Old Compton Street Blues

"Mmm, you made it to the silver screen and yet you're not a star. And advertising corsets didn't get you too far. But money has its favourites and yours went back to them. So you modelled in a studio in Greek Street for the rent. There you met Antonio, your lover from afar. Who put you on the streets to make the money for his car. And the circle turns and turns and turns so fast, little girl ..." Al Stewart's Old Compton Street Blues tells rather a sad tale about shall we say Soho's entertainment industry. And it's all the more effective because it's sung in such a detached, impersonal way. It appears on Al's second LP, Love Chronicles, from 1969, which is perhaps his finest work. It features some nice musical settings, which are helped by the presence of a Fairport Convention/Jimmy Page types. But it's the story telling that works so well on this particular track. It's a film in itself ...