The Cavern...it stank of decay, sweat, cigarettes, and was probably a massive fire risk. To me as a fourteen year old schoolgirl, it was fabulous. It was where everything was happening. I sat in the front row always. I drooled over the Merseybeats, Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Undertakers, Faron's Flamingos (going totally nuts over Trevor's drum solos), Billy J, Cilla, Beryl, the Big Three, the Roadrunners, the Searchers (I still cry when I hear 'Needles And Pins' and have it in German as well) and, of course, the Beatles.

I cheered, cried, screamed with the best of them and I loyally read Mersey Beat to keep up to date.

Oddly enough, the attraction was just the music! It wasn't the Sixties sexual awareness or feminist revolution, it was simply the sound. We related to it because any Liverpudlian could, in our opinion, do the same...with luck. All Liverpudlians could sing! All Liverpudlians have biting sarcasm! All Liverpudlians are comedians! Like the Mersey it runs through our veins along with the blood!

Everyone I knew at this time was in a group. Every street corner had a group practicing. Just about every basement had a group playing something. The Mersey Sound! Beginning with the Vernons Girls 'You Know What I Mean' up to the Beatles and all who came after them put Liverpool back on the map. Their fame was ours! Bugger London! Finally, Liverpool (which in America equates to Cleveland as a place to snigger about) had pride again...we were fab, gear, powerful - and I was part of it, and am still proud forty years later - it was my generation. We had raves. We danced until all hours of the night practicing the Cavern Stomp to Bobby Comstock's 'Let's Stomp', just in case we were filmed at the 'Cave.'

Liverpool, city of Change and Challenge. Home of the Mersey Sound. I remember running a few miles in the deep snow to my friend Susan's house all the way in the Southend on Christmas Day clutching my LP 'With The Beatles' so we could rehearse the new songs.

The connection with the Chants, Lily and Beryl also meant contacts and invitations. Like Paul McCartney's 21st Birthday Party. What a place to meet musicians.

Just about every group rehearsed at the Ankra house at some point or another which was invariably filled with musicians: tbe Triumphs, the Sobells. Ankrah's future wife Leslie Molloy, then a teenager, also had a great voice and could belt out a song with the best of them. We would all frequently sing together or critique each other's stagecraft. I understand there are recordings of these sessions somewhere.

The Chants version of 'A Thousand Stars' is a classic, as is 'She's Mine' and any of the Four Seasons songs which were by far better than the original US recordings. (My husband managed to find a collection called 'Some Other Guys' on the Internet for me last Christmas and it has three Chants songs along with many Liverpool groups. But still nothing captures their live performance).

The Rontons also auditioned for the Star Club, Hamburg. Our audition was arranged by John Lennon and was at the Rialto Ballroom. The area was very much like Hamburg. The (German group) Rattles drummer I believe called Dickie, was part of the selection committee. When we got there the old ballroom was crowded with young hopefuls, all wanting to jump on the Beatles bandwagon. 

I do not believe it was the original Rontons lineup as there were only so many excuses one could give parents. Remember, we were 'nice little' fourteen and fifteen year old schoolgirls all with strict middle class parents who would have killed us for being in that part of Liverpool, unchaperoned, so late at night. In reprospect, it surprised me we weren't killed in gang wars!

The few girl groups at the audition all did 'Boys', 'Be My Baby' and the old standby 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow?' We ran to the bathroom for a quick rehearsal. We couldn't do the same 'big' three songs...alas, they were our best rehearsed. Instead we did a fast rehearsal of 'Angel Baby' and 'Soldier Boy' with 'A Thousand Stars' as our ace in the hole. When it was our turn to perform we noticed that the preceding act was the Sobells who, of course, did a decent rendition of 'A Thousand Stars.' We had no wish to die. None of these groups fooled around. We were down to two songs! Finally we were on. 'Angel Baby' was flawless, but our arrangement of 'Soldier Boy' for which I had used a counter melody, repeating the last phrase of each line, won their hearts and the applause.

Did we go to Hamburg? No we did not! Our parents all felt we'd gone do-lally. And we never appeared at the Cavern. We couldn't take it too seriously. We all had to finish school, go to university or whatever. I continued to sing alone. On holiday I would sing at clubs, anywhere, paid or unpaid, it didn't matter. The sheer joy of performing. Gradually though, the studies took over, as did employment and one day after completing several years at Liverpool University Youth Service Training Centre, and doing practical work in Youth Clubs and Solicitor's offices (Carr, Mass Davidson was the law firm for the Epstein family and several of their performers, that excitement alone made it a great place to work. The firm's Senior Partner Cyril Carr became Lord Mayor of Liverpool) I left England in late 1968 to work for NATO.

I lived in Germany for seven years, travelled throughout Europe and was eventually transferred to the United States twenty seven years ago.

Today, mother of five (three are also musicians) and a Grandmother of a gorgeous little boy who already looks like he'll sing and play the drums.

I am an investigative researcher and do pre-trial research for law firms. I also lecture in the Criminal Justice area specifically counter-terrorism and am a published columnist and feature writer currently working on a book called 'The Isis Project' which features several Liverpool characters.

Life is good! My husband Pete Johnson is a drummer and former recording engineer with a sound studio. His stories match mine but with people from this side of the Atlantic. Like me, he gave up his dreams of music as a profession, becoming a Software Guru instead. One of his former band members played with the Stones a few years ago while they were on tour here. Pete had that look in his eyes when he heard the news. That same fire, the one that began with the Mersey Sound and spread all over the world. I recently watched Paul McCartney performing in Moscow. It was a special on TV over here. It could have been forty years ago - it was wonderful. It made me smile and for a couple of hours I was home.

Editor's Note: The Rontons comprised Marilyn Dease, Susan McKevitt, Ann Brown and Carole Sayle. Marilyn would like to hear from any of her former friends from Skelly's College, in addition to the former members of the Rontons. They can contact her via the Mersey Beat site.

I also went to Skerry's College. It's situated near the city centre in Rodney Street, the street where Brian Epstein was born. It was from Skerry's that I won a scholarship to the Junior School of Art.

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