Gerry And The Pacemakers I Like It ! Anthology 1963-1966 (3-CD)

(Strawberry) 98 tracks, digpack

Gerry And The Pacemakers were the first band to have their first three singles reach the top of the UK Singles Chart.

The 3-CD set contains 98 tracks, including the hit singles ‘How Do You Do It? ' (UK #1, US #9), “I Like It” (UK #1, US #17), “You'll Never Walk Alone” (UK #1), “I'm The One” (UK #2), “Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying” (UK #6, US #4), ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’ (UK #8, US #6), ‘It's Gonna Be All Right’ (UK #24, US #23), ‘I'll Be There’ (UK #15, US #14), ‘Walk Hand In Hand’ (UK #29) and ‘Girl On A Swing’ (US #28).

The 1963 album ‘How Do You Like It’ (UK #2) is also included, as well as all nine songs from the soundtrack to the 1964 film ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’, in which they starred.

They were one of the leading exponents of the Merseybeat and shared both manager, Brian Epstein, and producer, George Martin, with the Beatles, who often supported them. Like the Beatles, they initially played in legendary Liverpool clubs such as The Cavern and successfully followed the Beatles to the USA in 1964 as part of the ‘British Invasion’.

In their early days, Gerry And The Pacemakers were the Beatles' biggest rivals, but they were soon eclipsed by the Fab Four. The recording of Lennon and McCartney's ‘Hello Little Girl’ was planned as the third single, but was not originally released.

All the songs from their American and Canadian albums are included, many of which were not originally released in the UK.