Why does Liverpool have such an iconic status?

[TigerOnTour]

Why do people rave about Liverpool? I feel like it's seen as more 'individual' than other cities, but why is this? It shares lots of characteristics with other big cities like Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Birmingham and Bristol but they don't have the same status. Is it just the Beatles?

There's also the Brookside factor!
Liverpool was very prominent in the 80s for a lot of reasons, the turbulent city council, football and all of those problems, riots, the poverty, as well as the music scene and the regeneration that was beginning then.

As a city it has surged forward from a dark place I'd say, and it has a vibrant and unique feel to it that other northern cities just don't have - sorry Manchester!

(Okay I'm biased, I went to uni there 😂)

I've never been to Liverpool but the impression I have is a jobless rundown city with lots of theft. I realise this is probably from TV programmes and news reports from the 1980's and 1990's

I don’t live there but my best friend does. She moved from Bristol to Birmingham and then to Liverpool 10 years ago. When I first visited her I was overwhelmed at the beaches (beautiful Sandy beaches I had not really associated with Liverpool) the beautiful buildings, but it’s the attitude of the people. Very very proud to be from Liverpool and very proud of their heritage and football. I didn’t meet anyone from Liverpool who didn’t like it there. They market themselves as fantastic and it’s a great place. My exes brother loved football and as soon as he could he went to Liverpool from Norfolk and is still there 40 years later. Also I was shocked by some of the house prices £250 K for a 2/3 bedroom flat on the beach - lovely. Also thriving University - it’s on my daughters list.

I love Liverpool. Londoner born and bred. Spent a lot of time clubbing with Liverpudlians during my trance era. Sadly never made it to Cream. Weirdly loved the place before I even visited it?! Strong sense of identity, bit of an up yours to the establishment attitude. Interesting city.

the Beatles
the architecture
the liver birds
the mersey

it is not really iconic but i think people want to visit it, a tourist attraction

No idea. I grew up there, couldn't wait to get away, and absence definitely hasn't made my heart grow fonder. The place has been tidied up a lot since I was a kid it's true but it's still a dismal dump. I don't understand why people rave about the city on here at all.

I suggest you open your mind to more than just what the telly tells you …

Talking about the music scene and Madchester, this is an interesting quote from Noel Gallagher about Liverpool musicians which I think speaks a lot about the city. He was talking about the La's who influenced Oasis a lot:

"this is a wonderful album and I do get a great kick out of playing this to people round the world – Americans in particular – to people who have never heard of them. They’re always, 'Wha… What the fuck?' Even though it’s a standard form of guitar rhythm and blues, it’s totally unique. Nobody has done it as good as him since. His lyrics are great, his voice is amazing and the whole vibe of The La's is amazing.

Bands from Liverpool used to be really busy but there came a point after the 1980s where unless it was something happening in Liverpool, they just didn’t give a fuck. Liverpool is an island. It bears no relation to what’s going on musically anywhere else at all. I’ve got one scouser in my band and three on my crew and they don’t give a fuck. They don’t care what’s going on in London, they’re still going on about the dockers’ strike. They’re still annoyed that The Beatles left to go to London! [puts on old school scouse accent] 'I’m not havin’ it la, they went shite when they left Liverpool. You ask anyone. They did nothin’. After they left The Cavern, they were nothin’.' And now Liverpool bands get to a certain stage and then they back off because that means you have to move to London and they don’t want to. Liverpool has also suffered for not having a great record label or TV station like Factory or Granada. In more modern times they’ve been in the shadow of Manchester because of that.

But that is also their strength. There is no other band of musicians in the world I would sooner play with than a band of scousers. They’ve all got it. And they’re all stoned from breakfast to bedtime. People in Liverpool got Oasis before anyone else did. We played all our early gigs with The Real People. Most people thought we were a Liverpool band."

Just about every major city and town is on a river. It’s why they became cities- London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Bath…

Liverpool was a city that had its heyday in the 60’s - it has a big international port and became a centre for music thanks to musical influences from US. It’s got famous football teams. And a strong local identity.

so anyone who remembers the 60’s talks about it in that way.

i think all cities have their time as the place to be

i would like to go
more so than a weekend in manchester

but this is only a recent desire

I don't think the TV works of Carla Lane, Phil Redmond and Alan Bleasdale helped the city's reputation at all in that period.

Even now if you get a TV drama set in Liverpool it's always bleak as fuck, when in reality it's a very vibrant, fun city. Needless to say, it's got the same social problems that you'll find anywhere else.

It’s a wonderful city- architecture, pubs, culture, the engagement in politics, the feistiness, the humour the history. I have strong historic links to Liverpool and feel an affinity with the city but even if I didn’t I think I’d still love it.

@NotInvolved my sister lives in Liverpool, her partner is a scouser. Personally having been a few times to both the city centre and suburbs of every major city it’s my least favourite one. She hates living there but there jobs are there and obviously family connections.

It’s industrial, and then pop culture, history. It has a strong identity.

I would say Manchester has a very strong identity/iconic status too - as a kid in the 90s, everything good was coming out of Manchester.

Manchester is more important.

The Beatles are boring😁

And Manchester spawned loads of good bands. Manchester is Gods Kingdom on the M6

I disagree about the TV programmes. As a teen in the 80's I can certainly recall Bread and Brookside as being shows that showed deep grained sense of community, identity, humour and graft even though times were changing and tough.

Oddly more positive than Eastenders and Coronation St at similar times.

In a large part due it being a port city and the associated cultural assimilation. It’s not a typical northern industrial city, as its heritage is built on global influences, so it is different. Bristol is different for similar reasons.

Liverpool’s architecture is splendid so it’s visually stunning. It’s culturally rich, from Merseybeat, to Eric’s post-punk scene, to Cream, Voodoo and Garlands in the 90s.

It’s suffered massive adversity (heavy WWII bombing, severe poverty, Hillsborough) but has been neglected by governments and mocked by the media and vast swathes of people elsewhere in the country. So it’s taken a ‘fuck you’ approach and adopted a philosophy of scouse exceptionalism. Maybe it’s a defence mechanism. It doesn’t always help them, but it’s understandable to a degree.

Im from there and hate it. Left in 1993 for university and now only go back to see my mum. Once she dies I can't imagine me ever going back.

Its the us against them attitude and they take it to extreme. Has a massive chip on its shoulder and loves to wallow in self pity

Yes, what a weird post. 'Here is what I think of a place I've never been to, and I'm giving you my opinion, despite knowing it has no basis in fact, other than having seen something on TV several decades ago.'

I've always really enjoyed myself in Liverpool, and felt very much at home as an Irish person. For me, it's the combination of culture (astonishing art in particular, especially during the Biennale, the Phil, the Tate), the party atmosphere, and the strong sense of civic identity.

I also really like Manchester, which has its own strong identity.

Because it's an amazing city! I wish I lived there!

It feels like a world entire, in a way that I've not found else where.

I can't stand Manchester and found Leeds nice but boring!

I now have Ferry 'cross the Mersey playing in a loop in my head!

I live in the south and don't think it's more iconic than other bug cities in the north.....Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds etc. All of them have things they are recognised nationally for whether it's music, culture history, sport.