Liverpool

Liverpool has the fiercest and most eclectic tradition in British rock, proudly homegrown and defined by the River Mersey, which has always allowed the freewheeling import-export of global influences. Here, we give you everything but the Beatles, who put the city on the map but own only a fraction of its rock heritage. Some of the greatest charting singles of the '80s came out of Merseyside: synth-pop doesn't get much better than the irresistible whiplash of "Enola Gay" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

Some of the greatest charting singles of the '80s came out of Merseyside: melancholia is rarely accorded a musical delivery as gorgeous as "Wishful Thinking" by China Crisis.

All manner of sweet madness comes out of the Mersey: in the Beaty '60s, lunatic comedian-in-the-making Freddie Starr fronted the Midnighters and perfected a primal rock howl. Two decades later, sideways-glancing art-popsters It's Immaterial took "Driving Away from Home (Jim's Tune)" into the charts on a wave of wryness.

In the '60s, the Mersey Sound meant only one thing: the "beat boom" that had one foot in homegrown skiffle, but pledged allegiance to the American flag of rock 'n' roll authenticity. By the '80s, with the Beatles a glorious memory, Liverpool had really come into its own, producing sounds that would define the times: the Teardrop Explodes, Echo & the Bunnymen, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood all struck out on their own terms. Liverpool rules.