Neck-and-neck with the Beatles for a time during the British Invasion music era, Gerry & the Pacemakers played the same type of carefree, lightweight pop music as the other English superband, just falling short of the Beatles' success in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Putting his name in front of the Pacemakers, Gerry Marsden took responsibility for the band, writing some of the group's songs while also playing the guitar and singing lead vocals. The Pacemakers were formed in 1959 with Marsden's brother Fred playing drums, Les Chadwick on bass and Arthur Mack on piano. The band's manager Brian Epstein was also the Beatles' manager, striking another similarity between the two. Signed by Epstein in 1962, Gerry & the Pacemakers released their first single "How Do You Do It?" for EMI/Columbia in '63, followed soon thereafter by "I Like It." The band's debut album How Do You Like It? was released in 1963, quickly followed by Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying and Second Album, both released in 1964. Playing the circuits in Liverpool, the Pacemakers garnered a huge following, and they even had their own film Ferry Cross the Mersey in the mid-‘60s.

Crossing over into American territory by 1965, the band released hits that went straight to the Billboard charts. The albums Ferry Cross the Mersey and I'll Be There were both released in 1965, and 1966 brought Gerry & the Pacemakers their last successful album, Girl on a Swing. Although starting with a fresh image at the same time as the Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers couldn't stand the test of time like the Beatles could. The group's clean-cut image and freewheeling attitude eventually went out of style, as did their music, and Gerry & the Pacemakers disbanded in 1966.