The Liverbirds
| The Liverbirds | |
|---|---|
 The Liverbirds (1965) |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Beat , rock |
| founding | 1961 |
| resolution | 1968 |
| Founding members | |
| Pamela Birch | |
singing |
Valerie Gell |
Bass, vocals |
Mary McGlory |
| Sylvia Saunders | |
The Liverbirds (ˈlaɪvəbɜ: d) were a beat band from Liverpool , England, active between 1962 and 1967 . The four band members were Pamela Birch, Valerie Gell (both vocals, guitar), Mary McGlory (vocals, bass) and Sylvia Saunders (drums). They were one of the very few female bands from the Merseybeat scene and one of the first rock bands to consist only of female members.
The band's name comes from the fictional character of Liver Bird (ˈlaɪvə bɜ: d) on the tower of the Liver Building , which is the symbol of their native Liverpool.
history
Band history
Gell and Saunders formed the band in early 1962 under the name "The Debutones" together with Irene Green and Sheila McGlory. Green and McGlory left the band very early and were replaced by Mary McGlory - Sheila McGlory's sister - and Pamela Birch. In their early days they mainly played in the Cavern Club in their hometown, where the Beatles were regular guests. Henry Henroid , who ran the Hamburg Star Club at the time, was also present at a gig in Liverpool , and booked the band for a few gigs in Hamburg.
The Liverbirds achieved more commercial success in Germany than in their homeland. Early in their careers, they followed in the footsteps of colleagues like The Beatles and Rory Storm & the Hurricanes . The four came for the first time in May 1964 as "the female Beatles" from Liverpool to Hamburg in the legendary "Star Club". In order to match the style of their music, which is rougher than that of other beat bands, Astrid Kirchherr gave them new clothes. The Liverbirds were one of the top attractions in Hamburg and, at the request of Manfred Weißleder, released two albums and some singles on his label Star-Club Records. One of these singles, a cover version of Bo Diddley's "Diddley Daddy", rose to number 5 in the German charts.
In 1968 the band broke up in Hamburg because two of the band members, Sylvia Saunders and Valerie Gell, started families. Without these two, Pamela Birch and Mary McGlory traveled to Japan and played a tour with guest musicians and then decided to break up the band. In 1998 the German band Die Braut haut ins Augen gave a reunion appearance for the band at the Hamburg CCH. organized.
After the dissolution
Some members of the band have settled permanently in Germany. Mary McGlory was married to the German singer, songwriter , music producer and Deputy Chairman of the GEMA Supervisory Board , Frank Dostal , until his death in 2017 and has been called Mary Dostal since then. The two have two children together. She founded and managed the Hamburg-based company "JA / NEIN Musikverlag GmbH".
Pamela Birch also stayed in Germany. She died on October 27, 2009 at the age of 65 in the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf . Valerie Gell moved to Munich and she died on December 11, 2016 at the age of 71.
Discography
Studio albums
- 1964: Star-Club Show 4: The Liverbirds
- 1966: More of The Liverbirds
Singles
- 1965: Diddley Daddy
- 1965: Shop Around
- 1965: Peanut Butter
- 1966: Loop De Loop
literature
- Stefanie Lohaus: "We are The Liverbirds". The first girl rock band in the world . In: Missy Magazine , Number 7, May 2010, pp. 74/75
- Stefanie Lohaus: 51 years later: The Liverbirds are back! . In: missy-magazine.de, number 7, October 2, 2010
Web links
- The Liverbirds at Allmusic (English)
- The Liverbirds on MusicBrainz (English)
- The Liver Birds at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Biography on All Music Guide.com accessed October 29, 2009
- ↑ a b Stefanie Lohaus: 51 years later: The Liverbirds are back! . In: missy-magazine.de, number 7, October 2, 2010
- ↑ Frank Dostal's biography on the GEMA website ( Memento of the original from March 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 29, 2009
- ↑ YES / NO Musikverlag GmbH. In: German Music Information Center, last updated on March 7, 2019; accessed on April 30, 2019.
- ↑ Singer of the Liverbirds in UKE died on October 27, 2009 . www.abendblatt.de. October 29, 2009. Retrieved October 29, 2009.
