Mike Pender, Liverpool lad, celebrates 50 years of vibrant music

The Merseybeat sound of The Searchers, with irresistible jangly guitars and stirring harmonies, influenced countless rock artists, including The Byrds and Tom Petty. The Liverpool band pioneered folk-rock. Mike Pender's thrilling 12-string electric Rickenbaker riffs and compelling lead vocals fueled such Searchers hits as "Needles and Pins” and "When You Walk In The Room.”

Like The Beatles, The Searchers began with raw rock 'n' roll, honed it in the wild nightclubs of Germany and gradually developed their own completely distinctive sound.

In the 60s, The Searchers released a memorable string of hits that also included "Sweets For My Sweet,” "Sugar and Spice,” "Don't Throw Your Love Away,” "Love Potion No. 9,” "Take Me For What I'm Worth,” "Goodbye My Love” and "Someday We're Gonna Love Again.”

Half a century after the original recordings, the music of the Searchers continues to resonate with audiences worldwide.

Pender is one of the stars of the current British Invasion 50th Anniversary Tour. Also featured are Gerry & The Pacemakers, Chad & Jeremy, Billy J. Kramer and Denny Laine. Peter Asher of Peter & Gordon will be a special guest on two dates. [See bottom of the interview for itinerary] A multimedia extravaganza will contribute to recreating the unique excitement that the 60s' English groups generated. The lineup is spectacular and it's a rare opportunity for U.S. fans to catch Pender and The Pacemakers' Gerry Marsden, who rarely perform on these shores anymore.

While making a special appearance at the Fest For Beatles Fans in Chicago this August, Pender took time to amiably chat with Pop Culture Classics.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
Being part of events like The Fest for Beatle Fans in Chicago, what are the emotions that run through you during something like that?

MIKE PENDER:
Well, it's the first Beatles festival I've ever done, actually. Obviously, I do remember The Beatles, I met them many times in Liverpool, in the early days. when we were just nobodies, playing at The Cavern and places like that. But I didn't see much of them later on, of course. Everybody goes their own way and does their own thing.

So they wanted me to come over and appear and be a guest and so I thought, "Yeah, I'll take my wife with me, we'll have a little bit of a holiday in Chicago. And here I am!

PCC:
What are some of your memories of the interaction with the Beatles back in the day?

PENDER:
Oh, I can just about remember that far back in time [laughs]. It's a long time. I mean, it's more than 50 years, isn't it? Fifty years ago we had our first hit record, "Sweets For My Sweet.” Before that, you're talking about late 50s - '59, '60, '61. Those are the Cavern days. And obviously, The Beatles had been to the Star Club in Hamburg and they'd come back when we were just about to go over there. And then we came back and everybody started making hit records and it happened for everybody.

PCC:
Did The Beatles make a big impression on you, or were they just one of the many great Mersey bands at the time?

PENDER:
Ah, good question, good question. Yeah, they impressed me at the time. I remember the first time I ever saw The Beatles. It was in my hometown of Bootle, which is a little suburb of Liverpool. I still had my day job. And I'd come home from work. I was probably about 18 years old. And I remember going to the local hall, where the gig was. And when I got there, there was a poster outside. And, at the top of the bill was The Searchers. And underneath, it said, The Silver Beatles [chuckles]. They had just come back from Hamburg and there were five of them. They had a guy playing bass for them, Stuart Sutcliffe, I think his name was. So there were five Beatles, when I first met them. And, obviously, they had the original drummer, Pete Best. And obviously, it was John, Paul, Pete Best and George Harrison. And you know the rest of the story. But that was the first time I met them - that night.

They looked absolutely fantastic. When I went into what they called the dressing room, there were just five guys sitting on the floor, all smoking cigarettes. They all had leather gear on - leather jackets, leather trousers, cowboy boots [laughs]. And I thought, "Hey, they look great.” Absolutely brilliant they were.

And they had to go on before us, because, obviously, we were top of the bill that night. It was only their second gig in England, after coming back from Hamburg. And they just blew everyone away. We couldn't follow them. They were that good. Unbelievable.

