Description
Book SynopsisIn 2001 the Guinness Book of Records declared Liverpool ‘City of Pop’, the City that has produced more hit records than anywhere else. But why is Liverpool so important musically and how has it sustained its importance from the Beatles to the Zutons via Echo and the Bunnymen, Cream, The La’s and others? The Beat Goes On is a critical historical account of popular music in Liverpool which explores the contextual, creative and geographical factors that have contributed to the city’s status as a major centre of creativity within Anglo-Amercian popular music. Rather than attempting to create a singular linear account of the history of popular music and its cultures within the city the book will take a thematic and case-study approach which will offer a new approach to the study of the subject. The book is therefore necessarily interdisciplinary with contributions from experts from the field of popular music history, cultural geography, ethnography and musicology, alongside essays and interviews with Liverpool musicians.
Table of ContentsList of contributors List of illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: creativity, representation and place Robert Strachan and Marion Leonard 1. Historical approaches to Merseybeat: delivery, affinity and diversity Ian Inglis 2. Growing up with the Beatles Spencer Leigh 3. From sea shanties to cosmic scousers: the city, memory and representation in Liverpool’s popular music Robert Strachan 4. Pubs in the precinct: music making, retail developments and the characterization of urban space Sara Cohen and Brett Lashua 5. The soul continuum: Liverpool black musicians and the UK music industry from the 1950s to the 1980s Robert Strachan 6. Not just one of the boys: gender, representation and the historical record Marion Leonard 7. Liverpool’s 1970s bohemia: Deaf School, Eric’s and the post-punk scene Robert Strachan 8. Dance moves: finding a place for house music in Liverpool Georgina Young 9. The creative process: Liverpool songwriters on songwriting Marion Leonard Index
