Music of Liverpool

Liverpool is famous as the birthplace of The Beatles. The pop and rock, music scene in Liverpool, England has been active for decades, and been important in the development of a number of bands and artists who went on to national and international fame.

History

In 2001 the Guinness Book of Records declared Liverpool 'City of Pop' due to the many number one records to have emerged from the city. The most famous band to have come from Liverpool is The Beatles, who played many of their early gigs at the Cavern Club.

Many sea shanties specifically refer to Liverpool, such as "Heave Away", "Liverpool Judies", and "Maggie May", which was later performed by The Beatles.

In the 1960s, the city was home to the development of the Merseybeat style of pop music, popularised by artists including Gerry & The Pacemakers. However, even before Merseybeat Liverpool had successful acts such as Frankie Vaughan, Lita Roza and Billy Fury. In the late 1970s/early 1980s, Echo & the Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, the Mighty Wah!, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Dead or Alive emerged. Many of the bands were linked by the club Eric's, which hosted influential punk gigs.

1990s bands that enjoyed success were The Boo Radleys, The La's, The Real People, The Farm and Cast. Since 2000 bands such as The Zutons and The Coral have become popular. As a backlash to this regular guitar pop music, another scene far more influenced by post punk and experimental music has emerged more recently spearheaded by bands such as Ladytron, Clinic, a.P.A.t.T., Hot Club de Paris, Kling Klang and Stig.

In 2008 World Museum Liverpool (in partnership the Institute of Popular Music at University of Liverpool) created The Beat Goes On exhibition charting the history of music in Liverpool in depth, from 1945 to the present day.

Music events

The city hosts the Liverpool Summer Pops each year, with a variety of artists performing over a period of three to four weeks in one main venue.

Liverpool hosted the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards. The EMA's were held in the Echo Arena and featured international acts such as Beyoncé Knowles, Pink, Duffy, Kid Rock, The Killers and Katy Perry who hosted the event.

Liverpool will also serve as the finish for a music-pilgrimage, the FanWalk. 100 music fans from all over Europe will all walk here from London. The fanwalk is powered and created by MTV and Sony Ericsson.

Venues

Whilst the 60s was dominated by Merseybeat, centred around the now defunct Cavern Club, in the late 70s/early 80s the punk scene saw the birth of another legendary club, Eric's, also found on Mathew Street. With the dance explosion of the 1990s Liverpool was again in the spotlight with clubs such as Quadrant Park, Cream and more recently Chibuku.

Current venues include the Barfly, Korova, Kazimier, Zanzibar, O2 Academy, Metropolitan and The Magnet.

Recent notable bands

Record Labels

A number of independent record labels are currently active in the Liverpool scene:

• Regular Beat Recording Co.
• Apple Records
• People vs Grass Records
• Spank Records
• The Viper Label
• Samizdat Records

Deltasonic, now a division of Sony Music, is based in Liverpool and has released music by a number of Liverpool bands.

See also

• Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
• Music scene
• The Beat Goes On exhibition
• Spotlight On Erics exhibition
• The Beatles Online

References