PCC:
Why do you think, beyond the nostalgia, the British Invasion music is still so resonant with multiple generations?

PENDER:
Another good question. Well, I can put a lot of it down to The Beatles, because they seemed to be always in the forefront, the foreground, if you like. When something happens, an anniversary, it's usually connected to The Beatles. And obviously, you've still got McCartney, going 'round the world, doing concerts and things.

But I think the sixties, it was a time, when everybody was happy at that time, as I recall. They didn't have the problems they've got today. People were saving up to get a mortgage on their house. And everybody had a job in those days. Today, it's not like that. It's completely different. There are a lot of people around who are finding it hard to go through life. And the 60s was an easy time. So you get a lot of people today, who want to go back to that time. They want to go back to those times, when they enjoyed it. And they want to take their kids with them and say, "Come and see a Beatles look-alike band [[chuckles]. These were the guys that your Mum and I used to go and watch, 50 years ago.” And so a lot of people today still want to go back to those times. It's always going to be there. I don't know for how long, really. But who knows? It could still be here for another 20 years, I don't know.

PCC:
You had The Dave Clark 5 in Tottenham, The Hollies in Manchester. And then there were so many bands coming out of Liverpool. And all of them, at least the ones that made it, had their own distinct sound. How did that come about, do you think?

PENDER:
Yeah, well, I don't think we sat down and planned it. We just picked up all those songs, like "Sweets For My Sweet” and "Needles and Pins,” "When You Walk In The Room,” those songs were just lying around, recorded by The Drifters - "Sweets For My Sweet,” and Jackie DeShannon. And even though they were released as singles, they didn't do anything. They never really happened for the artist. And so, we just picked them up and made them our own, really, gave them our own sound. I suppose we had a distinctive sound of harmonies and jangly guitars.

People say to me, "Hey, Mike, we think you influenced The Byrds a little bit.” And it's nice to hear those things, actually, because, at the time, we were the sort of group that would get influences from America. It's a good feeling, to have had your own sound.

PCC:
What was the magical quality of the early 60s music scene in Liverpool, the atmosphere that led to so many great bands emerging at the same time?

PENDER:
Again, you think back, why Liverpool? Although you did have groups from Manchester, and, obviously, London. But I think it's got something to do with the air here of Liverpool, where you've got the Liverpool docks, ocean-going liners going to America, coming back. It was a lively place, Liverpool. I can remember, as a kid, you walked into the street in the mid-to-late 50s and they'd be playing songs by Hank Williams or Frankie Laine and people like this. All American sorts of music. That was the music I grew up on.

We looked to America for inspiration. Even when Buddy Holly came to Liverpool in 1958, he appeared at the Philharmonic in Liverpool, I was probably about 17 years old. And he just blew me away. And I remember realizing, "Wow! I would love to be up there on that stage, playing guitar and singing.” So I would say that Buddy Holly and The Crickets started Merseybeat. That's my opinion.

PCC:
When The Searchers first came together, did you all have similar musical tastes? Was the harmony there from the beginning?

PENDER:
That just came along. There's this guy in the band called John McNally. John and I started the band, just as the two of us. We played instrumentals then. I can remember learning on the guitar, Arthur "Guitar Boogie” Smith's hit, "Guitar Boogie.” He was the one, really, who started me off on trying to play the guitar. I played that record over and over, until I could play every note, the same as "Guitar Boogie" Smith.

So we started out playing instrumentals, John and I. He would play the chords and I would play all the lead, the picking out. At that time, we played a couple of Ventures' things, like "Walk Don't Run.” And then, when The Shadows came along in England, we played a lot of their stuff. So you could say we started really basically, playing instrumentals. And then, I found Tony Jackson in a pub in Liverpool. Just happened to go down there one night and said, "My pal, John and I, we play guitar. How about trying to start a group off and you be the singer and we'll just play for you?” And we started off just three of us, two guitars, no bass, no drums [laughs], with Tony singing. And we started, like everybody else, just rock 'n' roll. There were no harmonies there at that time. And no jangly guitars, because they didn't come along till later.

