Birmingham

Located a little more than halfway between London and Liverpool, Birmingham is the second largest city in England, the sixth largest metropolitan area in the UK, and in the heart of the Midlands. Birmingham's original industrial importance grew out of its situation near coal and iron ore fields resulting in its development as a steel town. Also, like other major British industrial cities in the Second World War, the Germans heavily bombed Birmingham. In the post-war years, Birmingham had to rebuild itself and remains an important manufacturing center. Moreover, the city has developed an thriving arts life.   Left: Birmingham Town Hall     Below: The Fortunes on Ready, Steady, Go!

"Brumbeat" (as supposedly distinct from "Merseybeat") was hardly a distinct, let alone a distinguishable sound. (See Clayson 1995: 120-122.) Indeed, the term was probably the invetion of Decca's Norrie Paramour as part of an advertising campaign. However, the performers who survived the first wave of Beatles and Cliff and the Shadows imitators exhibited a taste for sophistication (the Moody Blues) and/or the slightly absurd (the Rockin' Berries in drag). Birmingham was also the home to some important blues and session musicians, including Steve and Muff Winwood, John Carter, and Ken Lewis.

The Moody Blues The Fortunes The Rockin' Berries The Applejacks

For a wesite on bands and musicians to come out of Birmingham in the 1960s, see Brum Beat.

Northerners	Schedule	London
	23-sep-15