London Blues

"No one here is sipping tea but me ..." claims Margie Anderson as she sings about the London Blues. Hats off to soul spinner supreme Jo Wallace for suggesting this one be included. And a tip of the hat to the YouTube contributor (wally1435) who has helped bring Margie Anderson's name back into circulation, even if plenty of mystery remains. It seems this track comes from an LP shared with the great Pearl Bailey. Would Pearl have sung about having the London Blues? Well, she married the Italian-American big band jazz drummer extraordinaire and composer Louie Bellson here in 1952 four days after they met, and they remained married until Pearl's death in 1990. They married at the famous Caxton Hall registry office, and Louis recorded his Caxton Hall Swing shortly afterwards in celebration. In 1970 Louie recorded a wonderful concept LP about London, called Louie In London. Predominantly swinging big band sounds, one track (the epic London Suite) features the Mike Sammes Singers. Other tracks include Carnaby Street, Kings Road Boogaloo, Sketches From National Gallery and the gorgeous Proud Thames.

I'm Trying To Make London My Home

"I put in for my citizenship papers and I'm going back to London for sure because if the good Lord lets me live I'm not going back to the States no more ..." I'm Trying To Make London My Home sings Sonny Boy Williamson with a little help on guitar from Hubert Sumlin on a live 1964 recording. Unfortunately the great bluesman died the following year while back in the States on tour so didn't get to live here full time, despite adopting the trademark two-tone, city gentleman's suit (complete with bowler hat, rolled umbrella and attache case full of harmonicas). The track was recorded on one of the famous American Folk Blues Festival appearances. There is a lovely little book by David Williams called The First Time We Met The Blues which tells the story of young London electric blues fans. Part of the book details a 'pilgrimage' the author made up to Manchester in October 1962 to see the first UK appearance of the Festival. Travelling up in the van with him were Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Keith Richards, and they would meet David's old school friend Jimmy Page there. Guy Stevens and Dave Godin make great cameo appearances in the book, and there's even a September 1962 pic of the Rolling Stones trio (possibly) in Dave Godin's Bexleyheath home. Val Wilmer's Mama Told Me There'd Be Days Like These gives an alternative insight into growing up as a blues fan in south London and seeing some of the greats performing in the Capital.

Loneliness of London

"The night people going home greet me with a yawn. A tramp in a doorway huddles up and mutters ..." sings Peter Reeves on his 1969 single Loneliness of London. It's a song I came across via the Living For Pleasure Alone site where when it was posted I spectacularly failed to seem knowledgeable about the London songbook. I still suspect this was the actor Peter Reeves, a stalwart of the London stage, having a bit of a go at a Richard Harris/Jim Webb thing. If anyone's got a spare £20 or so then why not show how much you've enjoyed this project by treating me to the Peter Reeves LP, The Way I See It? Oh please yourselves. This particular song may have a happy ending, but it's certainly not the only time the words London and lonely have been linked. Ralph McTell and Sam Selvon spring to mind. And then there's Dave Edmunds' London's A Lonely Town, an adaptation of The Tradewinds' NewYork Is A Lonely Town. Was this really a 1976 session featuring Bruce Johnston, Terry Melcher, Gary Usher, and Curt Boettcher? And how did it end up on a Pebbles compilation? Oh well, there'll always be a place in our hearts for Dave Edmunds - for his part in Stardust, his work with the Flamin' Groovies, and of course for his time with Nick Lowe ...

I'm Going To Get Lit Up (When The Lights Go Up In London)

"I'm going to get lit-up when the lights go up in London. I'm going to get lit up as I've never been before. You will find me on the tiles. You will find me wreathed in smiles. I'm going to get so lit up I'll be visible for miles. The city will sit up when the lights go up in London. We'll all be lit up as the Strand was, only more, much more. And before the party's played out they will fetch the Fire Brigade out. To the lit-est up-est scene you ever saw ..." Our old friend Carroll Gibbons with the Savoy Orpheans captures a certain mood in the WW2 number I'm Going To Get Lit Up (When The Lights Go Up In London). Apparently there were questions asked in the House about this song. One time Nazi sympathiser Lady Astor asked if this was an appropriate way to carry on. Hmm. The song itself was written by Hubert Gregg, who for many years presented the delightful Radio 2 show Thanks For The Memory. His most famous composition was Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner, one of the Capital's anthems. Among his other numbers is this one sung by his wife Pat Kirkwood ...

A London Sumtin'

"Just for you London ..." While passing on some kind comments about the project Charlie Weisfeld did gently take us to task: "It seems you've missed some very important tunes. Well they were very important if you spent the late '80s and '90s travelling to warehouse parties in and around London in dilapidated business/industrial parks. These tunes are absolute documents of the time, of rave culture and the birth of Jungle music. They might not have much in the way of lyrics but they bag loads of vibe ..." Charlie had made a very valid point. While on a personal level I may not have been haring around London to events (due to shiftwork and various practical reasons) the music was nevertheless a vital part of daily life. The tracks Charlie refers to were heard via the pirate stations which I would have on all the time, and still in my head I can hear the incessant babble of MCs urging London town to 'old tight and keep it locked. The music itself hasn't dated, and the rush and rattle of the tracks Charlie specifically referred to in his message is still incredibly uplifting. He picked Code 071's A London Sumting Dis on Reinforced, Bodysnatch by Euphony, and Sacred's Do It Together. All Junglists: A London Somet’ing Dis is the title of a documentary made in 1993, directed by Rachel Seely, on the origins of the very underground Jungle scene, and available in three parts on YouTube. And for those interested in some Hardcore Londonism ...

