251:
323:, with circulation growing to 75,000. As the newspaper's sales rose, it became known as the "Teenagers Bible". Local groups were soon being called "beat groups", and venues started advertising concerts as "Beat Sessions". With circulation rising, the paper's offices were moved downstairs to a larger two-roomed office. The Cavern Club's doorman, Pat (Paddy) Delaney, was employed to deliver copies, a secretary, Pat Finn, was hired, as well as Raymond Kane to promote advertising space,
555:, to contribute a fashion column after writing an article called "Swinging Cilla", in which he wrote, "Cilla Black is a Liverpool girl who is starting out on the road to fame." Harry’s mistake came about because he could not remember her surname (which he knew was a colour), but White decided to keep it as a stage name. Two years later Harry arranged for Black to sing for Epstein at the Blue Angel club, leading to a management contract.
307:. Harry personally delivered copies to more than 20 newsagents as well as to local venues and musical instrument and record stores, such as Cramer & Lea, Rushworth & Draper, and Cranes. The paper released its first edition on 6 July 1961, selling out all 5,000 copies. The paper's circulation increased rapidly as Harry started featuring stories about groups in
326:
Harry later said: "The newspapers, television, theatres and radio were all run by people of a different generation who had no idea of what youngsters wanted. For decades they had manipulated and controlled them. Suddenly, there was an awareness of being young, and young people wanted their own styles
201:
and contacted Sam Leach, the owner of a club called
Storyville. Leach promised to fund the newspaper, but failed to turn up for three meetings with Harry, leaving him no other option but to find another investor. Harry thought starting a fortnightly newspaper covering Liverpool's rock 'n' roll music
532:
magazine in
Germany phoned Harry and asked if he could arrange a photograph of all the groups in Liverpool. Harry suggested Kirchherr (then Sutcliffe's girlfriend) be the photographer, who would stand on a crane to take the photograph. Virginia phoned every group in Liverpool and arranged for them
363:
held a poll to find out who was the most popular
Merseyside group. When the votes were counted, Rory Storm & The Hurricanes were in first place, but after looking through the postal votes again, Harry noticed that forty votes were all written in green ink, in the same handwriting, and from the
246:
article), while Harry lived on his Senior City Art
Scholarship funding. Matthews photographed groups, while Anderson found a small attic office for £5 a week above David Land's wine merchant's shop at 81a Renshaw Street, Liverpool. Anderson and Matthews helped with the move to the new office, with
378:. He was a popular figure amongst the promoters in the area where he was commissioned to create hundreds of the posters used to advertise all the concerts that were occurring during that period. His posters were seen on walls all across Merseyside including some of his famous work outside
331:
was their voice, it was a paper for them, crammed with photos and information about their own groups, which is why it also began to appeal to youngsters throughout
Britain as its coverage extended to other areas." Because of the employment situation in Liverpool at the time,
47:
350:
Between 1958 and 1964, the
Merseyside area had about 500 different groups, which were constantly forming and breaking up, with an average of about 350 groups playing concerts on a regular basis. In 1961, Harry and The Cavern Club's
229:
in 1961. Harry decided to publish the newspaper every two weeks, covering the music scene in
Liverpool, Wirral, Birkenhead, New Brighton, Crosby and Southport, as well as Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn. He thought up the name
286:
to buy a cup of tea and a hot pie at four in the morning. Virginia's parents helped the paper during this time, as they paid for classified ads, and arranged for Harry and his future wife's first photographs together.
224:
Photographer Dick
Matthews, a friend from the Jacaranda, heard about Harry's problems with Leach and introduced Harry to a local civil servant, Jim Anderson, who lent Harry £50. This enabled Harry to found
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same area of
Liverpool, so the dubious votes were declared void. This was suspected to have been Storm himself, but Harry had no idea that The Beatles had done exactly the same thing.
562:
men from London to travel up to
Liverpool and see what was really happening with the music scene, but not one record company sent an A&R representative to Liverpool. Journalist
537:. Kirchherr and Max Scheler said that every group would be paid £1 per musician, but over 200 groups turned up on the day, and Kirchherr and Scheler ran out of money as a result.
