Of all his musical history reference books, Spencer is rightly proud of Twist and Shout which includes a full Merseybeat discography and a listing of more than 300 tracks that are known to exist but have yet to be issued.
Recent rare discoveries include Gerry and The Pacemakers tapes for the producer Bernard Whitty in Crosby back in 1961.
Says Spencer: "I wanted to put the lid on that era and find out what happened to the musicians.
"Some of their voices have lost their flex and some hands are struggling with arthritis and some of the drummers lack the '60s energy.
"But they are still out there and organisations such as the Mersey Cats raise thousands for charity every year.
"That's what I wanted to stress in my book - music played its part in our Capital of Culture bid and it still plays a major part in the life of our city."
* Twist and Shout, by Spencer Leigh (Nirvana Books, £14.99, published August 2).
