View source for Music of Liverpool

{{Short description|Part of the Merseyside region's cultural scene}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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{{Refimprove|date=August 2018}}
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[[File:The Beatles members at New York City in 1964.jpg|thumb|[[The Beatles]] are the city's most famous musical exports. They have sold more albums than any other artist]]
[[File:Echo Arena Liverpool at night.jpg|thumb|The 11,000 capacity [[Echo Arena Liverpool|Echo Arena]] (now called M&S Arena) has held host to numerous world-famous musicians, [[Eurovision Song Contest 2023]] and the [[MTV Europe Music Awards 2008]]]]
[[File:Heidi Range 2.jpg|thumb|[[Heidi Range]], formerly of [[Sugababes]]]]
[[Liverpool]] has a lengthy tradition of music both [[classical music|classical]] and [[popular music|pop]]. It is well known for [[the Beatles]] (recording 18 [[UK Singles Chart|UK]] and 20 [[Billboard Hot 100|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/blog-the-beatles-at-no1-puts-spotlight-back-on-our-city-of-music-again |title=BLOG: The Beatles at No1 puts spotlight back on our city of music (again!) |date=11 November 2023 |publisher=Liverpool Express |access-date=13 November 2023}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Billy Fury statue.jpg|thumb|[[Billy Fury]] statue, Albert Dock]]
In 2001, the ''Guinness Book of Records'' declared Liverpool the: "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]] which played many early gigs at the [[Cavern Club]].

Many sea shanties specifically refer to Liverpool, such as "Heave Away", "Liverpool Judies", and "[[Maggie May (traditional song)|Maggie May]]", which was later performed by [[the Beatles]].

In the 1960s, the city was home to the development of the [[Beat music|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!]], [[Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark|OMD]], [[China Crisis]], [[Frankie Goes to Hollywood]] and [[Dead or Alive (band)|Dead or Alive]] emerged. A [[punk rock]] and [[post-punk]] scene rose during this period, centred around the venue Eric's on Matthew Street, until its closure in 1980 lead way to newer acts and [[Independent music|independent]] labels with "do-it-yourself" ethos. ''[[Record Collector]]''{{'s}} Tim Peacock said regions of this movement were documented with five compilation albums: ''A Trip to the Dentist'' (1980) for [[Birkenhead]]; ''Jobs for the Boys'' (1985) and its sequel ''Son of Jobs for the Boys'' (1985) for Merseyside; ''Elegance, Charm & Deadly Danger'' (1985) for [[St Helens, Merseyside|St Helens]]; and ''Ways to Wear Coats'' (1986) for Liverpool in general.<ref name=RCGold>{{cite journal|last=Peacock|first=Tim|title=Diggin' for Gold|journal=[[Record Collector]]|issue=442|date=July 2015|issn=0261-250X|page=136}}</ref>

1990s bands that enjoyed success were [[the Boo Radleys]], [[the La's]], [[the Real People]], [[The Farm (British band)|the Farm]] and [[Cast (band)|Cast]]. Peacock said the compilation album ''Dark Side of the Pool'' (1991) encapsulated the evolving [[indie music scene]] in Liverpool in the early 1990s.<ref name=RCGold/> During the 2000s bands such as [[the Zutons]], [[the Wombats]] and [[the Coral]] became popular. As a backlash to this style of guitar pop music, another scene far more influenced by [[post punk]] and [[experimental music]] has emerged more recently, spearheaded by bands such as [[Space (English band)|Space]], [[Ladytron]], [[Clinic (band)|Clinic]], [[a.P.A.t.T.]], [[Hot Club de Paris]] and Kling Klang. Rappers such as [[Tremz]], [[Aystar]], [[Hazey]], [[Still Brickin]] and [[Mazza_L20]] 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"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml/exhibitions/thebeatgoeson/|title=The Beat Goes On|website=Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk}}</ref> exhibition charting the history of music in Liverpool in depth, from 1945 to the present day.

==Music events==
The Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.limfestival.com|title=Liverpool International Music Festival 2015 - limfestival|work=LIMF}}</ref> 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]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.peterguy.merseyblogs.co.uk/the_git_award.html|title=Getintothis|website=Peterguy.merseyblogs.co.uk}}</ref> - 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]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.africaoye.com/|title=Africa Oyé|website=Africaoye.com}}</ref> is the UK's largest free festival of African music.

Each year the Liverpool Irish Festival<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolirishfestival.com/|title=Liverpool Irish Festival}}</ref> is held featuring mostly folk music celebrating the cultural links between Liverpool and Ireland. Liverpool contains a very large Irish population.

