ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the musical life of Liverpool during the 1980s and early 1990s, by which time the city had become marginalized within the global economy due to a shift in the geographical focus of world trade, and its economic problems were particularly severe. It examines the appropriation of rock music as a city sound, focusing on Roger Hill's notion of the 'definitive Liverpool Sound', and it considers the influence of rock culture, and socioeconomic factors specific to Liverpool, on the representation of the city through rock. The book also examines efforts to claim country music as Liverpool heritage and considers the influence of country on the production of local identity and difference, and on local narratives of decline and renewal. It focuses on the linking of cultural and economic policy and on initiatives aimed at developing a local music industry.
