CAST your minds back to 1963 - the year the final prisoners left Alcatraz, the Soviet Union put the first woman in space, John F.

Kennedy was shot and Martin Luther King said: "I have a dream."

It was also the year the Merseybeats scored their first big hit with It's Love that Really Counts.

The band - who will be performing tomorrow night (Saturday) at Keswick's Theatre by the Lake - continued to enjoy a string of hits throughout the 60s, including Sorrow, which was covered by David Bowie.

The Merseybeats notched up hits in Europe, including a top ten success in Germany in the late 70s with American Dream, and their maxi-single This is Merseybeat in the mid 80s.

The Merseybeats celebrated their 30th anniversary in 1993 and, to celebrate, Billy Kinsley rejoined the band to play alongside the other original member, Tony Crane, in a five-man line-up.

The band have toured extensively, appearing in Australia, Spain, Germany, Holland and the Middle East in recent years, and they are ever-popular on the UK club and concert circuit.

They have also performed on TV and radio shows including Unforgettable, The Time of Your Life and Sounds of the Sixties.

The current line-up features Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley on guitar and vocals, Bob Peckham on bass guitar and vocals, Dave Goldberg on keyboards and vocals, and Alan Cosgrove on drums and vocals.

Theatre by the Lake box office, telephone 017687-74411.

Tickets £12/£11 for over-60s and groups of ten or more/£9 for unemployed, students and children.