Britain says "Happy Birthday" to an old Liverpudlian singer-songwriter called Gerry Marsden and old men with pacemakers remember when he and they were young

Gerrard Marsden best known to all baby boomers as 'Gerry' of the 1960's Liverpudlian group, 'Gerry and the Pacemakers' is 70 years old today.

Things that you possibly didn't know about Gerry, that he :

* was born in the Second World War in Toxteth in Liverpool and remembers standing on top of an air raid shelter singing 'Ragtime Cowboy Joe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y7t7ttZCXU, getting a great reception from onlookers and saying to himself :"This is what I want to do."

* formed the group, 'The Pacemakers' in 1959 with his brother, Fred and and as part of the second group signed by Brian Epstein had his first single, 'How Do You Do It ?', recommended by George Martin after it was initially given to 'The Beatles', become his first 'number one' hit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb1rsFdo1E4

* had his second number one with 'I Like It' when I was 16 in 1963 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOYOJAczH0k
followed by 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.

* had further success with writing and recording 'I'm the One' : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF0i-aNwbqA, 'Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying' : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpgeSao4XTE and 'Ferry Cross the Mersey' when I was 17 in 1964 :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loyRYFUYg9g

* decided in 1966, with his popularity in decline on both sides of the Atlantic, to disband the group.

* saw 'You'll Never Walk Alone' adopted the anthem of Liverpool Football Club and sang the song at Wembley Stadium when Everton faced Liverpool in the the 1989 F.A. Cup Final.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYjJy_YyWQE

In the last lines of his autobiography. 'I'll Never Walk Alone' he said :
"Sixties...songs were happy, the music simple and the lyrics nice to listen to, We didn't try to change the world."