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Miles Davis’ ’58 soundtrack album for Louis Malle’s classic film noir starring Jeanne Moreau, we settled on ‘scaffold’ because it can be both constructive and destructive. It had that good double- meaning thing.”


At the same time McGear settled on his stage name. By ’63 Beatlemania had erupted and Paul’s fame was becoming extreme so Mike reluctantly accepted that to make it in his own right he would have to change his surname. “Mike McCartney was like being Mike Sinatra or Mike Presley. Beatlemania was okay on the telly but when you were right in the middle of it, it was too much. So, to give myself a chance and not be immediately dismissed as ‘McCartney’s brother’, although I didn’t want to, I knew I had to have a different name.”


Already “Peter” and “Francis Michael” by the time of the festival, McGear had unwittingly gained yet another alias: “Gorman had asked how I’d like my name to appear in the Festival’s official programme. Wary of being seen to cash-in on Paul’s celebrity I said ‘put it blank’. Weeks later when the programme was published however hard I looked I couldn’t find my name. Everyone else’s name was there but mine! But then I saw it – writ large in capital letters on the inside front cover: MICHAEL BLANK! Typical Gorman: he’d asked, I’d said ‘blank’, so ‘blank’ I was.”


Thankfully Scaffold afforded the opportunity to choose a more suitable stage name. “I considered being Mike Dangerfield from JP Donleavy’s The Ginger Man before coming up with Fab and Gear which were Liverpool words meaning fabulous and great. I was nearly McFab but that was too funny, so I became McGear which sounds Irish and as my lot are from Ireland I went with that.”


Offered a seven-week contract to appear on Gazette, Scaffold carefully considered the tenuous nature of such employment and being sensible chaps with one eye on their pensions immediately quit the security of their regular jobs – a case of risk rewarded, for the show ran for 32 weeks and Scaffold’s star hit the firmament and they became Liverpool 8’s most successful export. In the process they were to remind everyone that


Above, Those Scaffold hits and the Miles Davis soundtrack album from which the band took its name. Below, the changing face of fun.


long before beat music, Liverpool had been famous for its sense of humour and the attendant sound of laughter.


In these days when everyone and their dog gets to go on television the offer to appear on the small screen may not seem significant but in ’63 it was a mighty step towards making it. “Appearing on telly in those days was very scary particularly as it was not taped but done live in front of an audience! We rehearsed at Teddington Lock for our improvised short slots on the show. We’d take ideas from headlines in the day’s newspapers and work out sketches based on these beforehand so when the audience were invited to shout out headlines for us to respond to we’d already got something ready – it was a bit dangerous but the more we did the better at it we became.”


TV success secured Scaffold’s future. Tagged by the press as “lively whacker wits”, managed by Hope, Leresche & Steele, a small literacy agent based in Chelsea, they were soon appearing up and down the land in theatres, at the Edinburgh Festival and in front of hugely appreciative university audiences. Gigs at The Cavern and weeklong residencies at the newly monikered Everyman Theatre back home in Liverpool sold out the moment tickets went on sale.


Satirical and sharp Scaffold embodied Liverpool 8’s pioneering/risk taking spirit.


Adept at coming at things leftfield, they took everyday situations and turned them on their head, juxtaposing flights of fancy with all –too crude, rude, everyday reality – as in ‘Dear Diary’ where a young lover’s romantic reverie is read out alongside the coarse, raucous match day incantations of a football supporter.


Artfully challenging preconceptions they made you think – as when archangel Gabriel/Gorman is asked by McGear (or was it McGough?) “What’s God like?” to which he replies, “Well for a start she’s black”. They could also reveal a more serious, darker side as when McGough would read ‘Stephen’, his poem about the senseless tragedy inflicted on innocent people by acts of terrorism. As the reading ended and the audience reflected on his words, to emphasise the point a loud explosion would be set off, jolting everyone out


of their seat. Very Liverpool, very Scaffold.


As performers they complemented one another: Gorman’s innate comedic flair matched McGough’s poetic dexterity and wit, while McGear’s gift for performance was underpinned by great timing and a way with words often overlooked because of McGough’s reputation as the poet in the group. The trio succeeded because they were a unit, take one away and it was no longer Scaffold. To experience the full impact of their on-stage antics, internal rapport and audience participation their performances had to be seen not just heard. The critics certainly agreed:


“Fresh, highly original… they have succeeded in breaking the mould which Beyond The Fringe imposed on its successors.” The Scotsman, ’66


“It’s difficult to imagine a more self-sufficient comedy unit than Scaffold… I haven’t seen a funnier show than this.” London Morning Star, ’68.


Success, though a pleasing vindication and reward for the faith you and those around you have invested in what you do, always exacts a price. The pressure to continue to be successful is always on. Alongside that, the need to earn money is compelling for there’s no telling when success will end. For Scaffold money was an issue. Although very much part of the ’60s scene touring and playing prestigious residencies at Peter Cook’s famous satirical club, The Establishment, did


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