WHAT'S IN A NAME
In this colourful world of Beat there are many kinds of groups - good, bad, mediocre; groups with gimmicks; groups with stage names.

A very talented Merseyside outfit - the Undertakers - find that their name arouses a great deal of interest. Whilst people are intrigued with it, it can also prove a drawback.

In fact, many promoters have decided not to book the group because they believe patrons may object to the name.

The boys remember one particular event which occurred whilst they were engaged on a publicity stunt.

"We were pushing a handcart with a coffin on it down one of the main streets in Liverpool," they said. "Inside the coffin was a fifteen year old boy, a member of the staff of the ballroom at which we were appearing. A white sheet was draped over him to give him the appearance of a ghost. Suddenly, a man rushed up to us screaming 'Sacrilige', hit the boy in the face and then ran away." The group no longer use a coffin in their act.

A SENSE OF HUMOUR
The funniest Beat group on the scene is undoubtedly the Fourmost. I never fail to be amused at their terrific rendition of 'September Song', during which leader Brian O'Hara impersonates numerous personalities, including Eartha Kitt, James Cagney and Jimmy Stewart.

But their humour is not confined to the stage. I can always tell if the Fourmost are in the Blue Angel because of the continual roars of laughter when they're around.

Comments Billy Hatton, "What's kept us together is the fact that we have the same sense of humour. We laugh and become worried about the same things. "It takes courage to go on stage and act a complete idiot in front of strangers, but it's the greatest thing in the world to find people laughing WITH you - not AT you. Then, you know you're entertaining them. But it's hard work.

BEATLEWAITERS
Every Beatles fan in the country is no doubt willing to stand in a queue for hours to obtain tickets for a Beatles show - but the record for 'Beatlewaiting' must surely go to two Liverpool youngesters, Pamela Black and Carol Lloyd.

Early last year the Beatles were appearing at the Cavern - and Pam and Carol queued outside the club for ONE MONTH to ensure a front row seat.

The girls left their spot at 10pm and resumed their place early the next morning. There was no fear of queue jumping, because there was an unwritten law among the Beatle fans that the early queuers secured the best seats.

GERRY AND GENE
Did you know Gerry & the Pacemakers backed famous American rock 'n' roll artist Gene Vincent?

The boys enjoyed the opportunity of doing so early in 1962, during one of their seasons at the Star Club, Hamburg.

"We enjoyed backing him because he is such a great performer," said Gerry, "and he must have liked us, too, because he wanted us to tour Israel with him for a month. We'd have loved to have done it, but turned the offer down as it would have meant staying away from Merseyside too long. We'd already been in Hamburg for a month."

YOUNG SOUNDS
Every Saturday afternoon, Mathew Street is filled with the healthy chatter of hundreds of youngsters attending the Under-16s Cavern session.

Performing for the youngsters are the youngest entertainers on the Mersey Beat scene - Arrow & the Archers (average age 13) and Chick Graham (age 15). Recently, the Flyaways made their debut.

The Flyaways are led by owner Ray McFall's two sons - Peter (11) and Stephen (8 1/2) - and they mime to records by the Beatles and the Mersey Beats.

EX-MERSEYBEATS
I dropped in to see the Griff Parry 5 practicing one afternoon at the Blue Angel and bumped into Dave Elias and Frank Sloane. Both Dave and Frank were former members of the Merseybeats and are currently with a group called the Nocturnes.

The only original founder-member of the Merseybeats in the current hit-parading group is Tony Crane, so the Nocturnes can claim to have the majority of original Merseybeats members, says Dave Elias!

"Tony Crane, Billy Kinsley, Frank Sloane and I first got together under the name the Mavericks. Our first booking was at the Rankin Boys Club in Sheil Road and then we played at St Peter's Club, Seel Street and the YMCA, Mount Pleasant.

"Later we graduated to the major Beat venues and appeared at Aintree Institute, where Bob Wooler compered, prior to his job at the Cavern. Bob told us that our name wasn't 'punchy' enough, so we decided to call ourselves the Pacifics.

"That name only lasted one week, before we changed it to the Mersey Beats. "So in one week in 1961 we performed under three different names."

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