Saturday 4 July 2009

The myth of the north south divide

Oh those soft southerners. Streets paved with gold. Living off the fat of the land. People can still have strange notions about Londoners and the lives they live. Hence this song by McCarthy about the myth of the North South divide. A genuine greater London group. Active in the late '80s. And a singer in Malcolm Eden who had a real way with words. He knew a thing or two about the art of irony. And not having much money in the most expensive city in Britain.

It's a bit of a tenuous link but this video clip of another McCarthy song, The Well of Loneliness, has been allowed by the censors because it seems to have been put together on their home patch of Barking in 1987. It introduces a theme that may be picked up later about the changing landscape and fashions of London.



2 comments:

  1. Inevitably this is bringing out my spotter tendencies. 'Unfortunately' on the B side of 'The well of loneliness' references the Thames and the Serpentine (for their death by drowning potential), while 'Keep an open mind or else' B side 'Two criminal points of view' has 'the Dagenham Three' robbing a bank down Tulse Hill way. But the prize goes to I am a wallet - 'Charles Windsor', 'The vision of Peregrine Worsthorne', and 'The procession of popular capitalism', have Trafalgar Square, Fleet Street, and the Strand and Whitehall as their respective backdrops.

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  2. Excellent. I had the I Am A Wallet ones but not the others. McCarthy have emerged as one the groups who could be league leaders in the London mentions stakes. There will be more McCarthy appearances!

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