London Rock

"Don't need Manhattan. Just give me Leicester Square. 'Cos I know that the rock 'n' roll is universal, everywhere ..." Ah rock 'n' roll as a universal language. As the wonderful London Rock shows Tony Crombie was quick off the mark to realise just that. Now we all know the British rock 'n' story about the kids graduating via skiffle and the Two I's. But Tony Crombie, who arguably with his Rockets released the first British rock record, is something else altogether. Born in Bishopsgate, he started playing drums in the London jazz clubs as a kid in WW2. Still in the '40s he played with Duke Ellington, was involved with starting the legendary London jazz haunt Club Eleven, went on to play with Ronnie Scott and Johnny Dankworth among others. In the '50s he started his own jazz orchestra, played regularly at places like The Flamingo, recorded with Annie Ross, before veering off at a tangent and starting a band called The Rockets in response to Bill Haley & The Comets' success. Among the participants in this project at various times would be Tubby Hayes, and it's no surprise Crombie soon returned to jazz, playing with the likes of Stan Tracey, had his number So Near So Far adapted by Miles Davis, and played with organist Alan Haven on a TV special of Beatles adaptations. He also did some great soundtrack work, including the theme for the TV series The Man From Interpol.

She Wears Red Feathers

"I worked in a London bank. Respectable position. At half past three they serve you tea. But ruin your disposition. Each night at the music hall. Travelogues I'd see. And once a pearl of a native girl kept smiling right at me ..." sings Guy Mitchell (here looking suspiciously Suggs-esque) in his 1953 hit She Wears Red Feathers. There is still a tendency to think pop music began with rock 'n' roll. But Guy Mitchell, like Johnny Ray and Frankie Laine, was a great pop performer, pre-r 'n' r, with a little bit of an edge. He was certainly one of my mum's favourites. This early British number one hit was a bizarre tale of a London banker falling in love with an exotic hula girl at the music hall, sets off around the world to follow her, then the happy couple return to London and live happily ever after. It was written by Bob Merrill, who was also responsible for (How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window, If I'd Known You Were Comin' I'd've Baked A Cake, and Mambo Italiano. He also had a hand in Breakfast At Tiffany's and Funny Girl. Another of Guy Mitchell's big hits was Singing The Blues, which has a certain London resonance as Bermondsey boy Tommy Steele also had a number one with it in 1957, and I assume the last line of The Clash's London Calling refers to it ...

Back On The London Stage

"Back on the London stage. We sailed away, oh we sailed away. Back on the London stage. Maybe one day we'll have time to argue. Looking for London pride. We'll watch your day but we'll keep away from you. Back on the London stage ..." sings the great Jayne Casey on the Pink Military track Back On The London Stage from their classic 1980 LP Do Animals Believe In God? I loved the 'hit' single, Did You See Her, from that LP so much. Played it endlessly. Over the years I've read an awful lot about Patti Smith, and come across lots of people who talk about the impact she's had on their lives. I respect that. But I've never really felt the same about Patti. For me Jayne Casey captures that whole thing better. From Big In Japan to Pink Military to Pink Industry to Eight Productions and beyond Jayne's vocals and presence are remarkable. She has been part of some of the best music ever made ...

Drums Over London

"The natives are restless. They're brandishing their Spear & Jacksons. Their primitive chants thinly disguised as national anthems. Things are getting slightly less than British in the towns. Soon it will be time to stop the rot. We've got to put our foot down ..." sings a one-time MOJO editor on the Disco Zombies' Drums Over London. Caused a bit of a controversy this track at the end of the '70s, if I remember rightly. Being sung from the perspective of a racist, conservative, little Englander the number was open to misrepresentation, and the subtlety was lost on some. The Disco Zombies were called on to explain themselves to some of the fanzines of the day. This Disco Zombies single was released on their own South Circular label, which was a great south London name. The South Circular being one of the great London roads running from Woolwich in the east out to Gunnersbury-ish in the west. Together with the North Circular it forms a sort of inner London Orbital. There was a mod fanzine called South Circular around the same time, I seem to recall, which made a case for The Teardrop Explodes' Treason and the 'mutant pop' Dave McCullough was writing about in Sounds. That single, of course, came out on Zoo Records. One of the Zoo keepers was Dave Balfe, who would later start the rather less appetising Food Records where later one of his partners would be an Disco Zombie. The Messthetically inclined will find more to investigate Disco Zombies-wise on #107 ...

Sights And Sounds Of London Town

"Oh Jean-Paul he came over from Toulouse. They told him that London was the golden goose. He never got his hands on enough to eat. He never did get his arse up off the street. Wanted to be a rap DJ. They took his pulse then they turned him away. Under the radar of your fellow man. With all that charisma it ain't worth a damn ..." That's the Sights And Sounds Of London Town according to Richard Thompson. Or, if you like, the side of the Capital they don't promote to tourists. Richard has a gift for writing about the darker sides of city life, and has a number of London songs in his portfolio. There's a case to be made for early Fairport numbers like Meet Me On The Ledge and Genesis Hall, for example. While more recent numbers like Old Thames side and Cooksferry Queen fit the bill nicely. The latter song's title refers, I believe, to a hotel up Edmonton way that was part of the '60s live circuit. For someone as important to the history of popular music as Richard Thompson it's a little ironic that I first became aware of his name through his playing on some of David Thomas' recordings ...