Nick and Sue. This edition of the Chatterbox Redux podcast is brought to you in association with the Old Glory iconic music and sports superstore. More from them in a bit. Chatterbox. When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue. Welcome back to the Chatterbox Redux podcast with Sue and Nick and today our special guest is Andy Kiriakou of Modern Romance. This is Nick and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need to know about music. Mike Pender, welcome to Chatterbox
UK. How are you? Well, I'm fine. Just finding things to do. I'm still learning how to play the guitar. Well, you can always sing a bit. That came in quite handy for the last almost 60 years, so... Very good answer, Mike. Do you write new material, or was it just the old stuff these days? Well, I mean, talking about writing
material, I mean, I gave up that years ago. any good there's any way I mean in the 60s and 70s we did try to write music and find our way because obviously that's what happens when you're being big at one time and as the years go by you do have to start writing your own material instead of depending on other people to write something and I've always been a performer to this day and the show that I have been doing down was sensational 60s and I've been doing that three
years yeah yeah hopefully it's gonna start again mike we can take these surges back to like 1959 somewhere around there but what i want to do is take uh mike pender the uh say the nipper uh when when you were a kid uh what did you come from a musical home or what inspired you to to start singing play the guitar etc what right back when we were sorting the kiddy witties yeah yeah so well i mean Thinking back to those times.
There wasn't much to do actually go to school come home Play outside around the local gas lamp And then of course lots of things yeah, I remember I used to collect American comics I had a good then so collecting train spotting lots of things and then You know, I suddenly swapped my collection of comics for an old acoustic guitar. I've probably told this story before, but we'll tell it again. I swapped my collection for an acoustic guitar, just wanted to learn how to play. Sat in my mother's
front room in my little hometown. Many was the time I sort of threw the thing away and said, I'll never be able to learn this. Um, but you know, I stuck at it and like it, you know, lots of other guys do at the time. You stick at it and you learn how to play. And that's what happened. And so that would have been, I would have been about 15, 16 years old. Um, just about leaving school. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, of course in those
sort of 19, I left school. He was 19, 1956. And of course, you know, I was Western cowboy, American cowboy man. As a kid I wanted to be a cowboy. Yeah, I know what's coming next. You're going to answer my next question. Yeah, brilliant. And then, you know, we started to sort of look around and find other people who played guitar. We found John McNally who lived not far from
me and we started to get together. and we formed a little group and we were, you know, like probably the way other people at the same time, obviously, like Leonard McCartney and Jerry Morrison and people like that, they were all pro-, I didn't know them at the time, of course. It was only later that we all met up with each other in places like the Cavern and the Iron Door and the Rookies. 1957 I went to see a movie called The Searchers, John Wayne. From the thrilling pages of life
rides a man you must fear and respect. A man whose unconquerable will and boundless determination carved a lusty, rough and boisterous slice of history called The Searchers. It's John Wayne as Ethan Edwards, who had a rare kind of courage. The courage that simply keeps on and on, far beyond all reasonable endurance. Never thinking of himself as martyred, never thinking of himself as brave. So we'll find him in the end, I promise
you. We'll find him. Here is the story of a man, hard and relentless, tender and passionate, of people who dared to challenge a hostile land. Here is drama of great love and aching loneliness. I found him. I found Lucy. What you saw was a buck wearing Lucy's dress. I found Lucy back in the canyon. What was she... What do you want me to do? Draw your picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me. As long as you live, don't ever
ask me more. And if you don't hear my first holler, you better read my mind, because I don't aim to raise no two hollers on any subject at hand. Yes, sir. Boy! Watch that knife! Go, Martin, please! Stand aside, Martin. No, you don't, Ethan. Ethan, no, you don't! Stand aside. Looks like you've got yourself surrounded. Yeah, and I figure on getting myself unsurrounded. Let's go! And as people well know by now, that's where we took
the name from. And we messed around in Liverpool trying to sort of form ourselves into a real good combo, as it were. And we sort of made the grade and the rest is history. Well, basically, yeah, I mean, there's a few little steps you took, because I understand the searchers in their early days was actually a skiffle group. Yes, this is one of those things that you get with lots of people in show business, you know, you
get the noise that are bandied around. I mean, I think John was into skiffle before I met him, but I was never into skiffle. I was country and western. Sure, OK. to people like Jimmy Rogers and Carl Perkins and people like that. Hank Williams, you know, that was the kind of music I listened to. So, you know, it wasn't the Lonnie Donegan thing that got me sort of started and got me, it didn't influence me at all. The main influence
for me would arrive around about 1958. I remember going to see Buddy Holly and the Critics in Liverpool. 20th of March, 1958, I remember the date. Well done! That night really lived with me forever, really. I always remember coming out and catching the bus home thinking, that's what I want to do, that's what I want to be. Buddy Holly was absolutely fantastic. And of course we all know about Buddy Holly. He was fantastic, I just died so young. What do you think of that little trio?
