the strong 1965 album, Take Me For What I'm Worth, and despite some strong later recordings, no further chart successes occurred, doubling the impact of Chris Curtis's departure. After Curtis' departure Frank Allen handled the high harmonies, and new drummer John Blunt boosted them musically but, despite some promising latter Pye singles, including a cover of "Western Union", their UK chart days were over. Although they continued to record for Liberty Records and RCA Records, they ended up on the British "Chicken-in-a-Basket" touring circuit, although they did score a minor US hit in 1971 with "Desdemona". A contract with RCA Victor's UK wing resulted in an album of rerecorded hits titled Second Take (1972), later reissued on the budget RCA International label as Needles & Pins. However, that was overshadowed by Pye's "Golden Hour of..." compilation of the original hits that came out at the same time. Despite recording new material, including covers of Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire" and the Bee Gees' "Spicks And Specks", which were issued as RCA singles with scant promotion, much of their new work was not issued at the time, and RCA later dropped the group. The group continued to tour through the 1970s, playing both the expected old hits as well as contemporary songs such as a powering extended live version of Neil Young's "Southern Man". They were rewarded in 1979 when Sire Records signed them to a multi-record deal. Two albums were released: The Searchers and Play for Today (retitled Love's Melodies outside the UK). Both records garnered critical acclaim and featured some original tracks, as well as covers of songs such as Alex Chilton's "September Gurls" and John Fogerty's "Almost Saturday Night". But with scant promotion and little if any radio airplay, they did not break into the charts. The first album was quickly revamped following release with a few extra tracks added, one song dropped (a cover of Bob Dylan's "Coming From The Heart"), and a new sleeve, which may have only confused the public. The albums did, however, revive the group's career, because concerts from then on alternated classic hits with the newer songs that were well received. A Sire single, "Hearts in Her Eyes", written by Will Birch and John Wicks of The Records, and successfully updating their distinctive 12-string guitars/vocal harmonies sound, picked up some radio airplay, and with more promotion might have charted. Meanwhile, PRT Records actively promoted