Liverpool Scene

The Liverpool Scene
The Liverpool Scene, a band consisting of Adrian Henri, Andy Roberts, Mike Evans, Mike Hart, Percy Jones and Brian Dodson, grew out of the success of The Incredible New Liverpool Scene, a 1967 CBS LP featuring Henri and McGough reading their work, with accompaniment by the guitarist Roberts. The LP in turn was inspired by the success of the poetry anthology The Liverpool Scene featuring the work of Henri, Roger McGough and Brian Patten. In the 1960s, poetry began to have popular appeal for a young audience, with some critics claiming that pop songwriters such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan were poets. The Liverpool poets' populist approach found acceptance in the same circles. The Liverpool Scene released four LPs, combining poetry with folk, rock and jazz elements. The albums achieved little commercial success, although the band did become popular on the UK university and college circuit.

Links with Peel
John Peel, who was then working on the pirate radio station Radio London and looking to re-connect with his Merseyside roots after spending some years in the USA, picked up on the LP and regularly featured it on his influential late-night Perfumed Garden show. After Radio London closed down, Peel visited Liverpool and met the band, writing enthusiastically of the experience in his column in International Times. In the early period of his BBC career they were regularly featured in session on both Top Gear and Night Ride, he frequently introduced their live performances, and in 1968 he produced their first LP, Amazing Adventures of (RCA 1968.

As the 1960s ended, so did the fashion for mixing poetry and pop or rock music, and the Liverpool Scene split up. Mike Hart later recorded two albums for Dandelion Records, which made even less commercial impact than most Dandelion releases, but were highly regarded by label owner Peel. In 2001 Peel wrote an obituary of Adrian Henri for Radio Times, in which he admitted that they had lost touch over the years; but he did remain friends with guitarist Andy Roberts.