24 Hours

In this segment from current-affairs programme '24 Hours', Bernard Falk meets the people who were left behind by the end of the Mersey sound craze, from the Cavern Club's bouncer to The Beatles' first drummer, Tommy Moore. As old friends are reunited at a poorly attended Mersey Beat convention, Falk also speaks to its optimistic organiser, Allan Williams, the former manager of The Beatles.

Note: Some edits have been made for copyright reasons.

The phrase 'Mersey Beat' came from a popular fan magazine in the early 1960s that celebrated Liverpool's music. By the 1970s, however, the city's reign as the world's musical Mecca seemed to be over. Worse, the population of the city centre had largely been rehoused in the suburbs, a regeneration programme viewed by many as more devastating to the heart of Liverpool than all of Hitler's Blitz raids. The area was further redeveloped as part of the preparations for Liverpool's year as the European Capital of Culture in 2008.