I Went from Being a Rock Star with My Brother Gerry to a Pounds 14-A- Week Phone Operator; Everyone Knew the Frontman, but There Was Another Marsden in the Pacemakers. David Charters Speaks to the Drummer Freddie

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Byline: David Charters

THE father was a railway clerk who entertained his friends in the parlour of their terraced house by playing the ukulele in the style of George Formby.

The elder boy, who had his eyes set on a coveted place in grammar school, fancied that one day he might he a bit of a drummer, keeping up the rhythm for the dancers under the shimmering lights of the local halls.

So the father took the skin off one of his ukuleles and stretched it over a Quality Street chocolate tin. ``There son,''he said. ``This is your first snare drum.''

The younger son, though, who sang well and played the guitar,had higher ambitions beating in his heart. Music made stars,he said to anyone who would listen. You only had to look at Lonnie Donegan and Elvis Presley. They were fine examples for the new generation. And so the young Gerry Marsden became the leader of the Pacemakers, …