Pacemakers are fated to eternal comparisons to the Beatles, their onetime Merseybeat rivals who rapidly eclipsed the quartet in popularity and accomplishment, leaving them as something of a pop culture punchline. In the wake of the Beatles, it was hard to look back at Gerry Marsden and his irrepressibly cheerful music and think it was in the same league as the Fab Four, or any of the British Invasion groups that followed. That may be true, but Gerry & the Pacemakers shouldn't be judged against such R&B-schooled rockers as the Rolling Stones, the Animals, and the Kinks but rather against the stiff, starched rock & roll of pre-Beatles Britain. Compared to this prim, proper pop, the skiffle beats and bouncy melodies of Gerry & the Pacemakers seem fresh, almost serving as a bridge between formative English rock and the bright blast of the Beatles…

Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying (1964). The career of Gerry and the Pacemakers paralleled that of the Beatles up to a certain point. Like the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, England, and were signed to a subsidiary of EMI Records, in their case Columbia (no relation to American Columbia), their recordings overseen by George Martin. As with the Beatles, in the U.S., their records were licensed to a small independent label (Laurie, while the Beatles were on Vee-Jay), and, despite their British success, it was not until their fifth single that they achieved a stateside breakthrough. For the Beatles, that fifth single was "I Want to Hold Your Hand"; for Gerry and the Pacemakers, four months later in May 1964, it was the ballad "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying." Laurie quickly assembled a corresponding LP out of existing recordings…

Gerry & the Pacemakers' debut album, produced by George Martin and Ron Richards, is representative of the mainstream Liverpool sound beyond the Beatles, circa 1963. Gerry & the Pacemakers based their music around American R&B ballads, coupled with a delight in straight-ahead rock & roll and country music with a beat, in a manner similar to the Beatles…

Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying (1964). The career of Gerry and the Pacemakers paralleled that of the Beatles up to a certain point. Like the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, England, and were signed to a subsidiary of EMI Records, in their case Columbia (no relation to American Columbia), their recordings overseen by George Martin. As with the Beatles, in the U.S., their records were licensed to a small independent label (Laurie, while the Beatles were on Vee-Jay), and, despite their British success, it was not until their fifth single that they achieved a stateside breakthrough. For the Beatles, that fifth single was "I Want to Hold Your Hand"; for Gerry and the Pacemakers, four months later in May 1964, it was the ballad "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying." Laurie quickly assembled a corresponding LP out of existing recordings…

With the exception of the Beatles themselves, no other group dominated the early years of the British Invasion like Gerry & The Pacemakers. They were the first artists to have their first three singles top the British charts, and many of their songs are now beloved classics. Gerry & The Pacemakers: It's Gonna Be All Right 1963-1965 features 17 complete songs filmed between 1963 and 1965 and is the group's first official DVD release…

An often forgotten fact is that in 1989, Jive Bunny And The Mastermixers joined the elite few, whose first 3 singles reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, after Gerry and the Pacemakers and Frankie Goes to Hollywood! The debut single ‘Swing The Mood’ reached No. 1 around the world and even charted at No. 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100! Between 1989 and 1992, Jive Bunny And The Mastermixers achieved 8 Top 40 hits in the UK, seven of which are included on this collection, ‘Swing The Mood’, ‘That’s What I Like’, ‘That Sounds Good To Me’, ‘Can Can You Party’, ‘Let’s Swing Again’, ‘The Crazy Party Mix’ and ‘Over To You John…’, plus the updated ‘Let’s Party 2008’, which includes last year’s belated No. 1 song ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’! This 3CD collection of 30 individual Medleys, contains more than 3 hours of music and includes snippets of more than 200 songs. From Swing to Pop, Disco to Rock, Movie Themes, Rock ‘n’ Roll, ‘70s, ‘80s, Summertime…you name it, there’s something for the entire family for the biggest party of the year.