Seven months after their latest flop the Searchers were in a desperate situation. Tony Hatch – who had produced all their records for Pye – and the Searchers parted company – due to musical differences. So November 1967 saw the first ever Searchers own production and the first single with both sides written by the group. Second Hand Dealer was written by Mike (music) and Frank (lyrics). The other side Crazy Dreams was credited to John and Mike but it was John all by himself

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Left: The cover from the Netherlands, Pye 7N-17424. In the UK it was released as usual – in a simple general Pye cover. The song didn’t chart in any country.   The lack of success caused Pye not to renew their record contract. So in their fifth year with Pye they were fired.

Above: label A and B side in the usual red colour. This was still used in the Netherlands but not in the UK. Here the label was blue – the only one by the Searchers.

 

 

 

We were on a tour of Sweden in 1966. Chris Curtis was out of the band and John Blunt was on drums. At one gig we were supported by a group called The Second Hand Dealers. We were all intrigued by the name and Mike Pender and I decided to write a song with that title. I can`t remember now which came first, the tune or the lyrics but the tune was entirely Mike`s and the lyrics were entirely mine. We were scratching in the dark as far as knowing what to record but decided to try it out as a single. Probably not very wisely. In fact it was quite catchy and I am still pleased with the construction and scan of the words but it was a bit weak to try to get back into the favour of the record buying public. At that point we needed something very strong indeed to halt the slide, and that song wasn't strong enough. Frank Allen  (thanks to Peter)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There might be more releases of the single in other countries. I have the copy of another release with a picture cover – similar to the NL cover - but I know nothing about its origin It took another year until our group could issue another single – but you won’t have to wait that long.