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Ian Haskayne

Merseybeat Nostalgia

Roadrunners

The Roadrunners formed in 1962 and were by no means a ‘typical Mersey Beat’ group. They played at The Cavern many times (and were invited to support The Beatles on their farewell show at The Cavern) but their real home was Hope Hall (now the Everyman Theater Bistro) which was the hang-out of the arty/student ‘types’ who appreciated The Roadrunners blend of R&B and soul music.

Extracts from an interview in 2004:

Drummer Dave Boyce said “For us it was never going to be a career, whereas for lots of bands it was a real alternative to being a ‘can-lad’ or a ‘messenger-boy’, that said, nobody thought it was ‘going to last’. There is a famous filmed interview with Ringo Starr when, even after a couple of number ones, he expressed the hope that it would last long enough for him to make enough money to buy a hairdressing salon”

As for the music, Dave said, “A lot of Chicago stuff was culled from the ‘Muddy Waters at Newport’ LP, plus some fairly rare singles by Bo Diddly (his ‘Roadrunner’ provided the groups name), Little Walter, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf and Etta James. The rock ‘n’ roll oriented stuff came from Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino, although we tend to avoid the more obvious numbers like ‘Tutti Frutti’, Blueberry Hill’ and ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’, preferring non hit Liverpool standards like ‘Memphis Tennessee’, ‘Jambalaya’ and ‘Talkin ‘Bout You’ (although we did cover ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘Rip It Up’)”

Press ‘Play Button’ to listen to the original recordings.

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