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The Singing City

Liverpool sings, it's said, because it used to be forbidden to sing in pubs. In this report the citizens - and the authorities - talk with candour about Liverpool life. (1965)

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. (1965)

50 minutes

Last on

Tue 31 Aug 196521:25
BBC One

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.

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Music from the Mersey Collection

Music from the Mersey Collection

This programme is available online as part of the Music from the Mersey Collection