In a way, the Searchers are a footnote. Never entering the upper echelon of British Invasion beat groups, the band nevertheless had legs, outlasting all but the titans of the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, and the Who. The Searchers always flew just below the radar, even if they had something of a renaissance at the tail end of the '70s with a new lineup headed by lead singer – and only constant – John McNally, with his lead guitarist companion Mike Pender directing the band through two superb power pop LPs and their jangle echoing in the stable of Shelter Records, heard strongly in the early records of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. They are best known for their earliest hits – 1963's "Sweets for My Sweet," 1964's "Needles and Pins" – which may be because they were their biggest hits but it's also because the Searchers never abandoned their pure pop template throughout their entire career, something that becomes blindingly evident over the course of the four-disc box set Hearts in Their Eyes.
The British Invasion was a phenomenon that occurred in the mid-1960s when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom,as well as other aspects of British culture, became popular in the United States, and significant to the rising "counterculture" on both sides of the Atlantic. Pop and rock groups such as The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits and The Whowere at the forefront of the invasion
There's something about sixties music, a simplicity that appeals and makes for easy listening. This is a great collection for relaxing to, dancing to, or just having on in the background. It's an equitable selection with a lot of very well known songs. So get out your gogo boots and mini skirt, and go for it!
Number 1's The Ultimate Collection features 100 hits that reached the much-coveted top UK chart top spot. Each of the 5 CDs features a carefully sequenced selection from one of 5 decades from the 60s right up to the noughties. Featuring a stunning array of rock, pop and soul anthems this is the very best of the UK chart in one poptastic box set.
Another lovingly curated rock & roll gem from Cherry Red's archival Grapefruit Records imprint, A Slight Disturbance in My Mind is an expansive three-disc set entirely devoted to the opening phases of Britain's budding psychedelic movement. By late 1965, the American underground, particularly San Francisco's LSD-inspired drug culture, had begun to infiltrate popular music. The Byrds and other West Coast groups began to adopt a more experimental attitude while in the U.K. bands like the Yardbirds and, more prominently, the Beatles forged their own new directions away from rock's more easily digestible conventions.