I was only a kid when Merseybeat started up in 1962/3. Most of the stuff on record was highly sanitised Pop stuff but occasional stuff sneaked through showing what a good, hard rocking club scene it was based on early R&B and Rock ‘n’ Roll.
The highlights for me were (apart from the Beatles) the Big Three EP, the Merseybeats EP, the two volumes of This Is Merseybeat on Oriole and occasional singles – like the Mojos Everything’s Alright.
My top bands would be:
Beatles (obviously)
Big Three
Searchers,
Faron’s Flamingos
Rory Storm & the Hurricanes
Mojos
Gerry & the Pacemakers (surprisingly very powerful live)
Merseybeats (that EP)
Earl Preston and the TTs
Sony Webb and the Cascades