beatlemania

This video is on the subject of Beatles locations in and around Liverpool and Wirral. The Beatles legacy is a huge reason for tourists to visit Liverpool. For me personally, I love visiting the locations connected with the Beatles as it helps me to discover more about Liverpool and I can relive the excitement and fascination of growing up with the music of the Beatles in the 1960s.

The video is narrated by me in English with German subtitles. I am using German because from 2019, the main focus of my main YouTube channel is German language. The subtitles will be of use to my students of German and those on my mailing list. I also hope to reach people in Germany who are interested in the Beatles, and who will find the German subtitles helpful and welcoming.

From 2019 all my videos will have a bilingual narration in English and German. I enjoy occasionally featuring other languages as well and in this Beatles video, I’m excited to be doing a Japanese version. A teaching colleague has helped with the translation into Japanese. I’ve given the video a Japanese look with Japan-influenced music by the talented young musician Bad Snacks, featured on the YouTube Audio Library.

To make the video I travelled all over the Liverpool region on various trips and photoshoots and I’ve been to nearly all the places connected with the Beatles where tourists like to go.

Of the many places I’ve listed so far, one of my favourites is the Casbah Coffee Club, which I visited for the first time in mid-2018. It’s an excellent place to visit as you can really experience what it was like to see John, Paul, George and Pete play in their early days.

I also love the Beatles’ childhood homes 20 Forthlin Road, home of the McCartney family,and Mendips, where John lived with his aunt Mimi. They’re fascinating to visit as they are both time capsules of the late fifties and early sixties. It’s not possible to take photos inside the houses, so I have only exterior photos.

Just before publishing the final version of the video in January 2019, I found out that there is going to be a new Beatles attraction on the grounds of Strawberry Field. The gates will finally open and fans will be able to find out about John and the other Beatles in a visitors centre. It looks great.

It was perhaps a controversial choice to include this Japanese-style background music in a video about a famous British band from the early sixties. However I wanted to highlight the Japanese perspective. The Beatles are very popular in Japan and many Japanese fans visit Liverpool. One of my goals is to build bridges and overcome barriers of language and culture. This is my way of doing it!

The background music is by an artist who calls herself ‘Bad Snacks’. Her work is available on the YouTube audio library and I think it is superb. I loved these two tracks when I first heard them. in fact some of the content of the video was inspired by this music.

The first track we hear is called Mizuki and has a bright, upbeat character with its Oriental style memory played using the sound of an Eastern instrument, perhaps a koto.

The second track is ‘Shibuya’ and it ‘interrupts’ the narrative in two places. The first time we jump to the little known Japanese garden in Calderstones Park. I wanted to emphasise aspects of Japanese culture in Liverpool. To be honest, there aren’t that many! When I first heard ‘Shibuya’ I immediately wanted to include images of the wonderful Japanese garden.

The second time we jump to ‘Shibuya’ we see the train to New Brighton. I got the idea of using an image of a train because in ‘Shibuya’ there is a hissing sound, perhaps from a train in Tokyo. That image and concept were taken directly from the track by the supremely talented artist Bad Snacks, or whatever her real name is. She is based in Los Angeles and I think she is destined for a very successful career as a musician. Try doing a search on YouTube to find her. She is a very talented young musician.

I hope this video will be seen and enjoyed by people in Germany and Japan as well as those living closer to home. It’s been great fun making this video, though it has taken a long time from its inception to final upload and publication on 8 January, 2018. Co-incidentally, 8 January 1947 is the birthday of David Bowie, another musician I am very keen on.

I love the Beatles music. I grew up with it as a child and two of my favourite songs or theirs are Penny Lane and Strawberry Field. They had a profound effect on me as a child and I’m glad I am able to pay tribute to them in this video.

On my Patreon page I plan to provide more background information and some interesting anecdotes that I don’t share with the wider public.

If you’d like to support what I’m doing, please visit www.patreon.com/aidanorourke

I wanted to present 60 of the best places to visit in Liverpool in a short video and here it is. These are some of my favourite attractions but there are many more!

As part of my research for the video I wrote descriptions of some of the locations but in the end, the descriptions weren’t used in the video.

