Elizabeth Sharkey: Why Britain Rocked at Number 8
Posted on May 01, 2024Author Elizabeth Sharkey will be at Number 8 in Pershore on Friday 17 May, 7.30pm to talk about British music history as explored in her bestselling book, Why Britain Rocked: How Rock Became Roll and Took Over the World. Elizabeth will delve into Britain’s history to trace the events that led to its twentieth century musical explosion, arguing that The Beatles’ arrival that so surprised the world really shouldn’t have been a surprise at all!
From the Celts, Henry VIII, and the Quakers, to Ira Aldridge and Paul Robeson, Elizabeth will uncover the unique events and unexpected influences that gave us British pop, laying the foundations for stars from Lonnie Donegan, The Beatles and David Bowie, to John Lydon, Kate Bush, Johnny Marr, Noel Gallagher and Ed Sheeran.
The talk will be followed by the opportunity for the audience to pose their questions in a Q&A with the author.
Elizabeth Sharkey is an actress and voice over artist who grew up on a farm in Lincolnshire, discovering music at the age of five when she secretly played her father’s jazz records. But it was on first hearing The Beatles’ ‘Something’ around the same age that she was hooked. Sharkey’s book is a love story, not for British pop, but for her father, for it was through his love of music that she began her own. Why Britain Rocked: How Rock Became Roll and Took Over the World is published by Academica Press. Signed copies of the book will be available to purchase at the event.
Tickets for Elizabeth Sharkey: Why Britain Rocked priced at £10 are available now from Number 8 Box Office on 01386 555488 or can be booked online at www.number8.org