Merseybeat - Rory Storm and the Hurricanes

Liverpool band Rory Storm & the Hurricanes are most famous as Ringo Starr's group before he joined The Beatles. In fact, to most rock fans, that's about all they're known for. They were, however, an extremely popular Merseyside group in the early '60s that did their part to get the Liverpool scene going, and were, in fact, more popular than The Beatles themselves in 1960. Like the Beatles and some other Liverpool groups, they went to Hamburg and played challenging residencies in that city's tough clubs. But, shortly after the Beatles and Storm had cut their teeth in Hamburg, the Beatles shot past Storm and his group in popularity. And with good reason --The Beatles were better musicians and, unlike Storm and the Hurricanes, wrote their own material. Continuing to play for a few years after the Beatles poached Starr in August 1962 to replace Pete Best, the British Invasion boom almost passed Storm by, although he did get to release a couple of singles in 1963-1964.