Ruddy and the other two guys, and I've got none of the other guys' names. Yes, that's right, yeah. Well, I met the actual group, the Crickets. Wow. Okay, well done. Well done. Yes, I mean, you know, ever since that night. And he was the
main influence for me. And of course, you know, we went on to actually Instead of copying people we eventually got our own sound People sort of knew us from sort of the early 60s as a group who had sort of 12 string gangly guitars, harmonies in the band and you know that was our mark in music and people would say to me like you know when I hit a record on a searchers record I knew no before the guy That's who it is. I know exactly who it is, because we had our own unique sound.
Yes, yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I hadn't thought of it till now, but I totally agree on that. Yeah, indeed, you did, yes. Yes, you know, if you've got to make it in the business, you know, you need your own sound, you need to be unique, you know, like people have their own sound, we have our own sound, and that's what you've got to have, people know you've been making that sound. And as long as you can keep that going. and, you know, come up with different
songs all the time like we did. We had about three, maybe four years at the top. Sure, yeah, yeah. Just quietly down, as it were. OK, now when you got discovered, was it at the cavern or was it somebody... Did you actually know when you were being watched by a record label or was it not like that? Well, I've got it totally wrong. Well, I suppose... It's one of those things we
were in the right place at the right time. I remember going to, we got the offer to go to the Star Club in Hamburg, which was absolutely fantastic, you know, for poor young teenagers to go to Hamburg and meet up with all those people at the Star Club like Jerry Lee Lewis and John Berry and Ray Charles and everyone else, and then to come back to hometown Liverpool. We actually thought we'd made the grade then, but of course you haven't. It was only, you were only playing
at the Star Club. But, you know, what a start. You know, most of the people who did go to the Star Club made their marking music. And we did. And of course, when we got back to Liverpool after the second time going to the Star Club, our manager at the time, in Liverpool, had got in touch with some of the people in London and we had Tony Hatch come up. Oh yes, of course.
Yes, yes, yes. when we got back and he said that the iron door in Liverpool and we performed Sweets From Our Suite for him and a couple of other songs and he said, Sweets From Our Suite, that's the one, I'm gonna take you boys to London and that was it. Overnight success, unbelievable. And Tony Hatch was equally at the top in the 60s definitely, most definitely. Yeah, I'm very pleased. Yeah, well done. Well done. Tony Hatch, sort of dragging you down in London. That's brilliant,
Mike. Absolutely amazing. Nick and Sue. Supporting this show means supporting the brands that keep the lights on. And today, I'm thrilled to talk about a personal favourite of mine, Old Glory. Old Glory is the ultimate destination for music, sports and pop culture fans. They are a family owned business founded back in 1969. Now Old Glory and I actually share a birth year and while I'll be the first to admit their vintage tees have aged a little more gracefully than I have,
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Yes So we were a bit of a change for him. And I think he jumped at the idea, you know, because pop groups were making their mark then, you know, 1962, 1963. And yeah, it worked well, Tony was good for us, even though he kitted us up on the second single, which was Sugar and Spice. He said, I've just got this song off a friend of
