Liverpool, which will represent Ukraine at Eurovision this year, is not only the birthplace of the Beatles, but one of the most important cities in pop music history.
According to Paul Skillen, author of “Scouse Pop,” this is a port city on the banks of the Mersey estuary whose unique sound combination has included sailors and enslaved people for centuries. It is said that it comes from the flow of people. He is also a lecturer at the University of Chester. “It has become a melting pot of cultural and musical influences that have made Liverpool different from other cities in the UK,” he said.
Merseybeat is a British interpretation of American rock and roll that originated in Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Beatles and local bands like Jerry and the Pacemakers made him one of the most popular music artists in both Britain and the United States at the time.
Holly Tesler, senior lecturer in music at the University of Liverpool, said the Merseybeat era was the first major arrival of British popular music. “It was the first time that a city outside of London, definitely a northern, definitely working-class community, had its own music, its own identity, its own sound,” she said.
By the 1980s, in the midst of an economic downturn across Britain, Liverpool was once again bursting with a new sound, later known as New Wave. “It was really innovative and gave it room to grow and develop outside the London mainstream,” she said. Frankie Goes to Hollywood was a popular local band of the time known for their hits “Relax” and “Two Tribes”. met again on sunday Towards the opening ceremony of Eurovision.
In 2008 Liverpool European Capital of Cultureand seven years later it was named UNESCO city of music, joins the ranks of Glasgow. Kingston, Jamaica. and Seville, Spain.
Liverpool’s appreciation for music is also reflected in its architecture. St George’s Hall, Neoclassical concert hall This theater in the city center opened in the 1850s and has hosted screenings of the Eurovision finals. There are dozens more theaters, venues and clubs in the city, Including Argyle Theaterwhere Charlie Chaplin played, and Eric’s Cluba venue that hosted a punk band.
As Liverpool gear up to host Eurovision, the city’s welcoming spirit is showing. This year was supposed to be held in UkraineIf there hadn’t been a conflict there.
“In the last two weeks, everything has blossomed overnight,” Tesler said. “We have a Ukrainian flag and a Ukrainian songbird,” she added. 12 large sculptures They are scattered throughout the city.
“It’s really great to see it come to fruition,” she said.