REVIEW:Sixties Gold, The Mayflower, Southampton

IT was like a Remembrance Day parade of sixties classics.

Timeless hits filed past the audience, including many baby boomers, who had come to pay homage to yesteryear’s stars.

They knew word perfect the lyrics of songs which were the soundtrack of their teenage years.

The sixties pop pickers have grown old with the chart toppers. Many of the sixties stars are now in their seventies - as are many of their fans - but age has not wearied them.

They danced in the aisles at The Mayflower as the hits rolled off the production line from the golden age of pop with The Searchers topping the bill.

Wayne Fontana’s powerful voice has stood the test of time. And he lit the blue touch paper of this night of pure pop nostalgia with his chart topping Game of Love and Pamela Pamela.

Now ageing gracefully at 77, PJ Proby was in the sixties branded the bad boy of pop when a trouser splitting incident shocked the nation.

It was a stage drama which will haunt him forever. The American rock ‘n roller always maintained that all he exposed was no more than a hairy knee.

But it was enough for the late Mary Whitehouse, self styled guardian of British morals, to get him blacklisted by theatres across the land and TV companies.

Although her crusade knocked his career off track for many decades he still makes a light hearted reference to Mrs Whitehouse in his act today.

He may have lost his trademark pony tail but he still has that velvet voice which he wrapped round smash hits like Somewhere and Hold Me.

A prolific songwriter he included what he called his demo version of his composition Ain’t Gonna Kiss You Ya which was also a hit for The Searchers who gave him a career lifeline when the showbiz establishment turned against him.

Brian Poole and his two fellow original Tremeloes Chip Hawkes and Dave Munden gave a polished performance with a melody of their hits including Twist and Shout, Do You Love Me and Silence Is Golden.

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap’s first single Young Girl was also a UK number one.

Up to now the closest that British fans got to the heart throb American singer were posters on their teenage walls.

For Sixties Gold is Puckett’s first UK tour and after getting a standing ovation from The Mayflower audience he has vowed to return.

It fell to The Searchers to wrap up this entertaining sixties package, showcasing their string of hits, including Needles & Pins, Sweets for My Sweets, Sugar and Spice and When you Walk In The Room.

With founder member 75 year-old John McNally still in the line-up, the Searchers are marking their 54 th anniversary and they are one of the hardest working bands on the rock ‘n roll revival circuit.

Bass guitarist and lead vocalist Frank Allen, whose Searchers career began 52 years ago, said how beautiful The Mayflower Theatre was and hoped that it would become a firm fixture on the sixties gold circuit.

The full house proved that clearly there is a hearty appetite for those golden oldies.

Duncan Eaton