One of the very few Merseybeat bands with female members and possibly the first ‘girl group’ of all time, The Liver Birds formed in 1963.
The band took their name from the fictional ‘Liver Bird’ which is the symbol of the town of Liverpool.
Like other beat bands of that time, The Liverbirds earned more success in Germany than in their native land, becoming one of the top attractions at the famous Star Club in Hamburg from 1964 to 1967, where they were known as “die Weiblichen Beatles” (the female Beatles).
Despite the nickname, the girls identified more with The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things.
Although little known in the UK, they cut two albums for the Star Club‘s label and made the German Top 40 with Diddley Daddy in 1965.
Singer/guitarist Pam Birch wrote several numbers and Johnny Kidd recorded her It’s Got To Be You in 1966. More Of The Liverbirds (1966) saw the band successfully widen their influences to embrace Motown and Goffin & King.
After the group broke up in 1967 some of the members stayed permanently in Germany.
The Liver Birds re-formed for a show in Liverpool in 2005. Birch died on 27 October 2009 in Hamburg. She was 65.
Valerie Gell
Vocals, guitar
Pam Birch
Vocals, guitar
Mary McGlory
Bass, vocals
Sylvia Saunders
Drums
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