Music of Liverpool

The Beatles are by far the city's most famous musical exports. They have sold more albums in the US than any other artist in history

The 11,000 capacity Echo Arena has held host to numerous world famous musicians and also recently, the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008

A recent number-one UK single by a Liverpudlian is by Heidi Range who belongs to the girlband, Sugababes

Liverpool has a lengthy tradition of music both classical and pop. It is well-known for The Beatles (who recorded 17 UK and 20 US number-one singles). Its pop and rock music scene has also been important in the development of a number of other bands and artists since the 1950s.

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, A Flock of Seagulls, Teardrop Explodes, the Mighty Wah!, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Dead or Alive emerged.

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, The Wombats 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 Police Squad.

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 will also host the worlds first 'Live Aid Unsigned'.

Venues

The 1960s saw the emergence of Merseybeat and the now defunct Cavern Club, the late 1970s and early 1980s a punk scene centered on another club, Eric's also on Mathew Street, while 1990s dance clubs included Quadrant Park, Cream and more recently Chibuku.^[1] The majority of the city's largest and most popular music venues and clubs are located at Concert Square, Mathew Street, Hardman Street and Hope Street.

Current venues include the Echo Arena Liverpool, Masque, Kazimier, Zanzibar, O₂ Academy, The Magnet, and The View Two Gallery.

Recent notable bands

See also: List of bands from Merseyside

• 28 Costumes
• Alexis Blue
• Alterkicks
• Amsterdam
• Anathema
• Candie Payne
• Carcass
• Cast
• Clinic
• The Coral
• Crescendo (band)
• Dead 60s
• Flamingo 50
• Hot Club de Paris
• Kling Klang
• Ladytron
• Mugstar
• Pop Levi
• The Rascals
• The Real People
• Short Sharp Shock
• Snap Ant
• The Little Flames
• Riuven
• The Stands
• To My Boy
• Tokyo Adventures
• Tramp Attack
• Ultrabeat
• The Wombats
• The Zutons

Record Labels

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

• Probe Plus Records Home of a diverse mix of local and not so local music, including most notably Birkenhead's post-punk surrealists Half Man Half Biscuit.
• Regular Beat Recording Co.
• Apple Records
• The Viper Label
• Deltasonic, now a division of Sony Music, is based in Liverpool and has released music by a number of Liverpool bands.
• Lost at Sea Records

Number-one singles

Below is a list of songs by artists from Liverpool that attained the number one position in the UK Singles Chart.

20th Century

1950s

• 25 January 1957 : Frankie Vaughan - "The Garden of Eden"
• 14 February 1958 : Michael Holliday - "The Story of My Life"

1960s

1960

• 29 January : Michael Holliday - "Starry Eyed"

1961

• 7 December : Frankie Vaughan - "Tower of Strength"

1963

• 11 April : Gerry and the Pacemakers - "How Do You Do It?"
• 2 May : The Beatles - "From Me to You"
• 20 June : Gerry and the Pacemakers - "I Like It"
• 8 August : The Searchers - "Sweets for My Sweet"
• 22 August : Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas - "Bad to Me"
• 12 September : The Beatles - "She Loves You"
• 31 October : Gerry and the Pacemakers - "You'll Never Walk Alone"
• 28 November : The Beatles - "She Loves You"
• 12 December : The Beatles - "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

1964

• 30 January : The Searchers - "Needles and Pins"
• 27 February : Cilla Black - "Anyone Who Had a Heart"
• 19 March : Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas - "Little Children"
• 2 April : The Beatles - "Can't Buy Me Love"
• 7 May : The Searchers - "Don't Throw Your Love Away"
• 28 May : Cilla Black - "You're My World"
• 23 July : The Beatles - "A Hard Day's Night"
• 10 December : The Beatles - "I Feel Fine"

1965

• 22 April : The Beatles - "Ticket to Ride"
• 5 August : The Beatles - "Help!"
• 30 September : Ken Dodd - "Tears"
• 16 December : The Beatles - "Day Tripper"/"We Can Work It Out"

1966

• 23 June : The Beatles - "Paperback Writer"
• 18 August : The Beatles - "Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby"

1967

• 19 July : The Beatles - "All You Need Is Love"
• 6 December : The Beatles - "Hello, Goodbye"

1968

• 27 March : The Beatles - "Lady Madonna"
• 11 September : The Beatles - "Hey Jude"
• 11 December : The Scaffold - "Lily the Pink"

1969

• 8 January : The Scaffold - "Lily the Pink" (second peak at #1)
• 23 April : The Beatles with Billy Preston - "Get Back"
• 11 June : The Beatles - "The Ballad of John and Yoko"

1970s

1971

• 30 January : George Harrison - "My Sweet Lord"

1977

• 3 December : Wings : "Mull of Kintyre"

1980s

1980

• 20 December : John Lennon - "(Just Like) Starting Over"

1981

• 10 January : John Lennon - "Imagine"
• 7 February : John Lennon - "Woman"

1982

• 24 April : Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder - "Ebony and Ivory"

1984

• 14 January : Paul McCartney - "Pipes of Peace"
• 28 January : Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Relax"
• 16 June : Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Two Tribes"
• 8 December : Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "The Power of Love"

1985

• 9 March : Dead or Alive - "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"
• 15 June : The Crowd - "You'll Never Walk Alone"

1987

• 29 August : Ferry Aid - "Let it Be"

1989

• 20 May : Various artists^[2] - "Ferry Cross the Mersey"^[3]
• 22 July : Sonia - "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You"

1990s

1996

• 26 May : Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds - "Three Lions"

1998

• 14 June : Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds : "Three Lions '98"

21st Century

2000s

2000

• March 26 : Melanie C. featuring Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes - "Never Be the Same Again"
• August 13 : Melanie C. - "I Turn to You"

2001

• February 4 : Atomic Kitten - "Whole Again"
• July 29 : Atomic Kitten - "Eternal Flame"

2002

• January 20 : George Harrison - "My Sweet Lord"
• April 28 : Sugababes - "Freak Like Me"
• August 18 : Sugababes - "Round Round"
• September 1 : Atomic Kitten - "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)"

2003

• October 19 : Sugababes - "Hole in the Head"

2007

• September 30 : Sugababes - "About You Now"

2010s

See also

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

References

1. ^ "Venues". LivInTheLimelight. Retrieved 2010-01-16. http://livinthelimelight.typepad.com/home/venues.html. 
2. ^ The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Stock Aitken Waterman
3. ^ charity record for the Hillsborough Disaster