Liverpool

Even before it gave us the Beatles, Liverpool produced the first true rock'n'roll star to be born outside America, Billy Fury. There has been a stream of star names ever since - from the Merseybeat time of the Beatles, Cilla Black and the Searchers to Echo and the Bunnymen, Elvis Costello, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The La's, The Lightning Seeds and Atomic Kitten. Liverpool even rules the dance floor through its very own super-club, Cream. This is a look at how one city became central in the history of music. The book looks at its full range of cultural influences, from Bill Shankly and the Liverpool/Everton divide to poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Roger McGough, comedians including Jimmy Tarbuck and Alexei Sayle, "Shirley Valentine" and "The Boys From The Black Stuff", the Toxteth riots and the Hillsborough disaster. Despite the backdrop of economic decline, Liverpool has never lost its creative energy. Paul Du Noyer explores the very roots of Scouse culture, from its deep links with America and the overwhelming Irish influence, to the manic compulsion to overcome hardship be treating life as one long Saturday night.
He explains the rise of the Beatles in the light of the city that made them, and examines the legacy they left to their home town.