Biography
Born as Michael Alexander Byrne on 10 January 1943 in Liverpool, England, the future musician trained as an apprentice tailor and used his midday breaks to visit the Cavern club. His earliest band, Mike And The Thunderbirds, featured him on vocals and bass, after which he joined a string of Liverpool groups during the 1960s, among them the Roadrunners. The most notorious of these outfits was Them Grimbles, where Byrne led the original lineup; their manager, anticipating greater opportunities, dispatched four separate ensembles under the identical name until a Sunday newspaper exposed the deception. He later turned to cabaret work, appearing regularly on bills promoted by Ken Dodd. Following an extended period of preparation, Byrne and his wife Bernadette launched the inventive Beatles Story at Liverpool’s Albert Dock, an attraction that quickly ranked among the city’s foremost visitor destinations. Their partnership with financial backers Wembley Stadium Ltd. eventually collapsed, leaving the couple without any role in the venue’s ongoing operations. Today Byrne supplies lead vocals and keyboards for Persuader, a 1950s revival act that also includes veterans of earlier Merseybeat groups; the band maintains a strong local audience across Merseyside and has issued three cassettes.
Albums