mine. it's called sugar and spice and he played it in the studio and I said it sounds a bit naff actually but it got to number two but that's not bad at all it was Tony who wrote the song ah brilliant brilliant I like that Of course he was at that area you're talking about He was actually at the top, you know, it was he who wrote the crossroads theme at much the same time You know, he was even doing TV and film themes that Lona take a new one as a group I can picture
your record later. I can picture it now. It was in the days when Pi were sort of like a pink and black colour for labels. That's your era,
wasn't it? Yes, pink colour it was, yeah. okay okay well that's that's all very good and i'm glad you know that that unique sound and you are right it is a unique sound and uh and the only reason i don't remember the 60s is because i was in nappies not for any other reason so uh i i unfortunately have listened to you you know the second generation of listener if you like and no i can tell i can definitely tell that well i'd like to ask you now mike okay so
you get number two in the charts with your second record and things like that um I usually ask people what was it like on Top of the Pox, but because of your era, and I don't get to ask this an awful lot, did you get to play on Ready Steady Go, Niff, so what was it like? Ready Steady Go, yeah. Well, yeah, we made many performances on there. I remember doing an interview for it till last year. Well. They had Ready Steady Go down
memory lane on TV. But yeah, I mean, it was one of the TV shows, it was the top TV show, really. They were all there, the Stones, the Peoples, ourselves. You know, I remember Vicki Wick and she was the producer. She liked the band, actually, and she liked our songs. And we got many, many plays on Ready Steady Go. It was one of the top pop shows at the time, along with two other pops and Vicki Lucky Stars. And we did them all, yeah.
That's what you had to do. The Ready Steady Go looks to me as being quite exciting and of course it did have Cathy McGowan present it and she still looks the same today. How does she do it? She must write a book about how she does that. Amazing. Absolutely beautiful. I've always thought that. Okay, so we've got your Ready Steady Going
in the 60s. At what point, I mean, your height in the 60s, at what point did the sort of the singles start slowing up in terms of music chase changing and the first generation of Circus fans perhaps growing up, starting families and whatever? What sort of year are we talking about that you sort of like went on basically touring and not releasing songs? Well, if I think back now, of course, you know, I think probably the last Big hit we had was probably Goodbye My Love, which
was 1965 or 66, if I remember. We had a couple of singles after that, of course, but they never got sort of into the top five or anything like that. You know, as the years went by, we still kept on recording. The singles didn't really
make their mark. We left Pie Studios. I mean all these record companies obviously thought we can bring the searchers back, we can make them big again, which is usually what happens in the record business, you know, you look at everybody and they start off with a record company and then when they've had so much success they leave one record company because the record company think, you know, We've won them as far as we can and we'll get a deal for them with somebody
else and they ask you, you know, do you want to leave or things aren't looking good. You know, you end up and your manager at the time says, come on, boys, we're not going to go, we're going to join this company. And that's what we did. That's what happens. And of course, as you go on and the years go by, it's so difficult to make a comeback. I mean, we tried it several times. We signed for Sire Records in the early
80s, and the product was good. Even Rolling Stone magazine in America said, wow, The Searchers have got two new albums out. But of course, it doesn't matter how good the product is, if it doesn't sell, that's it, goodbye. And we tried so many times, but to make a comeback in show business in the recording world is so, so difficult.
