Music of Liverpool
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History

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
Many sea shanties specifically refer to Liverpool, such as "Heave Away", "Liverpool Judies", and "
In the 1960s, the city was home to the development of the
1990s bands that enjoyed success were
accents.In 2008 World Museum Liverpool (in partnership the Institute of Popular Music at University of Liverpool) created "The Beat Goes On"[3] exhibition charting the history of music in Liverpool in depth, from 1945 to the present day.
Music events
The Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF)[4] 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[5] - 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.
Each year the Liverpool Irish Festival[7] 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.[8]
Venues
The 1960s saw the emergence of


Recent notable bands
- 28 Costumes
- Alexis Blue
- Alterkicks
- Amsterdam
- Anathema
- Atomic Kitten
- The Bandits
- Candie Payne
- Carcass
- Cast
- Cecil
- Circa Waves
- Clean Cut Kid
- Clinic
- The Coral
- Conan
- The Crescent
- Dead 60s
- Ex-Easter Island Head
- The Farm
- Flamingo 50
- The Glass Skies
- Gomez
- Her's
- Hooton Tennis Club
- Hot Club de Paris
- Ladytron
- The La's
- The Little Flames
- Lightning Seeds
- Mugstar
- Pardon Us
- Pop Levi
- The Rascals
- The Real People
- Riuven
- She Drew The Gun(2015)
- Short Sharp Shock
- Space
- Stealing Sheep
- The Stands
- To My Boy
- Tramp Attack
- Ultrabeat
- The Wombats
- Rivia Band
- The Zutons
- WSTR
Record labels
A number of
- 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
20th Century
1950s
- 14 March 1953: Lita Roza - "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?"
- 25 January 1957: The Garden of Eden"
- 14 February 1958: The Story of My Life"
1960s
- 1960
- 29 January: Michael Holliday - "Starry Eyed"
- 1961
- 7 December: 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"
- 8 August: The Searchers - "Sweets for My Sweet"
- 22 August: Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas - "Bad to Me"
- 12 September: The Beatles - "She Loves You"
- 31 October: Gerry and the Pacemakers - "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"
- 27 February: Cilla Black - "Anyone Who Had a Heart"
- 19 March: Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas - "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"
- 10 December: The Beatles - "I Feel Fine"
- 1965
- 22 April: The Beatles - "Ticket to Ride"
- 5 August: The Beatles - "Help!"
- 30 September: 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"/"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"
- 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 - "You to Me Are Everything"
- 1977
- 3 December: Wings - "Mull of Kintyre/Girls' School"
1980s
- 1980
- 20 December: John Lennon - "(Just Like) Starting Over"
- 1981
- 10 January: John Lennon - "Imagine"
- 7 February: John Lennon - "Woman"
- 1982
- 24 April: Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder - "Ebony and Ivory"
- 1984
- 14 January: Paul McCartney - "Pipes of Peace"
- 28 January: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Relax"
- 16 June: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Two Tribes"
- 8 December: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "The Power of Love"
- 1985
- 9 March: Dead or Alive - "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"
- 15 June: You'll Never Walk Alone"
- 1987
- 4 April: Ferry Aid - "Let it Be"
- 1989
- 20 May: Various artists[11] - "Ferry Cross the Mersey"[12]
- 22 July: Sonia - "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You"
1990s
- 1996
- 26 May: Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds - "Three Lions"
- 1998
- 14 June: Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds : "Three Lions '98"
21st Century
2000s
- 2000
- March 26: Never Be the Same Again"
- August 13: Melanie C - "I Turn to You"
- 2001
- February 4: Atomic Kitten - "Whole Again"
- July 29: Atomic Kitten - "Eternal Flame"
- 2002
- January 20: George Harrison - "My Sweet Lord"
- April 28: Freak Like Me"
- August 18: Sugababes - "Round Round"
- September 1: Atomic Kitten - "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)"
- 2003
- October 19: Sugababes - "Hole in the Head"
- 2007
- September 30: Sugababes - "About You Now"
2010s
- 2012
- Christmas number one : The Justice Collective - "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"
2020s
- 2023
- November 10: The Beatles - "Now and Then"
See also
- Culture in Liverpool
- Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
- Tung Auditorium
References
- ^ "BLOG: The Beatles at No1 puts spotlight back on our city of music (again!)". Liverpool Express. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ ISSN 0261-250X.
- ^ "The Beat Goes On". Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk.
- ^ "Liverpool International Music Festival 2015 - limfestival". LIMF.
- ^ "Getintothis". Peterguy.merseyblogs.co.uk.
- ^ "Africa Oyé". Africaoye.com.
- ^ "Liverpool Irish Festival".
- ^ "Melodic Distraction lose studio space in Baltic Triangle".
- ^ "Venues". LivInTheLimelight. Archived from the original on 23 December 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
- ^ "John Lennon's son opens Yoko Ono performance centre in Liverpool". BBC News. 25 March 2022.
- ^ The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Stock Aitken Waterman
- Hillsborough Disaster