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The Singing City

MUSIC FROM THE MERSEY | Pop stories from the Capital of Culture

The Singing City

How urban regeneration tore the heart out of the Singing City.

Synopsis

With its Welsh and Irish roots, Liverpool is a musical city. In 1965, Liverpool council displaced thousands of families from the city centre, rehousing them in the suburbs. This documentary looks at the immediate effects of this migration, and at different aspects of Liverpool's cultural makeup, from Catholic and Protestant rituals to football terraces, comedians like Ken Dodd and a deep-rooted folk music tradition.

Note: Some edits have been made for copyright reasons.

Did you know?

As heard in this documentary, Pete McGovern's witty and self-deprecating 'In My Liverpool Home' has become an unofficial anthem for Liverpool. He wrote the first verses, to the tune of Marty Robbins' 'Strawberry Roan', in 1961; he was still adding to the song 40 years later to include such topical subjects as Paul McCartney's knighthood and the controversial 'Superlambbanana' sculpture, and it's estimated to have had over 300 verses by the time Pete died in 2006.

Contributors

David Mahlowe
Narrator
Don Haworth
Producer
Balmer Herbert
Contributor
J. W. Boddy
Contributor
W. G. Bor
Contributor
Ken Dodd
Contributor
N. Gaddas
Contributor
N. Jamieson
Contributor
E. Jones
Contributor
G. Lamplugh
Contributor
John Lyden
Contributor
Pete McGovern
Contributor
Joe Martinex
Contributor
Jack Mearns
Contributor
Joseph Michael
Contributor
Tony Murphy
Contributor
L. Norman
Contributor
W. Pate
Contributor
W. R. Ramesden
Contributor
P. J. Ryan
Contributor
W. H. Sefton
Contributor
Stan Ambrose
Contributor
J. Wheeler
Contributor
Dean Winder
Contributor
Children of St Nicholas' Infants School, Liverpool
Contributor
Children of St Peter's School, Liverpool
Contributor
Boys of St Gregory's Secondary Modern School, Liverpool
Contributor

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