GORDON WALLER (left)
of
PETER & GORDON

Singing duo Peter & Gordon were in the first wave of the British Invasion. Their voices were magical together—those smooth harmonies were a prelude to the upcoming folk-rock sound.  They had 10 Top 40 hits between 1964 and 1967 including their first-- #1 smash “A World Without Love.”   The rise to the top was extremely swift.  Why?  It didn’t hurt that Peter’s sister Jane Asher was Paul McCartney’s girl friend.  Paul handed over four of his compositions to the boys—all of which landed in the Top 20.

Gordon Waller was born in Braemar, Scotland in 1945.   He met child-actor Peter Asher in 1961 when they were boys at the prestigious Westminster School.  (The school boasts many renowned former students including A. A. Milne, Sir John Geilgud, Peter Ustinov, and Andrew Lloyd Webber).    Both boys liked to sing and realized that their voices were suited to harmonize together---though Gordon preferred rock and Peter liked folk. They started performing at school parties.  This led to gigs at coffee houses in the London area—so the under-age boys had to sneak out at night scaling the high fences of their boarding school.

In 1962, they officially became the singing duo of “Gordon & Peter.”  An EMI executive spotted them at the Pickwick Club and they were signed in 1963.  All they needed now were some original songs to record.  Peter had become friends with Paul McCartney who was dating his younger sister, Jane Asher. The prolific Paul was writing many songs during this period, but not all he thought would be suitable for The Beatles.  In 1964, Paul gave them what was to become their biggest hit, “A World Without Love.”  It was a worldwide success. 

Capitol Records picked up the distributing in the USA.   The newly-named Peter & Gordon became the first group of the British Invasion after the Beatles to reach #1 in the US.  The 19-year-olds were immediately set into a whirlwind for the next 3 years.   Their impeccable harmonies resulted in their being dubbed the Everly Brothers of the British Invasion.    They would tour for the next 3 years to screaming teen-agers joining the likes of other British acts The Dave Clark 5, The Rolling Stones, Chad & Jeremy (of which they are sometimes confused), the Animals, and Gerry & the Pacemakers.  They toured with The Beatles in 1966.

Not only did the single “A World Without Love” become a huge success, but Peter & Gordon’s album of the same name also jumped onto the charts.  It included several songs written by the duo (as did many of their albums) but they were never able to take any of their own compositions to hit status.  They were many times relegated to the B-side of their 45s, as was “If I Were You” which was on the flip side of their first hit.

Their next two 1964 singles (both landing in the Top 20) were again Paul McCartney compositions “Nobody I Know” (#12) and I Don’t Want To See You Again (#16). 

The hits kept coming in 1965 but without the help of Paul McCartney.  Their fourth was “I Go to Pieces (#9) courtesy of Del Shannon, followed by an old Buddy Holly song  “True Love Ways” (#14), and, “To Know You Is to Love You,” (#24) a variation of the Teddy Bears/Phil Spector’s “To Know Him is To Love Him.”

Of course, the boys kept touring throughout the world, appearing on the requisite music shows (in the US it was Ed Sullivan, Hullabaloo, Shindig, and Where the Action Is), and being written about in Tiger Beat and other teen-oriented magazines.  They were huge idols in their native England, scoring additional hits such as “Baby I’m Yours” (the hit in the US was by Barbara Lewis). 

In 1966 (released in February) they branched out to record the album “Peter & Gordon Sing & Play the Hits of Nashville Tennessee” singing “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Memphis,” and  “Lonely Street.”