02/03/1971

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.