SOUNDS OF THE CITIES
These inspirational UK cities celebrate their musical heritage and honour their home-grown talent...
Mad for it in Manchester
The world’s first major industrialised city has spawned hundreds of world-class music acts from The Hollies and The Bee Gees to The Smiths, Simply Red, New Order, James, The Stone Roses, Take That, M People and Oasis.
The Hacienda club was the epicentre of the rave scene in the 80s and 90s, with many big Manc acts playing the venue.
Now a block of student flats, music fans can still get a taste of the infamous scene at Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum (scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk), which displays artefacts from the venue, including a pair of loading bay doors. Walking tours are on offer around the city’s famous Madchester music haunts. Iconic landmarks include the Epping Walk Bridge in Hulme, featured on Joy Division’s ‘best of’ album and the red-bricked Salford Lads Club from The Smiths album, The Queen Is Dead.
Oasis also loved featuring locations on their sleeves, including the front room of guita rist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs’ old house in Didsbury on Definitely Maybe.
City venues such as Band on the Wall, Gorilla, The Deaf Institute and the Castle Hotel are some of the much-loved venues still hosting local and international acts. visitmanchester.com
Steel City sounds
Sheffield’s musical heritage stretches back to the 60s, when Woodhouse-born singer
Dave Berry found stardom with Memphis, Tennessee, swiftly followed by gravel-voiced Joe Cocker, who signed his first record contract in the Frog & Parrot pub on Division Street.
Many musical talents followed – The Human League, Heaven 17, Def Leppard, Pulp and Arctic Monkeys.
Fave venues include Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield Arena, O2 Academy, The Harley, The Greystones and The Leadmill.
The now-closed Boardwalk (formerly the Black Swan) was where The Clash played their first ever gig in 1976. Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex
Turner pulled pints there and it is apparently Sheffield’s most haunted spot, with a resident poltergeist that slams doors and plays piano.
Crazy Daizy nightclub on High Street was where The Human League’s Phil Oakey first spotted 18-year-old best friends Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall on the dancefloor and asked them to join the band. They’re still together 40 years later. The club, next to a Sheffield Supertram stop, is now used as a supermarket and shops.
Meanwhile, Stanhope Road in Intake, where Jarvis Cocker grew up, is immortalised in the opening lines of Pulp’s Babies: “It happened years ago, when you lived on Stanhope Road”. welcometosheffield.co.uk
Glasgow’s alive and kicking
The UK’s first Unesco City of Music, designated in 2008, Glasgow’s legendary music scene stretches from contemporary and classical, to Celtic and country.
Acts such as The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Orange Juice, Altered Images, Simple Minds, Del Amitri, Primal Scream, Texas, Belle and Sebastian, The Fratellis and Chvrches, mean Glasgow’s music scene is and always has been thriving.
Its venues are equally varied, hosting an average of 130 music events each week in normal times.
Scottish Opera and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra make their home here alongside the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scotland, National Youth Orchestras of Scotland, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Scottish Ensemble.
Glasgow Music City Tours (glasgowmusiccitytours.com) are lead by fans, singers and writers, who will gladly recommend gigs, clubs and records shops. Fans can feel the beat on a tour of the Music Mile from the Royal Concert Hall to King Tut’s via the Conservatoire. visitscotland.com
Liverpool legends
Its musicians have produced more No1 hits in the UK than any other city, leading Liverpool to be crowned world capital of pop by the Guinness Book of Records. It has also been a Unesco City of Music since 2015.
Merseyside’s most celebrated sons are of course The Beatles, but the city also gave birth to seminal artists Billy Fury as well as Liverpool FC anthem singer, the late Gerry Marsden and The Pacemakers, through to OMD, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Lightning Seeds and Rebecca Ferguson.
The Cavern Club, in Mathew Street, where The Beatles honed their talent, has been attracting big names for decades. A life-sized bronze statue of local girl Cilla Black, who worked as a cloakroom attendant there before finding fame as a singer, was erected here in 2017.
The Beatles Story museum (beatlesstory.com) is the largest exhibition devoted to the band, and The British Music Experience (britishmusicexperience.com) tells the story of home-grown music through costumes and memorabilia.
Liverpool International Music Festival (limfestival.com) in Sefton Park is Europe’s biggest free music event. The city also stages the largest celebration of live African music in Britain, Africa Oye (africaoye.com). visitliverpool.com
Bristol bangers
Home to dozens of festivals and independent venues, Bristol boasts a truly eclectic music scene.
Acker Bilk, The Wurzels, The Cortinas and Rita Lynch are just a handful of varied acts from in and around the harbourside city, along with Portishead, Kosheen, Loadstar and DJ and producer Roni Size.
However, trip hop is the sound synonymous with the city – thanks to Bristol creatives Massive Attack, the genre-busting, global phenomenon.
Cool live venues include The Louisiana, Exchange, The Fleece and Thekla. For big shows there’s Bristol Beacon, formerly Colston Hall, O2 Academy and SWX. visitbristol.co.uk
South Wales scores
Rock bands based in and around Cardiff exploded on to the music scene in the 1990s, coining the name Cool Cymru. Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Super Furry Animals and Feeder were among the sublime sounds from across the Severn Bridges. Catatonia were formed, so the legend goes, early in the decade, when guitarist Mark Roberts saw Cerys Matthews busking on Cardiff’s Queen Street. South Wales sons and daughters Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Shakin’ Stevens and Bonnie Tyler paved the way for the bands that rocked Britpop. Charlotte Church took the classical reins. Womanby Street is the heart of Cardiff’s live music scene, with Welsh language venue Clwb Ifor Bach, The Moon and Fuel. Famous concert halls the Motorpoint Arena and St David’s Hall host the big shows. And Spillers Records, established in 1894, is the world’s oldest record shop located in Morgan Arcade. visitcardiff.com
Brum beat
Renowned for reggae and heavy metal, Birmingham has always been a hotbed for music. Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, UB40, Steel Pulse, Electric Light Orchestra, Musical Youth, Duran Duran, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Ocean Colour Scene, The Streets and Laura Mvula are among the much-loved acts hailing from here.
Like every big city, Birmingham is constantly evolving, meaning some of its famous venues have disappeared or been repurposed. Mothers Rock Club in Erdington, where Pink Floyd recorded half of Ummagumma and Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, The Who and Led Zeppelin played, still exists, but as the local branch of the PDSA.
Barbarella’s nightclub, which played host to the Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, The Jam and Judas Priest, was flattened by the Brindleyplace development; a salvaged street sign, roughly where Cumberland Street used to be, remains. Duran Duran’s HQ Rum Runner on Broad Street is now somewhere beneath the Hyatt Hotel. Metal fans can pay homage at a bench on the renamed Black Sabbath Bridge over the canal on Broad Street. Ozzy disciples also leave notes at his former home on Lodge Road, Aston, the owner of which rented out Ozzy’s old room on Airbnb to fans for £400 a night. Today’s best venues include the Sunflower Lounge and Mama Roux’s. visitbirmingham.co.uk
Hop to Coventry, half an hour away, to soak up the sounds of 2-Tone, where bands such as The Specials started. At the 2-Tone Village, check out the Coventry Music Museum (covmm.co.uk) and Knights live venue. visitcoventry.co.uk