And then I came across an old school friend, Chris Curtis. I met him one day and he just happened to have a drum kit. It was like it was all planned. You know? Like fate. And we got together and Chris was the guy with the harmonies. He was the guy with that nice, smooth harmony-type voice. And it started then with us doing songs like, "Listen To Me,” Buddy Holly. You've got two-part harmonies coming in. So Holly, I would say, was an inspiration for us.

And then we just found our own sound, really. Once we'd been to the Star Club in Hamburg, we developed a sort of harmony-type guitar riff-type thing. And we'd always have those in our songs. And I suppose the vocals really, once I started lead vocal, which was from "Needles and Pins,” we had a definite sound. People could hear a song on the radio and say, "Yeah, that's The Searchers, man.”

PCC:
And those guitar hooks, would you just sit down and try to come up with something catchy to kick off the record?

PENDER:
I remember, when I first heard "When You Walk in the Room,” the Jackie DeShannon version, and she said that Glen Campbell played the guitar riff on the record. But, for me, it wasn't definite enough. It didn't grab you. So I remember saying to Chris, "When we record this song, it's got to grab people. It's got to really stand out.” I actually went out and bought a Rickenbacker 12-string to play that figure. From then on, we always featured 12-string guitar in the sound. It made our sound even more unique, the harmonies and 12-string. So we developed from there and over the last 30 years, people always think of us as that type of band, with harmonies and jangly guitars

PCC:
And how had you heard of the 12-string Rick?

PENDER:
Ah, yes. The first I'd ever seen a 12-string Rick was George Harrison. The latest record at the time was "Hard Day's Night.” We were doing a TV program in England. We were in the dressing room. We had the television on and The Beatles came on. And they were singing that song. I thought, "What's that guitar he's got?” I'd seen a Rickenbacker before, because John Lennon had one in the Star Club in Hamburg. His was a six-string, of course. But I was watching George and thought, "Hey, that guitar looks good. And it sounds different! Ah, it's a 12-string guitar! I've got to get one, man!” [Laughs]

PCC:
Yeah, you hear that opening riff on "When You Walk In The Room” and it sends chills up your spine. How much did playing in Germany early on shape the band, those days in the Star Club?

PENDER:
That was really where we came together, I think. We worked hard. You had to do three gigs a night, at the Star Club. We were like the working band, like the other bands - The Beatles, when they played there, Gerry and The Pacemakers, lots of other groups. And we would be the workers, if you like. And they would bring in a big star from America, like Ray Charles or Jerry Lee Lewis or Chuck Berry or somebody like that. They would be the big star of the night, coming on maybe about nine o'clock. They'd do an hour spot and then all the other groups would just fill in and play music for all those German people.

But I think that's where you could say we served our time. That's where we worked hard and we got the sound together and, when we got back to England, we were ready for it, man. And we did it.

PCC:
It wasn't that long after you had been part of the audience at the Buddy Holly show. So what was it like to interact with American rock ''n roll legends at the Star Club?

PENDER:
Oh, it was just fantastic, because they were our heroes, really. All those guys. We sang all their records. We sang "Whole Lotta Shakin'.” Chris sang Ray Charles' "What I Say.” And to sing all those songs and meet all those people who'd actually inspired us was just fantastic. It was another sort of feather in our cap, really, to go back and tell all the other guys in Liverpool, "Hey, man, do you know who we've just been with? We've just been with Ray Charles and all these people.” And it made you feel as though you were big, even though we hadn't made any records at the time. It was a great feeling. Absolutely.

PCC:
Did any of them take time to talk with you and make an impression on you?

PENDER:
No, not a lot. Ray Charles was pretty hard to get to, but he took a photograph with us and shook our hands and said, "You guys keep going.” And we said, "Maybe one day, we'll come to America [laughs],” which we did! We couldn't really believe at that time, that we'd ever go to America. We just thought it was a dream. We'd say to people like Jerry Lee Lewis, "What's it like in America?” And he'd say, "Oh, man, you gotta go to Memphis,” in his Southern drawl.