161:, which carried many exclusive stories and photos of them. It also published several of Lennon's early writings, including a history of the band, and occasional comical
197:, but the paper refused to change this policy, despite pleas from the promoters and groups who actually paid for them. Harry planned to produce a jazz newspaper called
234:
by thinking about a policeman's 'beat' (the area of duty), which had nothing to do with a musical beat. Harry's fiancé Virginia Sowry gave up her accountancy/
278:
and local cinemas, but contributed to charities by printing free charity advertisements at the side of the front cover page. After taking Virginia home to
189:
about the emerging Liverpool music scene, but neither paper was interested in stories about music that was popular with teenagers. The classified ads in
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into it. Epstein had promised Harry full editorial control, but then hired a female press officer in London to write a fashion column and a
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newspaper denounced the enthusiasm of younger people in Liverpool by saying "The Mersey Sound is the sound of 30,000 people on the
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and Cass & The Cassanovas. Harry carried notebooks with him, collecting information about the local groups, once writing to
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615:"The man who introduced The Beatles to Brian Epstein: EXCLUSIVE interview with legendary 1960s Mersey Beat founder Bill Harry"
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he used for photos, as they were too expensive for the fledgling company at the time. Harry also borrowed blocks from the
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The results were announced on 4 January 1962, with The Beatles in first place. The results were printed in issue 13 of
183:: "Liverpool is like New Orleans at the turn of the century, but with rock 'n' roll instead of jazz". He also wrote to
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held a poll to find out who was the most popular Merseyside group. The results were announced on 4 January 1962:
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in the evening, Harry would often return to the office and work throughout the night, pausing only to go to the
406:
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and their own music, just at the time they were beginning to earn money, which gave them the spending power.
576:
visited Liverpool to appear at the Odeon, he specifically asked for Harry to act as his guide to the city.
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On 13 September 1964, Epstein approached Harry to create a national music paper, so Harry coined the name
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Such was the popularity of the poll, Rushworth's music store manager, Bob Hobbs, presented Lennon and
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to write a gossip column, without informing Harry of his intentions, and Harry resigned as a result.
452:
427:
151:. The paper carried news about all the local Liverpool bands, and stars who came to town to perform.
1133:
359:, compiled a list of groups that they had personally heard of, which had almost 300 names. In 1962,
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with new guitars. Many groups in Liverpool complained to Harry that his newspaper should be called
463:
375:
320:
204:
901:
614:
1178:
836:"Bill Harry celebrates the 50th anniversary of Mersey Beat – the newspaper he created and edited"
544:, the future Beatles' manager, who wrote a regular column about new record releases available at
185:
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A fellow student, John Ashcroft, introduced Harry to rock 'n' roll records, and the members of
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newspaper, stating that "Bill and Virginia Harry were Mr. & Mrs. Mersey Beat", and when
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scene would be more successful, and would differ from national music newspapers such as the
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An iconic symbol of the Mersey Beat era was the poster artwork created by local artist
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In late 1962, Harry wrote an article called "Take a look up North", asking for
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office was at 81a Renshaw Street, Liverpool. (green shop front on the right)
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on 4 January 1962, with the front page announcing, "Beatles Top Poll!"
136:
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214:, which only wrote articles about current chart hits and artists.
1081:"About Tony Booth | Buy Original Artwork of The Beatles Posters"
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299:), with retailers, Harry arranged for three major wholesalers,
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Anderson providing a desk, chair and an Olivetti typewriter.
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27:
This article is about the publication. For other uses, see
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operator job at Woolworth's and worked full-time for two
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1223:"Liverpool City Centre (Rushworths, Whitechapel St.)"
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Harry asked printer James E. James (who had printed
1351:"In the Beginning The Beatles and Me by Bill Harry"
993:"The Bands and Artists of Merseyside (1958 - 1964)"
661:"How did the idea for Mersey Beat first originate?"
655:
653:
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81:
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53:
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193:for local groups were always under the heading of
1429:Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom
1273:genesis-publications.com - Retrieved: 21 May 2007
1409:Music magazines published in the United Kingdom
8:
540:Another of the paper's noted supporters was
39:
1313:sfn error: no target: CITEREFColeman1989 (
1059:"groups with guitars are on their way out"
967:"Mersey Groups and Artists of The Sixties"
38:
864:sfn error: no target: CITEREFAstley2006 (
1332:sfn error: no target: CITEREFSpitz2005 (
1043:sfn error: no target: CITEREFSpitz2005 (
927:sfn error: no target: CITEREFHarry1984 (
886:sfn error: no target: CITEREFSpitz2005 (
808:sfn error: no target: CITEREFSpitz2005 (
1308:
605:
859:
295:Splitting the price of the newspaper (
242:(£2.10/-) a week (also contributing a
139:in the early 1960s. It was founded by
1327:
1038:
922:
881:
803:
724:. Mersey Beat Lover 1. Archived from
303:, Blackburn's, and Conlan's, to sell
7:
613:Pingitore, Silvia (8 January 2022).