I'm looking at the sort of, I've actually got Wikipedia up, but I'm only checking, you know, what years things hit, what number in the charts, and it seems to be, and there's nothing you've done, I mean, I could sit here for the next hour and dish out, well, next 40 minutes, and I could give you, fill up that entire time by naming groups and singers. They'd all sort of stopped
having big hits at the same time. I put it down, tell me if I'm wrong, you know, that's your business, but I put it down as an outsider looking in, that it all ties up with the arrival of the teeny -bop scene, you know, the turtles, the monkeys even, and I think they snatched away the younger, what would be your new audience, I think they possibly snatched it away, no fault of your own, your songs have been just as good right through to, you know, right through to the end of 66
onwards, they still sound as good, I assure you, and that's what I put it down to, is that right? point I mean yeah I mean it is it is probably things like that that have new groups come along new American pop groups come and you know bubblegum the store whatever friends you had when you started like four or five years before they've grown up five years on and they do different things and so that's that sort of appeal falls by the wayside a little bit you know you do need new
friends but new songs, great songs. When you have a great song, you've got to come up with another one. Yes, yes, yeah. Unless you're writing your own material, which, you know, groups like, you know, I can think of the Eagles, they're one of my favorite bands. They just, they wrote so many good songs. They had this thing in the band where they wrote, you know, hit after hit
after hit. you've got to do you know to keep going yeah and to be successful and so you know like you say comes 66 67 um it started to fall away a bit and new people were coming on the scene but yes it wasn't it wasn't just ourselves it was other groups as well yeah lots of them now um At some point between 1960s, I think you took us to one of your signings. Let's look at what era was it, what year roughly did you start
your successful touring? I don't mean first time round, I mean after the records dried up, when did you start doing your, you know, because you've had successful tours since, ever since almost, but what year did you actually decide that is the way forward to earn your living? You're talking about after the initial hit? Yes. Yeah, whether it's 1970, 75, 80 or whatever it was, I just
wondered when you started the touring up. Well, yes, I mean, you start, once you've had record success, I mean, in the recording years, from 1963 to 1966, 1967, when the records started to dry up, you've got to start working, you've got to start traveling, touring. We were always good to go to Australia, always good to go to America. But as the years go by, of course, places like America only came around every sort of 10 years. But we had to start traveling to places
like Germany and Norway, Sweden, Holland. There was always work there, but you had to travel for it. And the traveling really took it out of you. Of course we were still quite young then, and we could do it. I doubt we could do it today. But we started to, yes, I would say, about 1968, we have to start working for a living, yeah.
Sure, that's cool, I'm glad you did, and it's good that, you know, there's a, I mean, you've been down to my hometown, White Rock Theatre, Hastings, and that's, well, 1066 seats, as I always remember, so it's a, you know, municipal theatre that's, you know, if you could get a thousand a night, that's probably quite a good
living, isn't it, really? Well, yeah, I mean, yeah, thinking back, the money was good, but, you know, I always say to my wife now, I said, you know, if you were as big today, as we were then. We'd be sort of well on millionaires, you know? Sure. No, no. No, I see that. I see that. Yeah, that's the difference. In fact, it's like when they talk about footballers from the 60s. When they were here, they'd have 15 quid a week.
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in the game. That's C -B -U -K -R -D -U -X. Look good, do some good to the planet and show your true colours. Now, at some point you toured as Mike Pender Searchers. Was that straight away as touring? Late 60s or was that just something that came by as people left or whatever? Because that's what you're known as now, I think, isn't it, Mike Pender Searchers? Well, yes, I still have the name and we still use the name on our
website. Sure. But the Mike Pender Searchers gigs have dried up mainly because I sort of decided about three years ago that I wanted to do more solo stuff on my own. I thought it was the right age to do it. Because it's difficult to run a group, you know, like four people, you've got to organize hotels, you've got to organize sound checks, you've got to organize PA systems, you've got to organize so many things. You know, you can't do it, but it gets harder as the years
go by. And so I decided to, when I signed on with Sensational 60s, which, which, uh, tours probably about, uh, just about 60 shows a year. Yeah. Yeah. You know, you've got all those groups who are still around. The trends, the fortunes, you know, it's still still performing. Um, even though a lot of them don't have any, uh, the original members anymore and just look up the name of the songs and the same. Um, so, you know, I decided to do that. If a Mike Pendle Searches
gig does come in, we can still do it. For me, I do like performing as a solo artist now. That's what I'm going to do for as long as I can. Best of luck with it. Do keep in touch and let us know how it's going. You can always use me for a little bit of publicity to announce that you're starting your tours or tickets that are on sale, etc. You're listening to Nick Prince and Sue
Earl on Chatterbox. Where would you like to be in five years time, ideally being a soloist, or is there something that you've got that you want to do before, you know, before time runs out and we'll, you know, move on, as it were? Well, I mean, you're talking about in five years time. I tell you what, if I live another five years, I'll be... The oldest, happiest man in show business. You hear about people from the 60s and a lot of them have passed on. I feel
as good as ever, to be honest with you. I feel as though I could go on for another five, ten years. I think you've got to feel like that if you're still in the show, if you're still in the business of performing and you come from the 60s, I think you still ought to enjoy it. Because once you stop enjoying it, I think it is time to... I loved you in Sensational 60s. The audiences are great and it's good to speak
to the people after the show. You can meet them all in the foyer and they're all dying to meet you and talk to you and remember you. You get lots of them looking at you saying, yeah, you haven't changed a bit. They're such liars, you know, these people. It could be their cataracts, or if not, the Grecian's working well. Whatever
it is, don't worry about it. Listen... People say to me on the Cementation 60 show, I mean, the people who run the show, the promoters, they say to me, you know, you still sound good, you can still sing, you know, which you have to. Because basically, that's what you've still got with you, the voice, the vocal. No, no, absolutely. You're not looking the same, obviously. And you can move your legs. You can carry on, cool down.
