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The Last Of The Summer Wine?

We understand that there is a Sponsorship plea out for next years  Liverpool's Mathew Street Festival. According to The Liverpool Echo Liverpool companies are being asked to sponsor next year’s Mathew Street Festival. Organisers at Liverpool city council said they want to insulate the event from cuts blighting the public sector. Is that another way of saying they've run out of money?

Council leader Joe Anderson said: “It raises in cost every year so we have got to explore how we bring in private sector investment.“One of the ways is clearly sponsorship.”He added that he hoped to talk to business leaders about the festival before the end of 2010. Let's hope that if sponsors come forward they insist on genuine Liverpool Bands and real acts rather than the raft of Tribute bands that have become the hallmark of the MSF.

Billy J. Returns to the Cavern Club for first time in 42 years

Billy J. Kramer and his band "The New Dakotas" were back at the Cavern on Tuesday 31st August for the first time in more than 42 years. Billy last performed in Liverpool 12 years ago. Billy, somewhat more portly than in his halycon days, was greeted with huge enthusiasm from the packed house, playing all his hits including the Lennon & McCartney number "I Call Your Name" . He followed that up with a raft of hits songs including" Do You Want to Know A Secret", "Bad to Me", "I'll Be On My Way" and "Little Children".

Billy now lives in New York where he is still a great favourite. Billy and his original band The Dakotas sadly haven't spoken for years and he is on record as saying that it is highly unlikely that he will ever perform with them again. Billy has his own website www.billyjkramer.com.

Merseybeat Fans Pay £10 a Ticket When the Rest of the City Was Free

The Green Room in Duke Street, Liverpool was a sellout on the first day of the Mathew Street Festival, in fact they could have sold it out ten times according to Brian Jones of The Undertakers. Appearing were the Mojos, The Hideaways, Beryl Marsden and The Undertakers. The place was swinging from start to finish. Who said MerseyBeat is dead?

But the truly amazing fact was that although the Mathew Street Festival is free to the public (paid for by the EU and Liverpool Taxpayers), because the organisers in their wisdom “Couldn’t see what all the fuss was about”, the taxpaying public, despite the hard times in which we now live, forked out £10 a head to see the legends rather than listen to the tribute bands for free.
The festival of course was a raging success again, as it always will be with the council picking up the tab and the benefits to trade in Liverpool are fantastic. Despite our differences of opinion with the organisers, we would still like to congratulate them on what was an incredibly difficult event to stage.

Our appreciation goes to Ricky Tomlinson co-owner of the Green Room for making the venue available at the last minute, and the good news is the bands were properly paid for their show.

Dandy Walker Fundraiser

The Real Mathew Street Festival

Friday August 27th 2010 : The Silverstrian, Liverpool ( Home of the Merseybeat)

Over 500 people packed the Silvestrian to support Alan & Kelly in their quest to fund research for Dandy Walker disease (Read about Dandy Walker here). Vice chairman Ronnie Hodge presented a cheque for £500 towards the fund from MerseyCats the children’s Rock’n’Roll charity and night was further funded with auctions and raffles. Entertainment was provided free by the REAL Mathew Street band featuring players from original Merseybeat bands of the 60s and musicians of today who are carrying the banner for Liverpool’s Own Music, largely forgotten by the organisers of the Mathew Street Festival. Once again, these great bands rose to the occasion and provided sensational music, which had the crowd on their feet and dancing the night away. Searchin’ opened up with a highly powerful set (Never seen them play so well) followed by The Bumblies (probably the loudest band on the night, apologies to Steve the Sound man who we understand is now suffering from hearing difficulties). Beat Club gave a glimpse of what you can expect on the floating stage in the Albert Dock with a set of Beatles favourites. Tempest despite missing Bernie Prescott who has had a recent operation (Get well soon Bernie) and his lovely wife Beryl gave a hugely polished show with great harmonies. After the auction, the audience were treated to a world class Rock ‘n’ Roll set from the one and only Mr Lee Curtis recently returned from Germany where he has been playing to sell-out audiences (Note: To Liverpool Council The Germans understand how important this music is, why don’t you). And to round the night off, we saw the return of one of Liverpool’s original Rock’n’Roll bands Cliff Roberts and the Rockers featuring Radio Waves DJ Allan Schroeder on drums (Surely one of the best drummers to come from the era). Special thanks to Frank Hopley who backed Lee on Keys. And finally special thanks must also go to Andy from Searchin for organising the event.

All we can say is there must be a lot of Lady Gaga fans on Liverpool Council, to be able to ignore these great HOMEGROWN performers.

