Ask your barber for the same hairstyle as the Beatles

BarcelonaI would have liked to have met some of those Liverpool residents who, in the late 1950s, complained about those kids with strange hairstyles. Those people who, in 1960 or 1961, still denied being from the same city as those four youngsters who had created a musical group whose name seemed absurd to them. When a trend is born, there are always people who oppose it. Do they get off their high horse and apologize? Or do they remain critical for life, even though today one of the big reasons to go to Liverpool is the Beatles?

In addition to spending time at The Cavern, the music venue that hasn't handled the passing of time and success very well, Beatles fans often visit the south of the city to visit the childhood homes of some of the band's members. Many discovered this area thanks to the 1967 song. Penny Lane, which would be included on the Magical Mystery Tour LP. The song is a lovely tribute to the streets where it all began, as McCartney and John Lennon, who lived even further south, used to meet at a bus stop on the corner of Penny Lane and Allerton Road.

When they started their career, one of the Beatles' most distinctive elements was their hairstyle. And, in fact, the song talks about the barbershop where they pioneered this aesthetic. That "barber who shows photographs of every head he's ever had the pleasure of seeing. And everyone who comes stops to say 'hello'," as the lyrics say, referring to the barbershop Charlie Slavin had in Smithdown Square, right where Penny Lane ends. In the 1950s and 1960s, the establishment was called Bioletti's And it was a business more geared toward the musician's mother and aunts than to the young McCartney. But the latter did so a few times; it's unclear whether it was because of the good price they were offering or because Slavin didn't have much work. And McCartney, pleased, dragged the other members of the group along. This is where they got that altar boy hairstyle that would become a hit. Charlie Slavin knew how to read the move and prominently displayed photographs of the musicians getting their hair cut, which attracted hundreds of young people. When Charlie died, his son Tony kept the legacy alive and named the business after him. Furthermore, Tony Slavin had the foresight, after the 1967 song, to register the trademark. Penny Lane Barber Shop to prevent anyone from making a profit. It was a good idea, as now the Penny Lane area is full of businesses, many of them hair salons, with names referencing the Beatles, trying to profit from it.

I love these coincidences. Two young people with a lot of dreams take the bus in a remote corner of England, years later they remember it from a song, and now the whole area has become a kind of Beatles theme park, where the neighbors walk by. Some of them happy and proud. Others cursing the crowd.

Recommendation for traveling to Liverpool

Song: Penny Lane

Author: The Beatles

Year: 1967