The Roadrunners

The third wave of Merseybeat was just as exciting as the first. Whereas the early bands based their sound on American Rock 'n' Roll, the third wave took the Liverpool sound to new heights with a mixture Blues and Soul. One band that led the way with a sound that was to become the next national wave was the Roadrunners. In Mike Hart they had a great front man with soul in his voice and the band as a whole had a special quality.

The Roadrunners and the Rolling Stones

The story goes that whilst judging a beat contest at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool featuring The Roadrunners, George Harrison is reputed to have said to Dick Rowe the A&R man from Decca records who turned down the Beatles ("Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr. Epstein) that he'd seen a band called The Rolling Stones who were almost as good as The Roadrunners. Rowe is reputedly to have left the contest and got the first train back to London where he duly signed the Stones up to the label.

Line up: 

•  Dave Percy - Guitar/Vocals 
•  John Peacock - Piano 
•  Mike Hart - Guitar/Sax/Vocals 
•  Dave Boyce - Drums 
•  Pete Mackey - Bass Guitar/Vocals

The Roadrunners formed in 1962 and were by no means a typical ‘Merseybeat’ band. 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 The Hope Hall (now the Everyman Theatre bistro) which was the hang-out of the arty/student ‘types’ who appreciated The Roadrunners blend of R&B and soul music.
   

Originally called The Tenabeats, the band formed in Liverpool in 1962. After establishing themselves on the local club circuit, including many appearances at the legendary Cavern Club, they appeared on the bill at the Town Hall in Birmingham supporting Sonny Boy Williamson & The Yardbirds alongside Long John Baldry and The Spencer Davis Rhythm & Blues Quartet. This gig was recorded and subsequently released as an album which features two songs by The Roadrunners, "You Can Make It If You Try" and "Mary Ann".

Mary Ann - The Roadrunners  

Like many of the Liverpool groups, they spent a good deal of their time in Germany, where they recorded two albums (sharing the second one with a Newcastle group called Shorty and Them). When Percy left the band in mid '64, they replaced him not with another guitarist, but with two saxophonists, Nick Carver (a.k.a Nick La Grec) and Johnny Phillips, and changed their musical style from blues-oriented rock to more of a "soul" sound.

There were further changes in personnel with Hart and Boyce both departing in '65, their places being taken by Mike Kontzle (guitar), Mike Byrne (vocals) and Terry McCusker (drums).

Having turned their backs on a major record company (Decca) in '64, declining to submit to the forces of commercialisation, The Roadrunners eventually called it a day in 1966.

   
Drummer Dave Boyce said “For us it was never going to be a career, whereas for a lot of the 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 Diddley (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 tended 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’. (though we did cover ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘Rip It Up’)”

The Raodrunners are back on CD with the release of Mike Hart Bleeds available from Cherry Records

http://www.cherryred.co.uk/cherryred/artists/mikehart.php