In 2017 the music event Melodic Distraction became a radio station in and serving Liverpool.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mixmag.net/read/melodic-distraction-studio-space-liverpool-baltic-triangle-redevelopment-news|title = Melodic Distraction lose studio space in Baltic Triangle}}</ref>

==Venues==

The 1960s saw the emergence of [[Beat music|Merseybeat]] and the [[Cavern Club]], the late 1970s and early 1980s a punk scene centred on another club, [[Eric's Club|Eric's]] also on [[Mathew Street]], while 1990s dance clubs included [[Quadrant Park]], [[Cream (nightclub)|Cream]] and more recently Chibuku.<ref name="Venues">{{cite news
| url=http://livinthelimelight.typepad.com/home/venues.html
| title=Venues
| publisher=LivInTheLimelight
| access-date=2010-01-16
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091223023604/http://livinthelimelight.typepad.com/home/venues.html
| archive-date=2009-12-23
| url-status=dead
}}</ref> The majority of the city's largest and most popular music venues and clubs are located at [[Concert Square, Liverpool|Concert Square]], [[Mathew Street]], [[Hardman Street]] and [[Hope Street, Liverpool|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, [[The Kazimier]] (moved to [[Invisible Wind Factory]]), [[The Zanzibar]], [[O2 Academy Liverpool|O<sub>2</sub> Academy]], The Magnet, Camp & Furnace and Leaf on Bold Street. In 2022, the [[Tung Auditorium]] opened in the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre.<ref>{{cite news |title=John Lennon's son opens Yoko Ono performance centre in Liverpool |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-60875141 |work=BBC News |date=25 March 2022}}</ref>

<div style="display: flex; justify-content: center; gap: 10px;">
[[File:Open day at the Liverpool Phil - geograph.org.uk - 4131590.jpg|thumb|Liverpool Philharmonic Hall]]
[[File:Cunard Building - geograph.org.uk - 5726273.jpg|thumb|[[British Music Experience]] opened in 2015]]
</div>

==Recent notable bands==
{{See also| List of bands and artists from Merseyside}}
<!-- Please don't add your MySpace or YouTube band here until you've got a Wikipedia article; it'll be deleted. Thanks -->
{{div col}}
*[[28 Costumes]]
*[[Alexis Blue]]
*[[Alterkicks]]
*[[Amsterdam (band)|Amsterdam]]
*[[Anathema (band)|Anathema]]
*[[Atomic Kitten]]
*[[The Bandits]]
*[[Candie Payne]]
*[[Carcass (band)|Carcass]]
*[[Cast (band)|Cast]]
*[[Cecil (British band)|Cecil]]
*[[Circa Waves]]
*[[Clean Cut Kid]]
*[[Clinic (band)|Clinic]]
*[[The Coral]]
*[[Conan (band)|Conan]]
<!-- *[[Crescendo (band)]] -->
*[[The Crescent (band)|The Crescent]]
*[[Dead 60s]]
*[[Ex-Easter Island Head]]
*[[The Farm (British band)|The Farm]]
*[[Flamingo 50]]
*[[The Glass Skies]]
*[[Gomez]]
<!-- *[[Groove Control]] -->
*[[Her's]]
*[[Hooton Tennis Club]]
*[[Hot Club de Paris]]
*[[Ladytron]]
*[[The La's]]
*[[The Little Flames]]
*[[Lightning Seeds]]
<!-- *[[The Loose Hearts]] -->
*[[Mugstar]]
*[[Pardon Us (band)|Pardon Us]]
*[[Pop Levi]]
*[[The Rascals (English band)|The Rascals]]
*[[The Real People]]
<!-- *[[Snap Ant]] -->
*[[Riuven]]
<!-- *[[The Seamen]] -->
*[[She Drew The Gun]] (2015)
*[[Short Sharp Shock (band)|Short Sharp Shock]]
*[[Space (English band)|Space]] 
*[[Stealing Sheep]] 
*[[The Stands]]
*[[To My Boy]]
*[[Tramp Attack]]
*[[Ultrabeat (English band)|Ultrabeat]]
*[[The Wombats]]
*[[Rivia Band]]
*[[The Zutons]]
*[[WSTR (band) | WSTR]]
{{div col end}}

== Record labels ==
A number of [[independent record labels]] are currently active in the Liverpool scene:

*[[Probe Plus Records]]
*[[Apple Records]]
*[[Big Condo 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.
* [[3 Beat 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====
* 14 March 1953: [[Lita Roza]] - "[[(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?]]"
* 25 January 1957: [[Frankie Vaughan]] - "[[The Garden of Eden (1956 song)|The Garden of Eden]]"
* 14 February 1958: [[Michael Holliday]] - "[[The Story of My Life (Burt Bacharach and Hal David song)|The Story of My Life]]"

