As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Monday, January 4, 2021

Gerry Marsden

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/gerry-marsden-gerry-and-the-pacemakers-singer-dead-obit-1109232/

 

Certainly not as mellow as Chad and Jeremy, British Invasion band Gerry and the Pacemakers were nonetheless most fondly remembered for their ballads. They were the first British Invasion band to reach #1 on the British charts, with “How Do You Do It” immediately preceding “Love Me Do” and “I Like It” following it at the top – both of which were upbeat, it should be noted. There two biggest hits on this side of the Atlantic, however, were ballads penned by Marsden: “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” and “Ferry Cross The Mersey”. Worldwide, however, they remain best known for their touching rendition of the Rodgers-and-Hammerstein classic “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, which became the official anthem of soccer club Liverpool FC in the band’s hometown, and was subsequently picked up by a number of other teams. This past March, it was played simultaneously on radio stations in 20 European countries as a morale-booster during the pandemic.

 

Favorite songs:

You’ll Never Walk Alone

Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying

I’ll Be There

It’s Gonna Be Alright

Ferry Cross The Mersey