This research started with a memory shared with Powered by Hip Hop in 2021.

A mum from Liverpool contacted us after seeing one of our heritage call-outs. Her son had been part of Electro Warriors, a Liverpool Break Dance and Body Popping crew from the 1980s.

She remembered the everyday details around the scene: trying to bring home sheets of hardboard from Rapid Hardware on Renshaw Street, buying odd pieces of lino for dancing, and feeding hungry young dancers with butties, crisps and burgers.

She also remembered something very important to this story.

When the Liverpool International Garden Festival opened in 1984, Electro Warriors were sponsored by JD Sports to perform there.

That memory gives us a strong lead.

Now we are trying to find the missing evidence around it: the programme listing, daily guide, newspaper clipping, photo, video, flyer, or another person who remembers being there.

“All we needed was a Ghetto Blaster and a sheet of lino”

The memory shared with us also gives a powerful picture of Liverpool’s early Break Dance and Body Popping scene.

It was about music, style, movement, crews and young people making something happen for themselves.

There were challenges in youth clubs, dancing on the street, busking for pennies, graffiti appearing across the city, and dancers creating their own look through clothes, trainers and new Electro sounds.

One line from the memory captures the whole feeling of that time:

“All we needed was a Ghetto Blaster and a sheet of lino and we were good to go!”

That is why this history matters.

Before social media, smartphones or online tutorials, young people were learning from each other. They were building confidence, friendships and identity through dance.

Some of the Liverpool crews remembered from that time include Street Force, Eastwood Rockers, Body Shock and Electro Warriors

We would love to hear from anyone connected to those crews, or anyone who remembers seeing them perform.

Why the Garden Festival matters to Liverpool Break Dance history

The Liverpool International Garden Festival was one of the biggest events in Liverpool in the 1980s.

Many people remember the gardens, the Yellow Submarine, the railway, the crowds and the family days out. But the Garden Festival was also full of entertainment.

There were stages, performances, music, theatre, dance, school groups, competitions and daily events across the site.

That is why this lead matters.

A Break Dance or Body Popping performance would not have been out of place at the Garden Festival. It was exactly the kind of public event where young performers, local groups and new culture could be seen by large crowds.

We are now trying to find out where this performance happened, who organised it, whether other crews were involved, and whether it appeared in a daily guide, programme, newspaper listing or photo.

What we have found so far

So far, we have several pieces of evidence that point in the same direction.

We have a first-hand family memory that Electro Warriors performed at the Liverpool International Garden Festival and were sponsored by JD Sports.

We have found Garden Festival material showing that the site had a large entertainment programme, with stages, performances, school groups, dance, music and competitions.

We have also found evidence of young people and school groups performing as part of the official Garden Festival programme.

A YouTube video connected to a Dovedale Junior School International Garden Festival performance also appears to show young people using Body Popping and Break Dance-influenced movement between 49 minutes 48 seconds and 52 minutes.

This does not prove there was a formal competition, but it does show that these dance styles were visible among young people in Liverpool around the time of the 1984 Garden Festival.

What we still need is the missing piece: a programme listing, daily entertainment guide, newspaper clipping, photo, video, flyer or another memory that confirms exactly what happened.

What we still need to find

We are now looking for anything that can help confirm the details of the Break Dance or Body Popping performance at the Liverpool Garden Festival.

We would especially like to find:

programme pages
daily entertainment guides
newspaper clippings
photos
videos
flyers
posters
tickets
staff passes
scrapbook pages
memories of the stage or location
names of dancers and crews
details of the JD Sports sponsorship
memories of who organised it
memories of whether it was a competition, showcase or performance

Even a small detail could help.

A name, a date, a stage, a song, a crew, a photo in the background, or a line in an old programme could be the missing piece that helps us document this properly.

Why this history matters

Break Dancing, Body Popping and Hip Hop culture gave many young people something positive to belong to.

It kept people busy.
It built confidence.
It created friendships.
It gave young people a way to express themselves.
It brought people together across different backgrounds.

But a lot of this history was never properly written down.

It lived in people’s memories, family photo albums, old VHS tapes, school magazines, youth club stories, local newspapers and boxes of forgotten flyers.

That is why we are asking now.

If these memories are not collected, they could disappear.

Powered by Hip Hop wants to help preserve this history while people can still share it, so future generations understand that UK Break Dance heritage was built by local people, local crews and young people making something happen in their own communities.

Part of our Breaking heritage project

This research is part of Powered by Hip Hop’s wider UK Break Dance heritage work and our Breaking Heritage Ambassadors project, supported by European Heritage Days.

The support is helping us collect, protect and share memories of Breaking, Break Dancing, Body Popping, Hip Hop, crews, DJs, graffiti, youth clubs and early performances before they are lost.

This call-out is one part of that work. Every memory, photo, programme page or newspaper clipping shared with us can help build a more accurate picture of Liverpool and Merseyside’s early Hip Hop history.

Do you remember Break Dancing at Liverpool Garden Festival 1984?

Were you there?

Did you dance, watch, film or take photos?

Do you remember Electro Warriors, JD Sports, Street Force, Eastwood Rockers or Body Shock?

Did you work at the Garden Festival, visit with your family, perform on one of the stages, or keep any old programmes, guides, photos, tickets or newspaper cuttings?

Powered by Hip Hop would love to hear from you.

You do not need to have the full story. Even a small memory could help us connect the dots.

Please contact us with any memories, names, photos, videos, programme pages or newspaper cuttings.

Email: hello@poweredbyhiphop.org

Together, we can help make sure Liverpool’s Break Dance and Popping history is not lost.

Interested in Working With Powered by Hip Hop?

Powered by Hip Hop CIC delivers Hip Hop classes, DJ workshops, graffiti workshops, school projects and community activities across St Helens, Prescot and the wider region.

To find out more about our Hip Hop classes, DJ workshops, graffiti workshops or community projects, please get in touch.

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