It was just fantastic to talk to those people. I remember we were doing a rehearsal one day. We were learning a new song at the Star Club. And it was about three o'clock in the afternoon. And who should come in, but Jerry Lee Lewis. He just jumped on the stage and he said, "You guys know my latest record?,” which was "How's My Ex Treating You.” And I didn't have a clue [Laughs], because it wasn't one of his greatest hits, I don't think. I said, "No, Jerry, we don't know that song.” And he just jumped on the piano and played it. If he'd have said, "Whole Lotta Shakin',” we could have played it for him. [Laughs again] But never mind. It was a fantastic meeting him. It was really brilliant. And it gave us a great story to tell back home.

PCC:
The band's name, The Searchers, did that come from the John Wayne/Natalie Hood/Jeffrey Hunter film?

PENDER:
Oh, yeah, yeah. As a kid, living in LIverpool, I was cowboy mad. The American westerns infatuated me, when I was a kid. I can think of all these names that you probably have never heard of, like Hopalong Cassidy, The Durango Kid. All these cowboy names, when I was a kid, in the 50s, they were big names in America, because America used to churn out these movies like every week. All of these western movies with people like Alan Ladd and obviously John Wayne, and Randolph Scott, Robert Mitchum and all these other guys. They were my heroes as western cowboys.

When I'd seen that the movie, "The Searchers,” was on in my local town, I just had to go and see it. Cowboys and Indians? You sold me on it, man, I have to go and see it. And we were just about to start playing guitars and get together with other guys and sort of trying to learn how to play and that. And when we came out of the cinema, I said, "What about calling ourselves The Searchers?” And they were sort of like, "Well, I don't know.” It didn't sound too good at the time. But today, I think, what a great name we picked! [Laughs]

PCC:
When you first played the U.S., 50 years ago, what were your impressions? Was it what you expected?

PENDER:
They were ready for us, because The Beatles had already been in. They were the first big band in. And, of course, they did "The Ed Sullivan Show” and they had all the screaming girls and fantastic welcome at the airport. And I think that opened the floodgates, really, because Americans then said, "Have you got any more groups over there?” And we arrived and we did "The Ed Sullivan Show,” as well, and we went through all the screaming girls, couldn't get out of the hotel, and things like that. And so, I felt like I was dreaming, when I first came to America. I was seeing all these things...

For instance, when you go into New York, you see signs for pizza. And we didn't know what pizza was, because we didn't have pizza in England at that time. And we said, "Hey, man, what's pizza?” And they said, "Come on, we're going to take you to a restaurant and get you some. [Laughs] That was sort of a curiosity for me. And then the other curiosity was to see all the steam coming up, around the grids, in the streets. I couldn't work out what that was. They told me, "Yeah, it's the heating system underneath.” We didn't have that in England. I thought, "Wow! What is that?” So there were a lot of big surprises.

”The Ed Sullivan Show” was just a fantastic feeling, absolutely, because, when we were back in England, before we ever made any records, and we still had our jobs, you'd come home and switch the TV on and you'd see Buddy Holly or Elvis on "The Ed Sullivan Show.” You'd think, "Wow! Fantastic!” And then, some years later, to think, "Hey, here we are, man! We're on "The Ed Sullivan Show.'” It was absolutely brilliant.

PCC:
All the screaming and the mania - was that something you got used to quickly? Was it surreal?

PENDER:
Yeah, it was surreal, because it was so big. We'd seen it sort of, in small doses, in England, when we had our first records, "Sweets For My Sweet” and "Sugar and Spice.” And then, once we recorded 'Needles and Pins,” it was time to go to America. And so, arriving in America, it was like, "Wow!” It was even bigger and bigger and bigger again. It was just so big, we couldn't take it all in. But it was a fantastic feeling to have everybody saying, "Hey, man, we love you guys! We love you groups.” It was just a fantastic feeling.

PCC:
Is it true that John Lennon helped "Sweets For My Sweet” to really take off?

PENDER:
I think so. You hear these things. People relate them to you. They say, "Lennon said on the radio that 'Sweets For My Sweet' was the best record to come out of Liverpool.” Wow, man! That was absolutely brilliant. So it did go up a few notches in the charts, when he said that, so yeah, he probably helped it a bit, yeah.