TAXPAYERS OF LIVERPOOL - ITS YOUR MONEY - DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

REMEMBER THE NAMES CARVED ON THE MATHEW STREET WALL……BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE

Finally we send love to Alan & Kelly and the baby

Double Click to Enlarge

Exclusive To Liverpool Beat - Lady Gaga Tribute Footage - Just Released

Who needs original Merseybeat bands when you can watch stuff like this.

Cheshire Cats - A Great Night Out

The Bumblies were invited over to Cheshire Cats over in the posh part of Liverpool called the Wirral this week. Once again fans of the Merseybeat can see some fabulous performers from the 60s jamming away.

Amongst the players on the evening were Nicky Crouch from the Mojos, Mike Rudd from Karl Terry and The Cruisers, Don Woods, Chris Caton, Chris Elliott, Derek Smith and Tony Kavanagh. Brian Jones from the Undertakers was there enjoying the music, as was Manfred Kuhlmann author of the great book "The Sound With The Pound". Our old friend Andy Sandler and his lovely wife were over from the States for the festival.

The new format which features a guest band playing a full set has revitalised the club and at £1.50 is just great value for money. The show is on every Wednesday at Wallasey British Legion, 3 Withen's Lane, Wallasey CH44 1BB.

Click The Video To Enlarge

More Videos

A Night Out With Shooter (New Videos)

Anyone who has ever played in a band knows how tricky it can be playing live, remembering all the words, the licks, the endings, etc. It was a pleasure therefore on Saturday to see a real pro band in action. Shooter are one of the most hard working pro bands in the UK. Hailing from the North West, the trio plays a fabulous mix of fifties and sixties music. They play all over the UK and on this visit they were playing to an audience at the GMT club in North Manchester. Think "Phoenix Nights" and you will get the picture. The audience are used to top quality entertainment and a band not up to it would die on their feet. Shooter however, gave them a great show and I've got quite a lot of video coverage which we will be putting up over the next few days.

An Interview With The Band

Dave has sent us his latest article from chapters in his hugely successful book Liddypool - Birthplace of The Beatles

The Wyvern Club was situated in Seel Street, Liverpool and later became known as The Blue Angel, a club run by Allan Williams. As the Wyvern Club, it was the venue back on 10 May 1960 for the Silver Beatles to audition for Larry Parnes, as he was looking for a band to back Liverpool’s own answer to Elvis, Bill Fury.

Read On

Hollywood Does Sam Leach

A Hollywood Film Company are here to do a Drama Documentary on Sam from August 26th until Sept 2nd.  If you would like to contribute call Sam on 0151 281 5555 and 0791 260 1410. The Director Scott Kennedy was an Oscar Nominee in 2008 for `The Garden’.

See our video interview with Sam

Cheshire Cats - New Format

Cheshire Cats now settled in at their new venue at the Wallasey British Legion, 3 Withens Lane, Wallasey, CH44 1BB 0151 639 9015 have changed the format of their shows, featuring each Wednesday a new guest band. the first show featured the Undertakers who did two sets. Next up were The Black Knights taking the stage with most of the original members playing.

Breaking News - The Mathew Street Band (Not Banned)

Rumours are circulating concerning a new band called The Mathew Street Band. Could the protest be continuing in a new exciting form. Watch this space.....

Honorary Scouser Eddy Miles - Beatlesdaze Website

Eddy Miles from Manchester has been a great supporter of Liverpool music over the years attending most of our shows. He has just launched a new website. Recommend it. Take a look.

Mersey Sound Wave - Book Launched

Earlier this year after a Herculean effort Bill Hart gathered together a display of guitars all of which had been played at the world famous Cavern Club. The results of his work have now been published in book form which you can view here.

View The Mersey Sound Wave Feature Article

The Mathew Street Festival Protest - The Epilogue

Well we didn’t get our stage, which for me was no great surprise once I had listened to and met the organisers of the festival. They had made up their minds and it was obvious from the outset that their decisions were not malleable and there would be no accommodation for the heroes of the Merseybeat, no matter how justified. Read On

Memo to Liverpool Council - Funny How Time Slips Away

The Jimmy Kelly Memorial Show

Its passed so quickly, but its now nearly a year since our great friend Jimmy Kelly passed on. Jim was a great character, a huge supporter of children's charities and just one great bloke. He fought a variety of life threatening illnesses throughout his life including Leukemia and Crohns disease but always managed a smile for everyone he met. If you want a new word for bravery, that word is Jimmy. So for as long as we can, we are going to put on a show to make sure his memory lives on. Come along and support the bands who are giving their time freely. All proceeds to cancer charities.

