More MOR than most Brit Invaders - but still excellent

Gerry Marsden had the perfect reedy voice to front this vintage British Invasion group. It was what really propelled them since their sound didn't include the close harmonies and/or twanging guitars of the Searchers and some of the other early British bands. Their sound was often pretty middle-of-the-road compared with everyone else in the early stable.

Their initial propellant was the absolutely gorgeously written-and-performed "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying", which is high up on the list of greatest ballads of the last 50 years. It fit in well with the slew of mid-tempo tunes by the likes of the Searchers ("Don't Throw Your Love Away"), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas ("Bad to Me" and "Little Children"), Peter and Gordon ("A World Without Love"), and Chad and Jeremy ("Yesterday's Gone") from mid-spring of '64. These songs really defined the second wave of the 'Invasion'. It was an expressly magical moment for our young mid-sixties' generation.

When Gerry and the P's got bouncy, they ended up with mixed results. "How Do You Do It" was mediocre at best, though it charted relatively high. "I Like It" followed almost immediately in the U. S. and though pretty much a knockoff, nevertheless surpassed its model by a good margin. And "La La La" never received the airplay it deserved - I think I only caught it once - it was possibly 4 out of 5 stars. I'm pretty sure "I'm the One" charted, but I don't think I ever heard it played.

"Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" was the only other of their ballads that fit into the neat compartment of the 'young sound' - in fact it became kind of an anthem, for obvious reasons. Some of the other ballads ("You'll Never Walk Alone", "Give Me All Your Love") seemed more like adult music (even the Beatles did this kind of stuff, but never released any as singles). They didn't sit that well with the teenage audiences who were buying most of the records, though "I'll Be There" was particularly gorgeous.

I myself was always on the lookout for their next great record, which finally came along in the shape of their only genuine rocker "It's Gonna Be Alright", definitely one of the very best songs the year it came out. Their last main chart success was the very groovy "Girl On a Swing", which fit in with the feel of some of the better late Herman's Hermits tunes from around the same time ("Listen People" and "There's a Kind of Hush"). It's definitely on the early edge of music from the 'Love Generation'.