Hi from Liverpool
the holy land for all Beatles fans.
'Let it be', 'Yesterday', 'Can't buy me love' all these classical songs came to mind when walking down narrow lanes in the center of the city.
Now its easy to find all their songs on youtube. It was not that easy years ago in the country where I was born. A country where despite being hugely popular they never performed. But the rumors about the impenetrability of the 'Iron curtain' of USSR are a bit exaggerated. In the official broadcasts of radio and television, maybe one wouldn't hear their music durring the 60's or 70's. But young Soviets had informal communication. They knew and listened to all popular bands from the West like Rollings, Smokie, Pink Floyd, etc. Just to have their records at home you had to communicate, get it, rewrite tape recordings, make pictures of posters etc.. They were real fans who gathered a lot of information from scanty sources. Nothing came easy but nevertheless, western bands were very popular.
It reminds me about the ensemble played in school dances in 70s, tried to copy Beatles even their hairstyles, two front guitars - Kolka Konev (lookalike Lennon - glasses, hairstyle with middle parting) and Kolka Majugin - double K and played all Beatles songs. Soviets youngies all became long-haired like their heros the Beatles - the teachers for the most long haired were trying to get them to have a haircut. But they still weared hair to cover their ears. In general, Beatlemania had a very serious influence on the masses. And the culture. Many bands tried to copy their style.
At school evenings came another guy with ionics (electropiano) and sang 'yit bi bi'. I really heard 'Laura bi'. Obviously in original it was 'Let it be' but we didn't know English well enough. A fat blond, wearing glasses and a Beatles hairdo. And it's not Moscow and Peter, with a bunch of foreigners and 'farsovschikov' but small town in Uralz. Nevertheless, the Western music was very popular.
There was a flourishing cultural life in the USSR and despite steoreotypes the guys did love their girls. Everything was there too. Maybe not en masse, but no less valuable.
So of course during the short stay i couldn't not visit the little undeground club where legendary four performed, called The Cavern Club. It's 300 years old and the energy of the place is felt from first steps inside. Magnetic place.
But the other little thing that will now remind me about Liverpool is the cry of liverbirds, the seagulls. Literally it was my first impression that I sensed stepping in the town from the railway station, the voices of the birds from Mersey river.