Music of Liverpool

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.

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 (now called M&S 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

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!, OMD, China Crisis, 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 Space, Ladytron, Clinic, a.P.A.t.T., Hot Club de Paris and Kling Klang. Rappers such as Tremz and Aystar have also emerged, using strong Scouse accents.

In 2008 World Museum Liverpool (in partnership the Institute of Popular Music at University of Liverpool) created "The Beat Goes On"[1] exhibition charting the history of music in Liverpool in depth, from 1945 to the present day.

Music events

The Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF)[2] evolved from the Mathew Street Music Festival, which was the largest annual free music festival in Liverpool attracting over 200,000 visitors to the City.

In 2011 the GIT Award[3] - formed through influential Liverpool music blog Getintothis - was founded. Dubbed the 'Scouse Mercury Prize' by NME, the GIT Award celebrated and championed Merseyside's revitalised music scene. Garnering backing from over 90 businesses and with a judging panel including the Guardian, NME, 6 Music and founder Peter Guy from the Liverpool Echo, the GIT Award nominated 12 artists representing the best artists from that calendar year.

Liverpool hosts several music festivals each year which celebrate and represent the different cultures within the city. Africa Oye[4] is the UK's largest free festival of African music.

Each year the Liverpool Irish Festival[5] is held featuring mostly folk music celebrating the cultural links between Liverpool and Ireland. Liverpool contains a very large Irish population.

Venues

The 1960s saw the emergence of Merseybeat and the 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.[6] 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, though the Baltic Triangle region of the city has seen a growth in popularity, with a number of venues appearing in previously disused warehouses. Current venues include the Echo Arena Liverpool, East Village Arts Club, Kazimier, Zanzibar, O2 Academy, The Magnet, Camp & Furnace and Leaf on Bold Street.

Recent notable bands
See also: List of bands and artists from Merseyside

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
  • Jacaranda 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
  • Felch Records
  • Mellowtone

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

1960s
1960
1961
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969

1970s
1971
1976
1977

1980s
1980
1981
  • 10 January : John Lennon - "Imagine"
  • 7 February : John Lennon - "Woman"
1982
1984
1985
1987
1989

1990s
1996
1998

21st Century

2000s
2000
2001
2002
2003
2007

2010s
2012
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See also

References
  1. "The Beat Goes On". Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk.
  2. "Liverpool International Music Festival 2015 - limfestival". LIMF.
  3. "Getintothis". Peterguy.merseyblogs.co.uk.
  4. "Africa Oyé". Africaoye.com.
  5. "Liverpool Irish Festival". Liverpool Irish Festival.
  6. "Venues". LivInTheLimelight. Archived from the original on 2009-12-23. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  7. The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Stock Aitken Waterman
  8. Charity record for the Hillsborough Disaster
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