Why I’m here, and some lists of Liverpool bands

Introducing myself

In 1979 I became Liverpool correspondent (and token punk rocker) for Melody Maker. In 1988 I started working as the Liverpool Echo’s pop columnist. In 2008 I began a blog, partly about music, called Older than Elvis.

And now I’m here. Hi.

I always said I didn’t do nostalgia, because looking backwards is not very punk. But things change.

First, I’ve been writing a memoir, and you can’t really do that without looking back. It’s meant going through my old music-press cuttings, reading old diaries, listening to old records. And I thought, some of this is interesting and it would be good to share it.

Second, my ex-husband got married recently (which was nice). And I suddenly found myself with a box of stuff that had been sitting in his house ever since we split up. More memorabilia from when I used to work as a music and arts journalist. And I thought those would be good to share, too.

So that’s the plan.

Meanwhile, back in the 21st century….

Liverpool gets Eurovision. Hurray.

So Liverpool is going to host the Eurovision Song Contest next year.

Well, obviously. I always knew it had to be Liverpool. Because Liverpool is a music city. And also it’s quite good at being camp when it wants to.

Liverpool is such a musical city that it’s impossible to quantify it.

When the Eurovision decision was announced, Tory minister James Not-very-Cleverly tweeted (why?): “The city that introduced The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Zutons, Teardrop Explodes, The Lightning Seeds, and Atomic Kitten to the world will host the #Eurovision23 Song Contest.” (This is the man who tweeted in May: “#Eurovision has never really been my thing, so I didn’t watch it last night.”)

Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram – who you would expect to do a bit better – tweeted about Liverpool being "the birthplace of The Beatles, Cilla Black, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Real Thing, Elvis Costello, The Zutons". Er, there seems to be a big gap there.

Holly Johnson did a video that namechecked Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Beatles, Cilla Black, The Real Thing, The Teardrop Explodes, Echo and the Bunnymen, Wah! Heat and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

Holly Johnson @TheHollyJohnson

Liverpool hosts #Eurovision2023 Congratulations to all who worked on the bid . Commiserations to Glasgow .

Of course, none of this is even scratching the surface. If you look on Wikipedia there is a list of 200 pages in the category “Musicians from Liverpool”. Even if one of them is a footballer.

So I thought I’d look through my cuttings book and make my own list. I’ve got 523 names so far, and still counting... I’ll get back to you on that.

Eric’s is everywhere

Remember that Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper song Elvis Is Everywhere? (No? Then go away right now and Google it.)

I often think that Eric’s is everywhere. The club influenced a generation of Liverpool musicians (most of whom are still going), and they influenced a generation of musicians in their turn.

Sky Arts is repeating its ‘From The Vaults’ series at the moment. The 1987 episode started with The Mission: Wayne Hussey, Eric’s alumnus. The second band was Siouxsie and the Banshees: Budgie, Eric’s alumnus.

I’m currently reading Nige Tassell’s new book Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? and it’s the same story. Primal Scream namechecking Julian Cope. The Mighty Lemon Drops namechecking Julian Cope AND Wah! Heat AND Ian Broudie AND the Bunnymen.

And so it goes.

Am I proud of them? All those years later, yes, I still am.

See you next week for the first archive interview. Here’s a clue: it’s Julian Cope’s birthday today.

And thanks for reading.

Penny