PCC:
You mentioned before, unearthing old R&B and rock 'n' roll records and making them your own. What was the process of working out an arrangement? Like, "Don't Throw Your Love Away,” it's totally unrecognizable from The Orlons' version. You completely made it a Searchers song.

PENDER:
Yeah. It wasn't a big hit in America, actually, that song. It's an okay song. We heard The Orlons original. But it's the B-side of the record. In England, it was the B-side. I can't remember what the A-side was. We flipped it over and said, "That sounds okay. You think we could do something with that?” And we worked on it. [Sings the guitar part] We said, "Yeah, it's a good riff on the guitar. Do that. Put some harmonies on it.” And the next thing you know, it's an A-side. [Laughs] It just happened like that, you know?

PCC:
Same thing with "Love Potion No. 9”? [Originally a hit by The Clovers]

PENDER:
"Love Potion” was one of those songs we''d been doing for a long time. And it was just a song in the act. And Tony Jackson sang it. And it was just a song we liked. It was a simple song, really. But what we liked about it was, the lyrics were so American. [Sings] I took my troubles down to Madame Rue. You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth. She's got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine... " The lyrics were really American and we thought, "Yeah, that sounds great. We'll sing that.” And then our record company in
America said, "We're going to release this as a single.” And the next thing we know, it's like number two, almost number one, in the Billboard charts. We said, "Oh, I can't believe it, man! Fantastic!”

PCC:
”Sugar and Spice,” with Tony Hatch, writing and producing, [later the man behind many of Petula Clark's biggest hits] what were your impressions of him?

PENDER:
[Laughs] Well, that's a good story, actually, because, as you know, we had "Sweets For My Sweet,” was the first big single and the record company said, "Come on, man, we want another song like "Sweets For My Sweet.” And Tony Hatch, he obviously thought, "I'm going to tell the boys that I picked this song up” He didn't tell us he wrote it, at the time. He said he found the song. He played it to us. And we said, "We don't have a single for our next record. Are you saying you'd like us to record this song?” And he said, "Yeah, I think you'll have a hit with it.” He was our mentor at the time, so we just went along with him and said, "Okay, let's do it.” And we only found out later that the name on the label, Fred Nightingale, was just an imaginary name. It was really Tony Hatch who wrote it [laughs].

But we didn't know that much about the record business at the time. We didn't have a song, so why not? Why not "Sugar and Spice”? It was a hit. I remember, later on, Robin Williams playing it in "Good Morning Vietnam.” [Laughs] But it's never been one of my favorite songs, to be honest with you. It's a skip-along, mimicky type sort of bubbly song. And I'd much rather have "Needles and Pins” or "When You Walk In The Room” or that type of song, "Goodbye, My Love.” Or "Love Potion.” "Sugar and Spice” is a gimmicky song, I think.

PCC:
"Needles and Pins” - did the band find that? Did the producer bring it to you?

PENDER:
We actually discovered that song at the Star Club in Hamburg. There was a group called Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers. They were from London. And they actually did it in their set. And we'd sit and listen and say, "Yeah, that's a good song, man.” We did it totally different to the way they did. The lead singer, he sang it differently to the way I did. And I, of course, added that little "pin-za” as opposed to "pins.” When we did the session, I remember singing it and at the end of the take, I said to the producer, "I'm sorry. I said 'pin-za,' instead of 'pins.'” He said, "No, man, leave it in. It's good.”[Laughs] I don't know why I sang "pin-za.” It's just something that came out. People in America, they call out, "Hey, Mike, what about pin-za?!” So it was something that caught on, really. So I'm good about that, yeah. It was a great song. Sonny Bono wrote the lyrics. Jack Nitzsche was responsible for the music, the tune. It was a good song, had a good storyline to it.

We had a job, when I think back, convincing the record company to release that song, because, after "Sweets For My Sweet,” "Sugar and Spice,” they said, "Come on, man, don't fix it. It's not broken. Give us another sugary, sweetie type record.” That's what record companies do, though! We said, "No, man! We've got to change direction, do something different. And we've got to do this song.” And we played it and they said, "Well, it's a good song, but are people going to like that song? It's a bit personal - 'I saw her today, I saw her face. It was a face I loved. And I had to go away and break down and cry.'” And they said, "No, it's too serious, man. People won't like it.” And we said, "No, we've got to do it, man.” And we were proved right in the end.

