Talk:Mike Pender's Searchers

Personal Bio

This material belongs at Mike Pender not an article about one group he was in:

Mike Pender was born Michael John Prendergast on March 3, 1941 in Kirkdale, Liverpool, Lancashire. Mike Pender was an original founding member of British invasion rock group, The Searchers. He is best known as the lead vocalist on many hit singles by The Searchers, including the song Needles & Pins. From his humble beginnings performing alongside bands such as The Beatles in Liverpool, England, Mike Pender has been a recognisable voice of rock and roll for more than 45 years. Most notably, Mike Pender forged the signature jangly 12-string guitar sound, which inspired other 1960s artists such as Roger McGuinn of The Byrds. Mike Pender has been active in music since the late 1950s when he was a teenager.

In his early years and before reaching fame, Mike Pender worked at a guitar shop as a day job in between playing nightly gigs with The Searchers. According to Mike Pender, he is responsible for choosing the band name for The Searchers. The band was founded by myself and John McNally. In 1957 John and I went to see the movie "The Searchers" starring John Wayne. I was an ardent Western Fan and so I dragged John along with me to see it. I take the credit for choosing the name 'The Searchers' and for co-founding the band in its original form," said Mike Pender in an interview.John McNally however does not agre with that. Some years ago, Mike Pender claimed to be a member of two fictitious groups he played in before his years with The Searchers. Hoping to build more credibility as a musician, Mike Pender claimed to have played in early groups, The Wreckers and The Confederates. He admitted some years later these two groups were ficticious

Over the years, some of Mike Pender's personal guitars have included his Gibson ES345 with suburst finish, the Burns Tri-Sonic in the colour of red with three pickups and the twelve-string Rickenbacker Rose Morris model 1993 coloured in a fireglo finish with deluxe features including the f-hole rather than the slash sound hole. Other guitars Mike Pender has played include the Aria twelve-string guitar, his Danelectro Bellzouki twelve-string made from wood and hardboard, and the solid Rickenbacker 450/12 in an elegant mapleglo finish, which had a converter comb, which allowed it to be converted into either a 6-string or 12-string guitar. Sadly, Mike Pender's Rickenbacker 360/12 1993 Model was stolen several years ago. This guitar was used on many of The Searchers studio recordings in addition to numerous performances with Mike Pender.

After The Searchers recorded the singles "Sweets for My Sweet" and "Sugar & Spice", Mike Pender traded lead vocal duties with Tony Jackson. Mike Pender fronted The Searchers on numerous chart-topping hits, which continued into the early 1970s in the United Kingdom and The United States. During the late 1970s, The Searchers were signed by Seymour Stein's Sire Records and recorded two modernised albums, including "The Searchers" and "Play for Today," which was retitled "Love's Melodies" outside the United Kingdom. They released 4 singles on Sire label Hearts In Her Eyes, It's Too Late, Another Night and Love's Melody. The Searchers resigned to PRT label and recorded what would be their final single with Mike Pender and their only single on the label I Don't Want to Be the One.