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Browse the full list below, click on each song to read more and tell us what you think in the comments.
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What?! No Spice Girls, Walk of Life?! Laugh as you may, it is a great song about London. Gives me goosebumps every time I fly back to the UK.
# Sunday all the lights of LONDON / Shining sky is fading red to blue #
How is David Gray's 'Babylon' not on the list??? Absolute classic.
These songs all namecheck London but other songs feel more London, even when it isn't mentioned. The Beatles' You Never Give Me Your Money, for instance.
What the hell? Squeeze, Up the Junction, anyone? Squeeze are a, if not THE, definitive London band!
Love that you've included One Night in Hackney, but where's Down in the Tube Station? Jeez!
Ever heard of a group called Madness? They had some success a few years back with more than one song about London. Maybe you could make some room by dropping Claude Francois and what I doubt is even the 3rd best song featuring the word 'Waterloo'.
Boring, boring, boring list! What about Shane McGowan - is he supposed to be an outcast? "London You're a Lady"! "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge"! Ever heard of these songs...?
Sorry, I'm from Spandau.
completely agree with richard bailey so much rubbish picked over some classics such a shame could have been a great cd
as usual a lot missing while some real rubbish makes the list no down in the tubestation no up the junction no walking down the kings rd no chelsea nightclub no soho strut oh well
Agree wholeheartedly with Michael about "Sweet Thames Flow Softly". Lovely version by Christy Moore accessible on YouTube.
Waterloo Sunset had to be on the list, and actually i'm glad it's number 1. To me the Kinks are the only band who managed to describe the very essence of London atmosphere in their songs.
Waterloo Sunset was originally written about the river Mersey in Liverpool. There are still references to it in the song e.g. the river rolling into the sunset - the thames doesn't do this. For that reason I'm not sure it should be on the list, and definitely not number 1.
The fact that Sweet Thames Flow Softly is not on the list calls the whole list into question!
Great list. I'm happy to see Waterloo Sunset heading the list. Wonderful song, just as your city of London is.
Also, they missed Tracey Thorn's "Kentish Town" much better than the Imelda May song. AND I believe the Belle & Sebastian song "Mornington Crescent" is about the Mornington Cresenct in Glasgow.
Unless I missed it, you gotta have 'All the Umbrellas in London' by Magnetic Fields
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnLLR4QwEPY
Wait -- Kirsty MacColl's SOHO SQUARE only came in at 96? That is rubbish! And below Manilow? -- my arse! At least the *Top 5* is fairly spot on. Missing (but not surprising) is LONDON'S BRILLIANT by Wendy James (written by Elvis Costello, mind you). Certainly speaks of the London I know -- as does MARIO'S CAFE by Saint Etienne at 25. Shock of shocks: Bananarama is in at 48 with HEY YOUNG LONDON ... woo!
Once again, one of the best London songs ever has been missed from the list - Pimlico by David Devant & His Spirit Wife. A Bowie-at-Wilton's music hall style ode to Tate Britain and romance on an open top bus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vddY0nGy8Ws
Missing Blossom Dearie's "I Love London in the Rain." Hazy Osterwald Jet Set "Swinging London," and "Let's All Go Down the Strand" by Blur -- but the inclusion of two Saint Etienne songs earns you bonus points ;)
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