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time, wrote to the Mars Confectionary Company for permission to use the name but they refused, according to Gerry, he was watching an athletics programme on the TV when the commentator mentioned a ‘pacemaker’ . . . . ‘Gerry and the Pacemakers’ where born. About the same time as the name change, the group members changed, Les Chadwick joined them on bass guitar and Les McGuire joined a short time later on piano. Gerry, Fred, Les Chadwick and Les McGuire became the line up through their most successful period.

The group started to build up a strong following on Merseyside and were a bigger ‘Name’ than the Beatles, this is proved by the fact Allan Williams, a top Merseyside promoter, booked them on the same Liverpool Stadium bill as American artist, Gene Vincent. They were then approached to appear at the ‘Top Ten Club’ in Hamburg, the agreed and turned professional, the trip was a success, returning later in the year for a three month season taking with them a local singer, Faron (of Farons Flamingos fame) as a second vocalist. In 1962, Brian Epstein signed up ‘Gerry and the Pacemakers’, he now had the two top Merseyside groups under his management.