Sad to hear of the death this morning of Gerry Marsden at 78. With an engaging and happy personality, he had a wicked sense of humor and never took his success too seriously.

Gerry And The Pacemakers first appeared in Vancouver in the Fall of 1964. In May that year the group released “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying”. Other hits were “How Do You Do It”, “I Like It”, “I’m The One”, “Ferry Cross The Mersey”, and finally “Girl On A Swing” in 1966.

Gerry And The Pacemakers offered a mellow contrast to The Dave Clark Five and The Rolling Stones sound. Some of the material was up-tempo but they fell into a category that might be compared to Dion and the Belmonts in the earlier era.

Gerry returned in 2013 for a great show at the Red Robinson Show Theatre. One of Gerry’s favorite songs was “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, from the Broadway show Carousel. It also became the theme of his Liverpool football club. Some Liverpool football fans were in the audience and moved to the front of the stage during the performance waving Liverpool banners. A most memorable night.

Gerry Marsden is survived by his wife Pauline and daughters Yvette and Victoria. A tip of the hat and a fond farewell to one of the British Invasion’s good guys!

Take a moment to celebrate the life of Gerry Marsden with this great updated version of the Gerry And The Pacemakers classic by Paul Carrack. RIP Gerry!