Stalemate in Merseybeat and Madchester face-off

May 30 2008 by Alistair Houghton, Liverpool Daily Post

FROM along the M62 they came to pit Merseybeat against Madchester and Liam against Lennon to settle that age-old question – which is the coolest musical city?

The great Liverpool v Manchester debate took centre stage in the Cavern yesterday, as part of the Liverpool Sound City conference and music festival.

And, short of Morrissey challenging Macca to a gladioli-swinging contest, it couldn’t have been a livelier affair, with the debate swinging from passion to humour with a few barbs and insults along the way.

Leading Liverpool’s attack was The Farm’s lead singer, Peter Hooton.

He said: “If you were based in Manchester in the 1960s and growing up there, you looked enviously at Liverpool and Merseybeat.

“Ever since, there’s been a real inferiority complex coming from that end of the M62.

“Everything Liverpool has tended to do, Manchester has tended to copy.

“The biggest band ever to come out of Manchester was Oasis, who are basically a watered-down version of Slade, who were a watered-down version of The Beatles.”

Hooton said the two cities boasted different styles, with Liverpool’s sense of romance and storytelling up against Manchester’s harder-edged viewpoint.

Hooton said: “Liverpool is more Keats and Manchester’s more Milton.

“Echo and the Bunnymen went to Snowdonia and were pictured next to waterfalls. Manchester bands tend to stand next to derelict buildings. That sums it up.”

Later, he said: “To me, Manchester has always been about black puddings, clogs and Morris dancers. Liverpool is about clipper ships and sea shanties.”

Liverpool DJ Andy Carroll said his city’s maritime history and exposure to music from across the Atlantic gave it a musical head start.

But he said Manchester was better at publicising its role in music history, thanks largely to the efforts of the late Tony Wilson.

Manchester producer and DJ Johnny Jay said his city boasted a more diverse musical history.

He said: “We have New Order to A Guy Called Gerald and all those bands I don’t particularly like – Simply Red, Take That, The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays.”

Phil Saxe, former Happy Mondays manager and head of A&R at Factory Records, conceded Liverpool was the “cooler city” thanks to its Beatles mythology.

In a voice dripping with sarcasm, he said: “We don’t have the This Charming Man Hotel or the Blue Monday Hotel.”

But Mr Saxe, who lectures at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, said the two cities had more in common than either liked to admit.

“I love Liverpool,” he said. “Long may it continue to be the Memphis of the North, and long may Manchester continue to be the hinterland and the productive centre.”

Hosted by journalist John Robb – who declared his Blackpool birthplace made him a neutral – the event ended with a show of hands resulting in a draw – looks like the fat lady hasn't yet sung.

alistairhoughton@dailypost.co.uk