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Gerry Marsden
Background information
Birth name	Gerard Marsden
Born	(1942-09-24) 24 September 1942 (age 69) Toxteth, Liverpool, England
Origin	Liverpool, England, UK
Genres	Merseybeat, rock, pop, British invasion
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, Television personality
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1959–66 (group) 1966–present (solo)
Labels	Columbia (EMI) (UK) Laurie Records (US)
Associated acts	Gerry and the Pacemakers The Crowd (1985)
Website	Official site

Gerard "Gerry" Marsden (born 24 September 1942) is an English musician and television personality, best known for being leader of the British band Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Biography[link]

Marsden was born at 8 Menzies Street, Toxteth, Liverpool, interest in music began at an early age. He remembers standing on top of an air raid shelter singing "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" and getting a great reception from onlookers. He said to himself then, "This is what I want to do."

Gerry and the Pacemakers were the second group signed by Brian Epstein and remained among his favourite artists. Their first single was "How Do You Do It," recommended by George Martin after it was initially given to The Beatles. This was the first number one hit for the Pacemakers. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and was released on EMI's Columbia label. Marsden said the recording took four or five takes. The band's second number one was "I Like It", followed by "You'll Never Walk Alone". Other singles included "It's Gonna Be Alright", "I'm the One," "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying," and "Ferry Cross the Mersey."

After leaving the Pacemakers — his brother Fred Marsden, Les Maguire and Les Chadwick—Gerry Marsden maintained a low-key career on television, and starred in the West End musical Charlie Girl alongside Derek Nimmo and Anna Neagle.

He is most remembered for the song "I Like It" and his rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone", which has been adopted as an anthem of several football clubs, the most notable being Liverpool, the club that Marsden supports. He sang the song at Wembley Stadium when Everton faced Liverpool at the 1989 F.A. Cup final shortly after the Hillsborough disaster. Marsden is a very vocal Liverpool F.C. supporter but was an Everton FC fan until he was 13 years old.

The Pacemakers, albeit with different musicians, still tour today and are a popular oldies draw on the circuit.

Marsden returned to No. 1 in the charts twice during the 1980s with re-recordings of two of his old hits, with all profits going to charity. In 1985 after the Bradford Football Club stadium tragedy in which 56 were killed, he formed a group called "The Crowd," which included other musicians, singers, and radio disc jockeys, to produce a new version of "You'll Never Walk Alone." On 18 April, three days after the Hillsborough Disaster in which 96 Liverpool F.C. fans ultimately died as a result of their injuries, he joined forces with Paul McCartney, The Christians, Holly Johnson, and his production trio Stock, Aitken & Waterman on a new version of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" - recorded under the name Ferry Aid.^[1]

Marsden's favourite recordings are "Ferry Cross the Mersey," "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" and "You'll Never Walk Alone."

In 1993, Marsden published his autobiography, I'll Never Walk Alone, co-written with former Melody Maker editor Ray Coleman.

Quotation[link]

NME - August 1963^[2]

Discography[link]

• Please Let Them Be/I'm Not Blue (CBS, March 1967)
• Gilbert Green/What Makes Me Love You (CBS, August 1967)
• Liverpool/Charlie Girl (released as Gerry Marsden & Derek Nimmo, CBS, April 1968)
• In The Year Of April/Every Day (NEMS, Nov. 1968)
• Every Little Minute/In Days Of Old (NEMS, May 1969)
• I've Got My Ukelele/What A Day (Decca, May 1971)
• Amo Credo / Come Break Bread (Phoenix, April 1972)
• They Don't Make Days Like That Any More / Can't You Hear The Song (DJM, August 1974)
• Your Song / Days I Spent With You (DJM, April 1975)
• My Home Town / Lovely Lady (DJM, September 1976)
• The Rose b/w You Are My Everything (PACE 100, September 1988)

References[link]

• Grant, Peter (27 March 2001). "Gerry Marsden". Liverpool Daily Post. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/the-beatles/the-beatles-people/2001/03/27/gerry-marsden-64375-11005618/. Retrieved 2009-03-10. 

External links[link]

• Official website

Peter Noone
Noone, performing live June 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone
Also known as	Herman
Born	(1947-11-05) 5 November 1947 (age 64) Davyhulme, Lancashire, England
Genres	Rock, pop
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1962–present
Labels	RAK, Philips, Bus Stop (UK) Bell, Philips (US)
Associated acts	Herman's Hermits
Website	www.peternoone.com

Peter Noone (born Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone, 5 November 1947, Davyhulme, Lancashire) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor, best known as Herman of the successful 1960s rock group Herman's Hermits.

Early life[link]

The son of an accountant, Noone attended Wellacre Primary School in Flixton and Stretford Grammar School near Manchester. He played a number of acting roles on television, including that of Stanley Fairclough in the soap opera Coronation Street.^[1] Noone studied voice and drama at St Bede's College, Manchester and Manchester School of Music, where he won the Outstanding Young Musician Award.