No, fingers crossed, let's hope so. Very good, like I say, if you still sound good and look good, it's half the battle. And of course, these 60s things, the nights that you're talking about, I'll be to some, not one with you in as yet, but there's similar things that go around with a few of the groups in the 60s. And it gets to me, and I'm in my 50s, and obviously, you know, that generation that came out in the 60s, so
I'm the next one on. And there's plenty of people my age watching you and some are bringing their kids along so you have got unlike unfortunately in the when it would come to record sales in the late 60s when people like my parents were having me and uh you know and the record sales sort of dropped out dropped out a bit but uh i think you are getting that generation now that's what i think well you know i can only tell you about the people who come to the show you know
they are obviously my age from my age group But you do get a lot of younger people. Yeah. You know, people from the 70s and a couple from the 80s, actually. Well, very good. Very good, yeah. And, you know, they come in and they enjoy the music. They certainly do. I mean, a lot of the 60s stuff still appeals, to be honest with you, because a lot of people from that generation, they don't like today's music. It's like any
other music, you know? Absolutely. You're caught up with something and you're so used to hearing it and playing it. missing it. When you get the opportunity to go back to those years, you go to the show and you watch your favorite artists from that period of time. And that's what people do. They go back, they say, oh, I remember Needles and Pins. I remember when you walk in the room, I was getting married and this stuff. They want to relive those memories. That's why they go
to the show still. Absolutely, and thank God for it. And I'm glad that you're playing your part in those shows. I still have my autobiography which is on sale through Amazon and it's still on sale through the web, through the Frank Club. I was really pleased that I could do something like that. It's probably every artist, whether it's movies, show business or whatever, or sports, they can write their autobiography before they
depart this world. you know it's something that they've done and it's a feather in the cap and i'm so glad that i was able to do it to talk about things i've been through um so that's one of the great things i feel that i've that i've done and i'm most happy with personally you know we've still got the the website and anybody wants to get in touch my friend has searched us um really that's the main thing you know this facebook as well of course yeah uh and that's about it
Brilliant Mike and I've got a late message just come in it's from V Goddard listening on the Isle of Wight I think she's saying down way and she's just looked you up On your website. She's saying you're looking really really good for your age Well isn't that lovely? Tell her thank you very much if you see her Yes, well I shall message her back. Thank you Mike. There you go Well it was a pleasure and it's always just a
pleasure to talk on the radio to people. Thank you very much You have been listening to the Chatterbox Redux podcast with Sue and Nick and our special guest today was Andy Kiriakou of Modern Romance. If you're interested in becoming a future guest on the Chatterbox Redux podcast, or the radio show Chatterbox UK, you're welcome to submit songs, books, or whatever it is you do, and send us a CV, synopsis, or press release.
However, we receive several thousand such press releases every week, and it's impossible to reply to each one individually. Why not email us or leave a comment, because we'd love to know what you think of the podcast. Our email address is nickelbum at myyah .com. and wherever it is you choose to listen to the Chatterbox Redux podcast don't forget to give us a like a follow a favorite or whatever it is it is on that platform just so you don't miss a future episode. Sue, myself
Nick and Twinkle the tuxedo cat. Thank you very much for your company and we look forward to welcoming you again next time for another Chatterbox Redux podcast. In the meantime, take care, thank you for your company and we'll catch you then. Bye bye. This is Nick and Sue with Chatterbox giving you all you need to know about musical attainment Chatterbox the best interviews with Nick and Sue the best news