Concluding his look at his home town in the third & final programme about Liverpool, Alexei Sayle dealt deftly with both the Beatles' legacy in the city & the industry that's grown up around it. He understood the civic pride felt at four Scousers who reinvented popular music. However, he wrinkled his nose in distaste as he ambled down Matthew Street & surveyed the stultifying nostalgia that's been carefully marketed to camcorder-wielding tourists.
Such a balanced appraisal is sadly lacking , however, when the Liverpool Echo gets on the case. Today's edition trumpets the news that July 10th will be a Beatle day in the city (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/capital-of-culture/capital-of-culture-liverpool-news/2008/06/21/beatles-day-of-days-100252-21126193/ ).
Its charitable aspect is, of course, laudable (both Alder Hey Children's Hospital & the Rhys Jones charity stand to gain something from it). However, it is enough to make any discerning Scouser despair about the city's chronic reliance on the Beatles, while treating today's music scene as an afterthought.
The Echo trills:
"Events include a Beatle Fun Run around the ECHO Arena, Beatles bands on the roof throughout the city, a Beatles Parade around tourist hotspots such as Strawberry Field [sic] and Penny Lane and a Beatles portrait competition in schools."
At his most sardonic, Lennon would have delivered a pithy verdict on such a tacky & unoriginal farrago of stunts.
No comments:
Post a Comment