PCC:
Was the record company resistant to "What Have They Done To The Rain” - originally one of the early environmental, anti-nuke songs?

PENDER:
Yeah. We didn't really respond to those people who actually said it was an anti-war song at the time or an environmental song, we weren't really big on that at the time. And then, after we recorded it, people said, "Hey, we like your version of 'What Have They Done To The Rain.'” As you know, it was written by a California lady, Malvina Reynolds. And it was recorded by Joan Baez. I'm not sure if it was a hit in America. But we liked it and I suppose we changed direction, too, with that song. But it suited our style.

I remember Brian Epstein coming along and saying, "I like The Searchers' new single. It sounds really good. They sing it very well.” And he actually tried to bring us into his stable at one time. But our manager at the time, Tito Burns, he said, "No way, man. You've got The Beatles. You've got Gerry. You've got Cilla Black. You've got Billy J. Kramer. You've got too many. You're not getting The Searchers.” [Laughs] And so he didn't get The Searchers.

People say to me today, "Mike, are you sorry you weren't with the Brian Epstein stable?” And I say, "Not really, no.” It's very easy to look back and say, "Oh, I wish we'd have been in with The Beatles and this and that.” I think we did really well. We conquered America, along with a lot of those groups. America loved us and loved a lot of our music. And we did it really just with our own manager. And it was good, probably, not to be with Brian Epstein. And so I say to people now, "No, no, I wouldn't change anything. It was great for us.”

PCC:
Was there a lot of camaraderie amongst the Liverpool bands? Was there a sense of competition?

PENDER:
Oh, yeah. Everyone wanted to be the best. When we were nobodies at The Cavern and The Iron Door and all those clubs in Liverpool, all the sweat cellars around Liverpool, everybody wanted to be the best. We wanted to sing the best songs, play the best songs. When a new song came out by an American artist, everybody wanted to be the first to do it. And whoever was the first, they'd say, "We're the kings, man. We're doing the new song.” So, competition-wise, everybody wanted to be the best. And it was competitive.

PCC:
And finding all these great songs - you also did "Take Me For What I'm Worth,” the P.F. Sloan, Steve Barri song - were you constantly digging you songs? Were people sending you songs?

PENDER:
Yeah, we'd get a lot of songs that were sent along to the record label. But the guy we had on drums at the time, Chris Curtis, he was a fantastic finder of songs. He had the biggest record collection I've ever seen in my life. And it was all vinyl at that time, don't forget. And he'd buy American soul records, obscure American singles, good product that never made it. He always used to buy that kind of stuff. He found a lot of songs. He found "Goodbye, My Love.” We recorded it. He found the original of that and we made it our own. And we had a big hit in England with it. I don't know if it did anything over here.

And he found "Take It For What I'm Worth.” People say, "Yeah, it's a good version, man.” It wasn't a big hit for us, because that was late in our career. The big hits had gone by then and so we were sort of down to a level whereby the big sort of scene of '64, '65 and '66 had gone.

PCC:
What are your memories of touring Australia with The Stones in '65?

PENDER:
Yeah, again, that was really sort of devastating, especially for Chris, the drummer, because he always wanted to be top number one dog. When we worked with any other groups, he wanted to be top. We never played with The Beatles, once they had made it big. But once we did the tour with The Stones, The Stones were getting all the adulation and all the reviews in the newspapers were saying how good they were and The Searchers were okay, pretty good, their sound was still good. But I think our drummer, Chris, he couldn't deal with all of that. And so it wasn't long after that that he decided to leave and go into production.

But in this business, you've got to be prepared for that to happen, because you can't be top dogs all the time. You've got to realize that there's going to be new people coming along, whether it's a single artist or a group. And you've just got to take it, man and just do your own stuff and realize that that's where you're at. And if you're not number one on the charts anymore, then so be it. Just enjoy your music.

PCC:
But you did have, later on, some great albums on Sire, including covers of John Fogerty and Alex Chilton tunes. Was it frustrating that, although they were well received critically, they didn't have the commercial success they deserved?

