1963: The Searchers: Sweets For My Sweet

Another Pomus/Shuman song, this time originally recorded by The Drifters in 1961 and one that The Searchers don't take too far from the tree. Whilst The Drifters played it with a vaguely ethnic, almost bossa nova vibe, The Searchers plug the gaps in the rhythm with acoustic guitar fills and a lead vocal from Tony Jackson that goes for the throat of the chorus at the expense of the verses.

Such an approach emphasises the almost bubblegum engine at the heart of the song, but unless you're prepared to get caught up by that hook of a chorus then it also makes for a less interesting listen. Those acoustic licks provide a dry run for the folk rock (e.g. The Byrds) to come, but truthfully 'Sweets For My Sweet' is an inauspicious debut at the top from a band seen as the closest rivals to The Beatles in their Merseysound heyday and at this remove it's curiously uninspiring.