Career[link]

Herman's Hermits[link]

Early in his career, he used the stage name Peter Novak. At the age of 15, he became the lead singer, spokesman, and frontman of Herman's Hermits. As "Herman", the photogenic Noone appeared on the cover of many international publications, including the Time Magazine's cover collage showing new faces in popular music.^[2]

Solo work[link]

After leaving Herman's Hermits in 1971, Noone recorded four singles for UK RAK Records, one single for UK and US Philips, and several singles for the small UK record label, Bus Stop Records. His first RAK single, "Oh! You Pretty Things", peaked at No.12 in the UK Singles Chart.^[3] It was written by David Bowie, who also played piano on the track. In 1974 Noone scored a No.15 US AC and No.101 US Bubbling Under success with "Meet Me On The Corner Down At Joe's Cafe" on the Casablanca Records label. In 1989 he had a No.19 US AC hit with his solo recording of "I'm Into Something Good" from the movie The Naked Gun.

The Tremblers[link]

Noone led a short-lived new wave group called "The Tremblers" that toured in 1980 and released one album, "Twice Nightly." Along with Noone, the members of the band were Greg Inhofer (keyboards), Robert Williams (drums, formerly with The Pop), George Conner (lead guitar) and Mark Browne (bass). According to the liner notes of the album, several musicians provided "licks & tricks," including members of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, Elton John's backing band, Daryl Dragon and Dave Clark.

Family[link]

Noone has a brother Damon Noone who is also a musician and a parliamentary candidate for United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). Peter Noone is married to Mireille (née Strasser), a Strasbourg-born Frenchwoman.^[4] They were married on 5 November 1968,^[5] Noone′s 21st birthday.^[6] Because Strasser was Jewish, the Catholic Noone needed a special dispensation for the couple to be married at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in London′s Mayfair.^[6] They have a daughter, Natalie.

Film, television, and stage[link]

As Noone sings "Henry the VIII" on The Danny Kaye Show, the king's portrait comes to life.

Noone featured in the 1971 Central Office of Information film Betcher!, refereeing a contest between two gangs of kids, one who ride their bikes how they like, the other taking cycling proficiency tests. During the 1970s, Noone also starred in various stage, TV and film productions, including ABC's musical version of The Canterville Ghost, and the lead in Hallmark Hall of Fame's presentation of Pinocchio. He starred in three films for MGM: Mrs Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter, Hold On! and When the Boys Meet the Girls. He received favourable reviews in the lead role of Frederic in several Broadway theatre productions of The Pirates of Penzance during the 1980s. Also in the 1980s, Noone fronted a new-wave band called the Tremblers, and released a solo album, One of the Glory Boys.

He was the host of VH1's My Generation from 1989 to 1993, and in 2001 he was voted 'VH1's Sexiest Artist. The Viewers' Choice award'. He now lives in Santa Barbara, California, United States. One of his neighbours is Dennis Miller, and Noone occasionally appears on his radio programme. In 1992 he starred in episode 9, season 7 of Married With Children along side Richie Havens, Spencer Davis, John Sebastian, Robby Krieger, and Mark Lindsay.

He voiced Adrian of the band Tiny Cowboy in Disney Channel's show Phineas and Ferb with Davy Jones of The Monkees as fellow band member Nigel.

Recent[link]

He still tours with a group called 'Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone'. Noone appeared on the televised singing show American Idol on 20 March 2007 as a mentor for male contestants on the show. He performed "There's a Kind of Hush" on American Idol on 21 March 2007.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Peter Noone singing his daughter′s song "I′d Rather Be Lonely" on YouTube.com

Freddie Garrity (14 November 1936 – 19 May 2006)^[1] was a singer and actor who was frontman and comical element in the 1960s pop band, Freddie and the Dreamers.

Biography[link]

Born in Manchester, Freddie worked as a milkman while playing in local skiffle groups: the Red Sox, the John Norman Four, and finally the Kingfishers, who became Freddie and the Dreamers in 1959.^[2] In the early years of the band, Garrity’s official birth-date was given as 14 November 1940 to make him appear younger and, therefore, more appealing to the youth market who bought the majority of records sold in the UK.

Garrity’s trademark was his habit of leaping up and down during performances. This, combined with his almost skeletal appearance and horn-rimmed glasses, made him an eccentric figure in the UK pop scene of the early 1960s.

Freddie and the Dreamers disbanded in the late 1960s and between 1971 and 1973 Garrity and former bandmate Peter Birrell appeared in the ITV children’s television show Little Big Time. Garrity also made an appearance on the Granada Television production The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club in early 1974; and he appeared in an episode of Heartbeat as a DJ, who played a Freddie and the Dreamers record, "I'm Telling You Now".

After his television career ended, Garrity formed a new version of Freddie and the Dreamers and toured regularly for the next two decades, but no further records or chart success came their way. He continued to perform until 2001, when he was diagnosed with emphysema after collapsing during a flight, thus forcing him into retirement.

With his health in decline, Garrity settled in Newcastle-under-Lyme. He was married three times and had one child from his first marriage, Jackie, and three from his second marriage, Nicola, Danielle, and Matthew. Freddie Garrity died at Bangor in North Wales, at the age of 69, after being taken ill while on holiday.

Quotation[link]

NME, October 1963^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Freddie Garrity at the Internet Movie Database
• Freddie Garrity at Allmusic.com
• Freddie and the Dreamers Tribute at Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict