Ricki Richards, a member of the Jets who died a couple of years ago, told me that the Top Ten club in Hamburg was named after Vince Eager's Top Ten club in Soho. He said that when they were in Hamburg, Peter Eckhorn had the Hippodrome on the Reeperbahn and when he booked them they suggested the name change. Allan Williams also named his club, ironically in Soho Street in Liverpool, the Top Ten. Howie Casey & the Seniors, who were the first Liverpool group to go to Hamburg, opened there and the Beatles were to follow on their return from Germany. However, the club was burnt down. I wonder what would have happened if it hadn't - and the Beatles became the resident group there.
Here is my piece on Howie Casey's story:
Howie Casey is a Liverpool legend and his bands preceded the Beatles on a number of fronts. Under their original name of Derry and the Seniors they were the first Liverpool group to go to Hamburg and as Howie Casey & the Seniors the first Mersey band to make a record in their own right.
Born 12 July 1937, Howie started playing saxophone because he liked jazz and decided to pursue a career in music by signing with the King