The Searchers – Needles And Pins

“Needles and Pins” – Single by the Searchers with B-side “Saturday Night Out”. Released January 7, 1964 in UK. Recorded 1963.

“Needles and Pins” is a song credited to American writers Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono.

The Searchers heard British performer Cliff Bennett perform “Needles and Pins” at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, instantly wanted it to be their next single and recorded it before Cliff Bennett could. The Pye Records single was released in January 1964. It was number one in the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States. Soon after, in April 1964, “Needles and Pins” appeared on the Searchers’ next album, It’s the Searchers.

Hailing from Liverpool, the Searchers were one of the many bands on the Merseybeat scene that enjoyed international fame in the wake of the Beatles’ breakthrough. The group’s trademark sound was bright, tuneful pop with ringing 12-string guitars and strong harmony vocals which gave even their covers of American R&B hits a touch of sweetness that made them hard to resist.

The Searchers were also one of the most enduring Merseybeat acts, forming in the late ’50s and continuing on into the 2010s, with guitarist John McNally a constant presence throughout their history, and bassist Frank Allen by his side from 1964 onward.

Early hits such as “Sugar and Spice,” “Needles and Pins,” “Love Potion Number Nine,” “When You Walk in the Room,” and “What Have They Done to the Rain” defined the group’s approach, and they rarely strayed from it, still sounding fresh on 1972’s Second Take and falling in with the power pop bands they influenced on 1979’s The Searchers and 1981’s Love’s Melodies.

And while the group’s bread and butter from the late ’60s onward was live work, the band’s professionalism and commitment to their music helped them remain a viable attraction decades after their first success on the sales charts.

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