The Searchers have just completed their three weeks of shows in Canada and the USA, and from all the e-mails I've received it seems that everyone had an absolutely great time. Frank is currently writing a report on the whole trip, and we hope to have this on line soon. And once they're home, there's an exciting time coming up.
Universal Records, who recently bought Sanctuary and therefore now own all the Searchers back catalogue from the 60s, are releasing “The Very Best of The Searchers” CD on Monday 12 May. There are of course many compilations already out there, but this one, being on a major label, is being advertised and promoted on TV and radio, including two live appearances by the Searchers.
The first of these is on Johnnie Walker's teatime show on BBC Radio 2 on Sunday 11 May, when the Searchers will be doing a live acoustic set in the studio as well as being interviewed. We understand that the CD will be advertised on ITV that weekend (including possibly during Heartbeat) and then “the boys” will be guesting on ITV's “This Morning” on Tuesday 13 May.
The CD will be available in all major record shops, I'm sure, as well as on line – so even if you already have the songs in one form or another, do think about buying this special new release as it would be really great to see it get the Searchers back into the charts again.
Secondly, a label called Wounded Bird has just released two of the 1979/80 American versions of the “Sire” albums on CD – “Loves Melodies” and “The Searchers”. This is the first time these albums have been released individually on CD, although of course the Australian company Raven did release most of the tracks from them on one CD back in 1999. They are available from Amazon or HMV's website.
As you'll see from the dates page, the Searchers barely have time to catch their breath before they're off on a summer shows up and down the country – a great relief for us UK fans to see them again after all the foreign trips they've done so far this year. In particular it's good to see three big outdoor shows in the diary - the first on 28 June near Dunmow, another on 2 August at the lovely National Trust property Cliveden, near Maidenhead (where a lot of the 60s Profumo scandal “action” took place!), and a huge multi-act show near Cannock on 10 August. Full details are on the dates page which now lists dates up to the end of September (October to December will appear in due course, once contracts etc are signed).
Quite often I'm asked questions about the Searchers' history etc which I'm happy to answer, but it's made me realise that some of you aren't noticing that there are comprehensive articles about their career on the website, including three very detailed “history” pages. It seems that you're only seeing the links across the top of the most-used pages (eg the dates page, the newsletters, etc) without realising that there are links to a lot more information down the left hand side of the home page www.the-searchers.co.uk . There are technical reasons why these additional links are only available from the home page, but unless you access the site via the home page, you're missing at least half of all the website has to offer.
Finally, as most of you know, a Searchers Live DVD is now available - not only an actual show but also short interviews with the individual band members and a picture gallery. However it is only sold at the shows in the UK, I'm afraid. It's not available in the shops or from internet music retailers. As a taster, we've put the “finale medley” from the DVD on YouTube, and if you go to the main Searchers home page www.the-searchers.co.uk there's a direct link there to play it. I thought I'd mention this, because as I've said above, many of you go direct to the dates page, or the newsletters, without going via the home page, and so you may not have seen this clip.