St George’s Hall this magnificent neo-classical building contains a breathtaking hall and a prison museum. It’s one of my favourite buildings in Liverpool.
Sefton Park is a very special place to people in Liverpool, with a special atmosphere. The lake the palm house, the paths, fountains and pavilion give Sefton Park its unique character.
Birkenhead Park inspired the designer of  New York’s Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted. It has been restored and has beautiful open spaces. The Swiss Bridge and  Roman Boathouse have been restored.
Newsham Park is one of Liverpool’s lesser known parks but it has an idyllic character. It has two lakes and you can often watch model boats on the water.
The ‘Dome of Home’  – The Basilica of Saints Peter and Saint Paul is situated on the hill above New Brighton. Returning crewmembers always knew they were home when they saw its dome.
The Bluecoat is an arts centre in the centre of Liverpool. It was formerly a school. It’s one of the oldest buildings in Liverpool and also has a beautiful garden.
The Liver Building  is the most famous building in Liverpool. It’s a proud symbol of the city along with its two liver birds, designed by German emigré sculptor Carl Bernard Barthels.
The Cunard Building is the middle of the three graces and was once the luxurious terminal for passengers travelling by ocean liner. The Mayor of Liverpool has offices in this building.
The British Music Experience is housed inside the Cunard building and tells the story of British pop music.
The Port of Liverpool Building  is a stunning building both on the exterior and inside, with its balconies and interior atrium. There are many stained glass windows on the theme of Liverpool’s maritime history
The Museum of Liverpool. is housed in a controversial modern building and contains a fascinating collection that tells the detailed and fascinating story of Liverpool.
The Albert Dock once earmarked for demolition, this 19th century dock complex has become Liverpool’s most popular tourist attraction.
Bold Street is one of Liverpool’s most liveliest streets, with its bars, cafes, restaurants and shops. At the top of the street is St Luke’s, the Bombed Out Church,
The Mersey Ferry is perhaps Liverpool’s most famous tourist attraction. It still functions as a daily means of transport for commuters but only on weekday mornings and afternoons. The tour on the Mersey is a must for all visitors
The Cavern Club is where the Beatles played their early gigs, but today’s cavern club is not the original but a faithfully reconstructed one. Still, it looks and feels similar to the original.
The Beatles Statues on the Pier Head were created by artist Andy Edwards. Since their installation in December 2015 they have been visited every day by thousands of people who love to have their photo taken next to Paul, George, Ringo and John
Liverpool One is a shopping district in Liverpool city centre that was created from existing streets and buildings, with the addition of many new buildings.
The Philharmonic Hall is a stunning concert hall in a 1930s design. Here you can go to orchestral concerts as well as performances by legendary pop artists. The style and ornamentation are stuperb.
The view from Everton Park is stunning as you can see over the rootops of the city centre across the Mersey to the Wirral, with the Clwydian Hills across the Dee in North Wales. Everton Park is built on the site of a former residential district.
The view from Seacombe gives you perhaps the best angle on Liverpool waterfront. You can reach it on the Mersey Ferries river cruise or drive through the Kingsway Tunnel.
The view from Woodside ferry terminal is also magnificent and is closer to the waterfront. You can admire all the buildings along the Liverpool waterfront and watch cruise ships arriving and leaving.
The view from Port Sunlight Riverside Park is a relatively new viewpoing point as the park was created from a gigantic landfill site. From here the waterfront is to the north.
Lady Lever Art Gallery is my favourite art gallery in the North West as it presents a uniquely personal collection reflecting the tastes of founder Lord Leverhulme. There are many paintings and sculptures, some ancient, as well as furniture and ceramics.
Port Sunlight is a village with houses in a variety of traditional English styles. It was built by Lord Leverhulme to provide housing for workers in his nearby factory.
Birkenhead Priory is an ancient religious site that pre-dates virtually everything around it. The visitors center we can learn about the early history of this area and from the tower, look across the river and into the neighbouring ship repair docks.

Video: Discover the Beatles in their early years in this multilingual YouTube video

60 great places to visit in Liverpool – 120 second video online