the beat goes on....

By Catherine Jones on Jul 11, 08 02:29 PM

It's cost £300,000 to create, including £100,000 from the Culture Company.
But after two visits to The Beat Goes On exhibition in 12 hours, I have to say as far as I am concerned it is well worth every penny.
And the fabulous thing about the new show, which goes live at World Museum Liverpool tomorrow, is like most other attractions in the city it is absolutely free.
I'm not sure you'll escape without buying something fabulous in the museum shop though!!

I went for the press launch yesterday morning, but barely touched the surface of the exhibition.
Mind you, I did spend the first 10 minutes in the "recording studio" laying down my own version of The Zutons' Valerie.
It's a cross between karaoke and a recording booth and luckily no one else heard my efforts. But apparently at weekends they will have sound engineer students in there and you'll be able to have your singing burned on to a CD.
Last night's party was full of faces from Liverpool music scene's past and present.
I rounded the corner by the Woolton church fete stage exhibit (where Lennon and McCartney met for the first time) to find Rod Davis of the Quarrymen listening to a recording of the band on a headphone.
"I'm just listening to Colin's drumming" he explained.
Billy Fury's mum and brother were also there, as were Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphries from OMD.
Andy made a very eloquent speech in the lobby before we all stampeded upstairs, saying: "The curators have taken all the many and varied threads of Liverpool's musical heritage and woven them together in one wonderful tapestry."
David Fleming said he reckoned the exhibition couldn't have happened in any other city and although I don't ALWAYS agree with everything David says, in this case I think he's probably eright.
Back upstairs, I was stopped by one lady who pointed at a blue wool dress circa 1961 in a display cabinet and said "that was mine". She worked in the cloakroom at the Iron Door where she met her future husband - the man who ran the whole club.
Allan Williams also dropped in last night, and the former Eric's DJ Norman Killon was spinning the discs just like old times.
It will take at least two or three visits to The Beat Goes On to see and experience everything - but luckily since it is on until November 2009 that shouldn't be a problem.
And I'm coveting those giant 60s false eyelashes in the shop too..........