The Times

Crowds cheer Gerry and the Pacemakers

Christened 'The City of Pop' by the Guinness Book of Records, Liverpool has a long musical tradition which has given the city a string of Number One hits.

BBC Archive have raided the BBC's collection of television and radio programmes to bring together a selection of interviews with some of Merseyside's pop legends.

Liverpool's first rock and roll star Billy Fury explains how he was groomed for stardom while Cavern DJ Bob Wooler lifts the lid on his relationship with The Beatles.

Gerry Marsden and Cilla Black are interviewed at the start of their careers and there are special TV programmes including 1965's The Singing City which looked at the relationship between Liverpool's music and urban decay.

Stars from the 1980's including Holly Johnson and Pete Wylie are features as well as a Radio 1 documentary touring Liverpool's musical history with China Crisis's Eddie Lundon.

BBC Radio 2's Janice Long, who started her career at BBC Radio Merseyside, is excited that her home city's musical heritage is now available online, "It's great to be able to take a trip back in time and become reacquainted with some old friends from such an iconic period," said Janice.

"The River Mersey runs through so much great British pop music, and the BBC Archive has given us such a great opportunity to fall in love with these celebrated local artists all over again."