PENDER:
Well, it was, I have to say, it was frustrating, because Sire Records, Seymour Stein, who was the chairman of the company, he came to see us in England, at a gig. And I think he probably wanted to see for himself how we sounded. I can remember him saying, "Hey, you sound great, man. We're going to put you back on the charts.” And I really thought it was going to happen again for us. They put us in Rockfield Studios in Wales. And we did a couple of albums. And the product was pretty good. And we thought, "Yeah, we're going to do it again.” And it didn't happen. Nobody bought the albums. So you'd have to classify it as a failure. So when that happened, I thought, "Yeah, man, it's never going to happen again.”

That was about '82, '83. And it never happened again. And I think you've got to realize that, when you feel like that, when you realize you're going to be playing your old songs forever and ever and that's going to be where you're going, decided to form my own band in '85. And I just do nostalgia shows. And I've settled down. I've got other interests in life. I don't really need to keep working the gigs. But I wouldn't like not to work. You know what I mean? I'd miss it. So I still like performing, which is why I'm here and why I'm doing a tour in September. I still like to get up on stage and see those people singing along with all those hits. And I don't think I'll ever stop working. I won't do as much work. I don't enjoy working forever and ever. If I do a tour, I like to go on a nice, long holiday afterwards and cool down. And then come back at it fresh. That's the way I like to do it now.

PCC:
With there being another version of The Searchers with John McNally still touring, as well as Mike Pender's Searchers, is it all amicable between the two of you?

PENDER:
No, it wasn't amicable. They didn't really like me leaving. In fact, John's never forgiven me for leaving the band. There'll never be a reunion, I'll tell you that. Too late for that now. But he doesn't realize - and he's never realized - that there's room for both groups, really. I mean, they've got their fans and I've got my fans. I'm sure it's pretty similar to a lot of people who have been in groups and have left and gone their own way. You'll always be compared. And you'll always have fans that follow the other group. And you'll always have lot of fans that follow you. I don't like to talk about it, because I don't like to say I sing the songs the best or I do this better. I don't like to compare myself. I just like to leave it up to the people to say, "Mike, you still sound good. We still like you. We came to the show and you're still great.” That's good enough for me.

PCC:
You've got this British Invasion 50th Anniversary tour coming up. Is that going to be nostalgic for you, as well as the fans, on a bill with that lineup of old friends.

PENDER:
Yeah, it's going to be funny. I haven't seen Billy J. Kramer for about 10 years. I did a big tour with him in Australia, about 10 years ago. I see Gerry Marsden now and again in England. We do a show now and again. I don't think I've met Denny Laine. Certainly, when he was with The Moody Blues, I didn't meet him and I don't remember meeting him afterwards. I don't think I've ever met Chad and Jeremy either. So it's going to be fun to meet those guys for the first time. And it's going to be funny to see Billy J. Kramer and Gerry again. I'm looking forward to it.

PCC:
What are your memories of Gerry and Billy from back in the day?

PENDER:
Well [laughs], a lot of fun, really. Billy's a comedian, really. He's always good for a laugh. And he always talks about the old days, when he lived in England, because he lives over here now. And he always talks about the old days in England and when we used to do concerts together. And he'll always talk about The Beatles. He's always been a big Beatles fan.

I've always acknowledged that The Beatles were the far superior group. But I've never really gone overboard about how I love this and I love that. I've never really been a Beatles fan as far as playing their music. If I play any music at all, it's always going to be The Eagles or Crosby, Stills and Nash, or The Byrds or Tom Petty, somebody like that. That's the kind of music I like.

But it's going to be fun to see these guys again and I'm really looking forward to it.

PCC:
And, if anyone had told you in '64 you'd still be singing this music 50 years later, what would you have said?

PENDER:
[Laughs] I would have laughed and said, "No way, man. No way.” But, thinking about it, it's like I said before, if you still have the energy for it, and if people still say you sound okay, and people want to come along and spend their money to come to a show, well then, I'm going to keep doing it. And I'm going to keep enjoying it.

Interview courtesy of Paul Freeman [August 2014]