BENEATH THE MERSEYBEAT is a four-part podcast series, featuring archive interviews and music inspired by the NEXT STOP NEW YORK project launched in 2015.
Made possible through extensive ongoing research, the series explores how Black American music found its way to Liverpool post-war, the impact these sounds had on Liverpool and its music scene, and how they were assimilated and appropriated by musicians in the city. These themes are further explored and chart what was happening throughout the 1960s and 70s to raise awareness of and help preserve Liverpool’s black music heritage. These artists are integral to what makes Liverpool a world-famous music city, and a major part of its musical history.
EP1: ARRIVAL
What Afro-American music was coming to Liverpool through the 1940s and 50s and how it was arriving.
Featuring: Billy Harrison, Richie Barton, John Hibbert & the Cunard Yanks | Levi Tafari | Eddie Amoo | Norman Killen | Les Spaine | Steve Aldo (Eddie Bedford) | Ramon Sugar Deen | Bryan Biggs
Hosted By: Rich Pontefract & Dave McTague
EP2: FIRST FLOWERINGS
This episode continues exploring the ways Black American, African and Caribbean music arrived in Liverpool, and explores how these new sounds were assimilated, appropriated and expressed by Liverpool’s own music community.
Featuring: Eddie Amoo | Steve Aldo / Eddie Bedford | Mike Badger | Yaw Owusu | Levi Tafari | Bernie Connor | Stephen Nze | Peter Hooton | Roger Hill | Bryan Biggs
Hosted By: Rich Pontefract & Dave McTague
EP3: THROUGH THE 60s
What was happening in Liverpool during the 1960s…
Featuring: Eddie Amoo | Ramon Sugar Deen | Steve Aldo / Eddie Bedford | Bryan Biggs | Greg Wilson | Mike Badger | Norman Killen | Les Spaine
Hosted By: Rich Pontefract & Dave McTague
EP4: THROUGH THE 70s
In the final episode of Beneath the Merseybeat, the exploration of Black music in Liverpool continues with a journey through the 1970s…
Featuring: Eddie Amoo | Ozzie Yue | Norman Killen | Albie Donnelly | Bernie Connor | Greg Wilson | Les Spaine | Ramon Sugar Deen | Eddie Beford / Steve Aldo | Stephen Nze | Roger Hill | Levi Tafari
Hosted By: Rich Pontefract & Dave McTague
Produced by: Mellowtone (David McTague, Richard Pontefract &Robin Clewley)