The Wall Download Now Available for 79p

You can buy all versions of the Mathew Street Banned single The Wall via download for 99c which is about 79p. The widget in the right column allows you to hear a snippet of the song and link to our new shop. This is part of our new Artist Online Management facility which we will be launching shortly. If any bands want their tracks, albums and videos promoted and marketed online to ITunes, Amazon, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and nine other download sites contact me at  

Lee Curtis At The Star Club Remembered

Just come across this rare video of Lee performing in the 80s in Germany reminding us of what a great performer he is. Lee can be seen most Thursdays at Merseycats.

Dave Forshaw Booked the Act, Paddy Delaney on The Door

Rare film of the era with some familiar faces

The Dominoes New Album -Sneak Preview

This is the picture that will be on the front cover of the new Dominoes CD, MERSEY THUNDER.  The CD, which is due out in a week or so's time, is a new concept and is classed as an 'Extended' Single. Not only doe's it have the fantastic haunting instrumental MERSEY THUNDER but the brand new song TALK TALK (Hamburg Connection). Both were written by BASSMAN (better know to me and you as Ken Shalliker) with arrangements by Sam Hardie and George Eccles. Plus there are 'several' bonus tracks of pure Rock 'n' Roll magic played the way only the Dominoes can. This is the true 'Sound of the Sixties' and you can put you name on the list to purchase one of the first 'Limited Edition' signed copies with a free poster. This offer is limited to the first 100 copies only so don't miss out!

The Dominoes are ---

Sam Hardie, the groups founder on Keyboard and Vocals,  Ken Shalliker, Bassman and backing vocals, George Eccles, Vocals and Guitar, Peter Stephenson 'Mesh' on Drums.

Formed in 1957 and still Rockin!!!!

Faron's Cabin The Complete Interview

If today's musicians want to learn the secrets of captivating an audience, they should spend a little time watching the one and only Faron from Faron & the Flamingos fame. I had the pleasure of visiting Faron recently in his Cabin. The complete interview can be seen here.

The Wall Limited Edition DVD/CD - £12

So we failed...or did we?. There will be just 100 copies printed of the Collectors edition of The Wall by Mathew Street Banned

The Wall DVD version includes:

• Hi Fi Track plus 3 alternative versions, including original 1st take. 
• Video interviews with the musicians. 
• Live performances of The Undertakers, The Dominoes, The Dennisons, The Bumblies and Shooter.
• Merseybeat Photo Gallery - Original photos of the bands from the 60s.

The Wall CD version, includes:

• Hi Fi Track plus 3 alternative versions, including original 1st take. 

How Paul got his sound

Bassman explains how Paul McCartney worked with his early early guitars to formulate the first stages of the Liverpool Beat. Read on...

Allan Schroeder - Radio Waves Allan Schroeder was one of the original heroes of the MerseyBeat playing with Cliff Roberts & The Rockers and more famously The Black Knights. Allan is still involved in the scene and hosts a radio programme on Radio Waves dedicated to the MerseyBeat every Monday. Allan has sent us some never before seen photos of the early days of the band. His second band The Black Knights were very much part of the MerseyBeat explosion featuring in the film "Ferry Across The Mersey". Read on...  I Gotta A Woman - The Black Knights 1964   www.themerseybeatstory.piczo.com Hear Allan on MERSEY WAVES Every Mon 8.00pm -10.00pm on 7 Waves Community Radio 92.1fm. Streaming live on www.7waves.co.uk open the home page click on LISTEN LIVE at the top of the page. For the very Best in Merseybeat / Guests / Requests / Interviews / Competitions and much more. Only on 7 Waves Community Radio on 92.1fm Phone In 0151 639 3094.  E-mail studio@7waves.co.uk

The Liverpool Beat Forum Update NEW!!! You can now post Youtube videos on the forum. We have just added video functionality to the forum, which enables you to include videos clips from You Tube in your posts. If you have something you want to say, the forum's the place. It can be serious, fun or just plain frivolous. Go to www.liverpoolbeat.com/forum/. and try it out its fun.

I Read The News Today...Oh Boy

There are over 5,000 sites worldwide focusing on just the Beatles. Additionally there over 100,000 what I would call quality music sites. Liverpool beat will be bringing you all the latest news from these sites on a daily basis. Stories, pictures, videos, by the time we're finished you'll be glued to your computer for days on end. Today we've added the new "I Read the News Today Oh Boy"section and I suggest this is must bookmark page.