The Searchers head back to Fife

When the boom of the British Invasion bands hit the mid sixties, they rode on the crest of a seemingly unstoppable wave of success and kept on going.

Their impressive run of hits in those glory years from 1964 to 1966 was worldwide enabling them to travel the globe constantly.

Songs including ‘Needles & Pins’, ‘Don’t Throw Your Love Away’, and of course, the unforgettable ‘When You Walk On The Room’, made the Searchers the number one 60s pop band.

With a regular touring schedule of more than 200 shows a year, the Searchers are arguably the hardest working band in showbiz. And they show no signs of slowing down just yet.

“We really enjoy what we do – we wouldn’t do it otherwise!” said guitarist and founder John McNally.

“We all get on and enjoy spending time together on stage and off it.

The distinctive jangle of the twelve string guitar remains a most important feature of their sound and those rich and vibrant harmonies still embellish the songs that have provided a soundtrack to the lives of so many.

But John still can’t put his finger on why the band is still so popular.

“I think you have to look at our songs from the 60s that have somehow stood the test of time,” he said. “Add that to our live performances, we just like to try and entertain people.”

Being on the road for over half a century means the band have become familiar faces across the country.

“We love coming to Scotland – we always have done. We’ve played Fife many times before and they are always such a fantastic crowd.” John continued. “It really is a pleasure getting on the stage here.

“We have a wide of people coming along to out shows from daughters, mothers, grandmothers.

“We also have up and coming bands come along to our shows who want to how we produced the sounds back in the day.

“Most seem surprised when we tell them that we used to build our amps ourselves! So our attraction is wide reaching.

The Searcher have performed for The Queen, headlined over such Motown luminaries as Marvin Gaye and The Supremes and entertained British troops in The Falklands, Bosnia and Belfast.

The band also toured Australia and New Zealand with The Rolling Stones and strutted their stuff in front of more than 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium as special guests of Cliff Richard.

And it’s this last show that remains a career highlight for John.

He said: “We were asked to perform by Cliff himself, so we did a set at the old Wembley Stadium before they knocked it down.

“He performed with The Shadows and it really was a great event and is definitely a stand out time during my career.”

Tales of their travels and amusing stories throughout their career are peppered thought their along with their best-loved hits and more.

“We also do B sides and album tracks on the tour,” John said.

“And we pay tribute to the musicians that we admire including Roy Orbison and Bobby Lee.

“We love what we do and we hope that the audience also love what we do!”

The Searchers play Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline, on Friday, May 27.

For tickets, click here onfife.com