====1960s====
:;1960
* 29 January: [[Michael Holliday]] - "[[Starry Eyed (Michael Holliday song)|Starry Eyed]]"
:;1961
* 7 December: [[Frankie Vaughan]] - "[[Tower of Strength (Frankie Vaughan single)|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 (Gerry & the Pacemakers song)|I Like It]]"
* 8 August: [[The Searchers (band)|The Searchers]] - "[[Sweets for My Sweet]]"
* 22 August: [[Billy J. Kramer]] and [[The Dakotas (band)|The Dakotas]] - "[[Bad to Me]]"
* 12 September: The Beatles - "[[She Loves You]]"
* 31 October: Gerry and the Pacemakers - "[[You'll Never Walk Alone (song)|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 (song)|Needles and Pins]]"
* 27 February: [[Cilla Black]] - "[[Anyone Who Had a Heart (song)|Anyone Who Had a Heart]]"
* 19 March: Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas - "[[Little Children (song)|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 (song)|A Hard Day's Night]]"
* 10 December: The Beatles - "[[I Feel Fine]]"
:;1965
* 22 April: The Beatles - "[[Ticket to Ride (song)|Ticket to Ride]]"
* 5 August: The Beatles - "[[Help! (song)|Help!]]"
* 30 September: [[Ken Dodd]] - "[[Tears (Ken Dodd song)|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 (song)|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 (song)|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]]"

:;1976
* 26 June: [[The Real Thing (UK band)|The Real Thing]] - "[[You to Me Are Everything]]"

:;1977
* 3 December: [[Wings (band)|Wings]] - "[[Mull of Kintyre (song)|Mull of Kintyre]]/[[Girls' School (song)|Girls' School]]"

====1980s====
:;1980
* 20 December: [[John Lennon]] - "[[(Just Like) Starting Over]]"
:;1981
* 10 January: John Lennon - "[[Imagine (John Lennon song)|Imagine]]"
* 7 February: John Lennon - "[[Woman (John Lennon song)|Woman]]"
:;1982
* 24 April: [[Paul McCartney]] with [[Stevie Wonder]] - "[[Ebony and Ivory]]"
:;1984
* 14 January: Paul McCartney - "[[Pipes of Peace (song)|Pipes of Peace]]"
* 28 January: [[Frankie Goes to Hollywood]] - "[[Relax (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)|Relax]]"
* 16 June: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "[[Two Tribes]]"
* 8 December: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "[[The Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)|The Power of Love]]"
:;1985
* 9 March: [[Dead or Alive (band)|Dead or Alive]] - "[[You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)]]"
* 15 June: [[The Crowd (band)|The Crowd]] - "[[You'll Never Walk Alone (song)|You'll Never Walk Alone]]"
:;1987
* 4 April: [[Let It Be (Ferry Aid song)|Ferry Aid]] - "[[Let It Be (song)|Let it Be]]"
:;1989
* 20 May: Various artists<ref>[[The Christians (band)|The Christians]], [[Holly Johnson]], [[Paul McCartney]],
[[Gerry Marsden]], [[Stock Aitken Waterman]]</ref> - "[[Ferry Cross the Mersey]]"<ref>Charity record for the [[Hillsborough Disaster]]</ref>
* 22 July: [[Sonia (singer)|Sonia]] - "[[You'll Never Stop Me Loving You]]"

====1990s====
:;1996
* 26 May: [[David Baddiel|Baddiel]], [[Frank Skinner|Skinner]] & [[The Lightning Seeds]] - "[[Three Lions (song)|Three Lions]]"
:;1998
* 14 June: Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds : "[[Three Lions (song)|Three Lions '98]]"

===21st Century===
====2000s====
:;2000
* March 26: [[Melanie C]] featuring [[Lisa Lopes|Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes]] - "[[Never Be the Same Again (Melanie C song)|Never Be the Same Again]]"
* August 13: Melanie C - "[[I Turn to You (Melanie C song)|I Turn to You]]"
:;2001
* February 4: [[Atomic Kitten]] - "[[Whole Again]]"
* July 29: Atomic Kitten - "[[Eternal Flame (song)#Atomic Kitten version|Eternal Flame]]"
:;2002
* January 20: [[George Harrison]] - "[[My Sweet Lord]]"
* April 28: [[Sugababes]] - "[[Freak Like Me#Sugababes version|Freak Like Me]]"
* August 18: Sugababes - "[[Round Round]]"
* September 1: Atomic Kitten - "[[The Tide Is High#Atomic Kitten version|The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)]]"
:;2003
* October 19: Sugababes - "[[Hole in the Head]]"
:;2007
* September 30: Sugababes - "[[About You Now]]"

====2010s====
:;2012
* [[List of UK Singles Chart Christmas number ones|Christmas number one]] : [[Hillsborough disaster|The Justice Collective]] - "[[He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother]]"

====2020s====
:;2023
* November 10: The Beatles - "[[Now and Then (Beatles song)|Now and Then]]"

== See also ==
*[[Culture in Liverpool]]
*[[Royal Liverpool Philharmonic]]
*[[Tung Auditorium]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Music of Liverpool}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070211140411/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/exhibitions/erics/index.asp Spotlight On Erics exhibition]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081120092954/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/online/exhibitions/beatles/ The Beatles Online exhibition]

{{Liverpool related articles}}
{{Music of the United Kingdom}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Music Of Liverpool}}
[[Category:Music scenes]]
[[Category:Music in Liverpool| ]]