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The Searchers will always be remembered as a leading light of the British Invasion, thanks to such infectious hits as “Needles and Pins,” “Don’t Throw Our Love Away,” “Love Potion No. 9,” “When You Walk in the Room,” “Sugar and Spice,” and “Sweets for My Sweet.”  Their Merseybeat reinventions of classic American songs and fresh British originals earned them a deserved following and berth on radio that’s lasted to this very day.  All told, the band notched eleven top 40s in the U.K. (including three chart-toppers) and eight in the U.S. – not bad for a group of kids from Liverpool who weren’t The Beatles.  But the band had an artistic resurgence in the late 1970s that’s much less well-known.  In 1979, The Searchers were reborn on one of the hottest labels in town, Seymour Stein’s Sire Records, where they joined the likes of Ramones and Talking Heads.  Now, that period in the band’s history is being fully chronicled on a new collection from Omnivore Recordings.  Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981, a 2-CD set, is due from the label on December 8.

The Searchers (then Mike Pender, John McNally, Frank Allen and Billy Adamson) established their Sire sound – with familiar harmonies, but rendered in edgier fashion – with a self-titled LP, featuring both originals and, of course, covers.  Rather than raiding the Brill Building or Metric Music offices, though, The Searchers took their cues from Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Nick Lowe (“Switchboard Susan,” written by Mickey Jupp).  (Alas, “It’s Too Late” is neither the Carole King or Bobby Goldsboro song, but a John David composition!) Pat Moran (Rush, Dr. Feelgood) helmed the album, and returned with Ramones producer Ed Stasium for the 1981 follow-up Love’s Melodies, released in the U.K. as Play for Today.  The album followed a similar formula, with covers from Big Star (the immortal “September Gurls”) and John Fogerty (“Almost Saturday Night”) alongside Searchers originals.

The two Sire releases, over the years, have been reissued in various formats with different track lists, B-sides, and even mixes; Wounded Bird issued the original U.S. Sire albums on CD in bare-bones style, while labels including Raven collected them with various discrepancies.  Omnivore has straightened things out with this 2-CD iteration, with 29 tracks (vs. 23 on Raven’s Sire Sessions: The Rockfield Recordings) including a previously unissued cover of John Hiatt’s “Ambulance Chaser.”

Omnivore’s package includes cover artwork from different releases, as well as an essay by Scott Schinder drawing on interviews with John McNally and Frank Allen. Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981 is chockablock with irresistible harmonies, new wave gloss, and power pop attitude from the British Invasion originals.  It’s due on December 8 and can be pre-ordered below directly from the label.  We will update with Amazon links as soon as they are active!

The Searchers, Another Night: The Sire Recordings 1979-1981 (Omnivore, 2017)

CD 1

1. Hearts in Her Eyes
2. Switchboard Susan
3. Feeling Fine
4. This Kind of Love Affair
5. Lost in Your Eyes
6. It’s Too Late
7. No Dancing
8. Coming from the Heart
9. Don’t Hang On
10. Love’s Gonna Be Strong
11. It’s Too Late (Alternate Mix)
12. Love’s Melody (Alternate Mix)
13. Silver (Alternate Mix)

CD 2

1. Silver
2. Infatuation
3. She Made a Fool of You
4. Almost Saturday Night
5. Little Bit of Heaven
6. You Are the New Day
7. Love’s Melody
8. Everything But a Heartbeat
9. Radio Romance
10. Murder in My Heart
11. September Gurls
12. Another Night
13. Sick and Tired
14. Changing
15. Back to the War
16. Ambulance Chaser

CD 1, Tracks 1-10 from The Searchers, Sire SRK 6082, 1979
CD 1, Tracks 11-13 source TBD
CD 2, Tracks 1-11 from Love’s Melodies, Sire SRK 3523, 1981
CD 2, Tracks 12-13 from Play for Today, Sire (U.K.) SRK 3523, 1981
CD 2, Track 14 from Sire (U.K.) single SIR 4041, 1981
CD 2, Track 15 from Sire (U.K.) single SIR 4049, 1981
CD 2, Track 16 previously unreleased