511:20. Dale Roberts and the Jaywalkers
533:all to turn up on the same day at
499:18. Dee Fenton and the Silhouettes
25:
944:"The 'This Is Mersey Beat' Story"
1419:Magazines disestablished in 1964
523:, as he featured them so often.
480:14. Mark Peters and the Cyclones
435:Kingsize Taylor and the Dominoes
45:
1134:"The Birth of a Nation 4: 1941"
834:Shennan, Paddy (22 July 2011).
780:"The Birth of Mersey Beat (p5)"
636:"The Birth of Mersey Beat (p4)"
484:15. Karl Terry and the Cruisers
175:Rory Storm & The Hurricanes
1179:"Meet the Singer: Mark Peters"
969:. Sixties City. Archived from
663:. Beatle Folks. Archived from
566:once wrote an article for the
476:13. Earl Preston & The TTs
1:
1414:Magazines established in 1961
1286:. web archive. Archived from
1248:. Beatlefolks. Archived from
1203:. Karl Terry and the Cruisers
1201:"Karl Terry and the Cruisers"
421:Rory Storm and the Hurricanes
157:had a close association with
111:81a Renshaw Street, Liverpool
1181:. Bill Harry/Mersey Beat Ltd
1020:. Bill Harry/Mersey Beat Ltd
782:. Bill Harry/Mersey Beat Ltd
638:. Bill Harry/Mersey Beat Ltd
551:Harry asked a local singer,
495:17. Steve and the Syndicate
131:was a music publication in
29:Merseybeat (disambiguation)
1445:
1384:"Bill Harry's Weekly Blog"
1018:"The Birth of Mersey Beat"
722:"Mr & Mrs Mersey Beat"
580:The last issues and London
266:), if he could borrow the
26:
453:Faron & The Flamingos
163:classified advertisements
44:
34:English music publication
407:Gerry and the Pacemakers
165:by him as space filler.
1424:Mass media in Liverpool
904:. Mersey Beat Nostalgia
588:, and gradually merged
85:Bill and Virginia Harry
1404:History of the Beatles
1158:. Merseybeat nostalgia
1112:"Now That I Can Dance"
753:. Merseybeat Nostalgia
259:
199:Storyville/52nd Street
18:Mersey Beat (magazine)
1271:"Liverpool Days" book
1246:"Bill Harry (part 2)"
1156:"Ian and the Zodiacs"
1085:thebeatlesposters.com
691:"The Founders' Story"
490:Derry and the Seniors
426:5. Johnny Sandon and
253:
149:Liverpool Art College
57:Fortnightly newspaper
1399:History of Liverpool
1284:"Bill Harry Q and A"
1110:McCormack, Peter R.
1252:on 17 February 2012
1225:. Beatles Liverpool
1041:, pp. 287–288.
902:"About Mersey Beat"
667:on 10 February 2012
464:Ian and the Zodiacs
205:New Musical Express
41:
1353:. Record Collector
1091:on 6 November 2016
272:Widnes Weekly News
260:
191:The Liverpool Echo
186:The Liverpool Echo
99:Ceased publication
1379:Official Homepage
569:News of the World
458:10. The Four Jays
244:Mersey Roundabout
143:, who was one of
124:
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16:(Redirected from
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546:NEMS Enterprises
535:St George's Hall
507:and the Coasters
447:8. The Strangers
346:Liverpool groups
335:The Daily Worker
100:
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21:
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1290:on 15 June 2009
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1114:. Rick resource
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728:on 8 April 2010
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517:George Harrison
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471:The Undertakers
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380:The Cavern Club
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291:The first issue
268:printing blocks
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1370:External links
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1301:
1275:
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1244:Hester, John.
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1061:. Rare Beatles
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925:, p. 207.
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840:Liverpool Echo
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973:on 5 May 2012
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1355:. Retrieved
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1309:Coleman 1989
1304:
1292:. Retrieved
1288:the original
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1254:. Retrieved
1250:the original
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1227:. Retrieved
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1183:. Retrieved
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1089:the original
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998:. Triumph pc
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971:the original
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906:. Retrieved
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843:. Retrieved
784:. Retrieved
755:. Retrieved
751:"Bill Harry"
730:. Retrieved
726:the original
695:. Retrieved
669:. Retrieved
665:the original
640:. Retrieved
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618:. Retrieved
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1393:Categories
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82:Editor
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