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 ...

The London Look

"See the country vicars and the city slickers, pearly kings and noble dukes. Everybody moving, everybody grooving. They've all got The London Look ..." sings Peter Noone in the chorus of the Herman's Hermits number The London Look. This was a 1968 track recorded for a Yardleys cosmetics promotion, written by Graham Gouldman. One of our great songwriters, Gouldman is associated with Kennedy Street Enterprises, the Manchester based songwriting stable, but The London Look was by no means the only song related to the Capital he penned. On his own debut LP, The Graham Gouldman Thing, he had the number Chestnut where he claimed: "If all of us were doomed to die when we'd lived a minute I think I know what Ann and I would wish to happen in it. We'd let our sixty seconds run where chestnut blossoms harden some early morning in Kensington when Spring is in the garden ..." Graham of course wrote hits for top '60s acts like the Yardbirds and Hollies. Other less well known but more local acts that covered Graham's songs were Manchester mods St Louis Union who had a single out with Behind The Door on the A-side. Is it true Magazine's Dave Formula was in this outfit?

There's No Place Like London - Pt 2

"When you walk down the street feel the history under your feet. From the top of St. Paul's to the old market stalls. All in all it's my cup of tea ..." sings Shirley Bassey on her 1986 single There's No Place Like London. Written by Lynsey De Paul and Gerard Kenny (who wrote the Minder theme) the song was used by the British Tourist Board (or some such body) to promote tourism in the Capital at a time when visitor numbers were falling off, possibly as a result of the IRA's bombing campaign. Strange choices all round, but then Dame Shirley's been around, as she says. My mum remembers seeing her on a bill in London in the '50s singing Burn My Candle (At Both Ends). No Place Like London is also the title of a number written used by Stephen Sondheim in his Sweeney Todd musical. In 2009 house/garage producer Todd Edwards used the track in a mix as a crowdpleaser when playing to a London audience. As far as I know that has not been used yet in a tourism advert ...

There's No Place Like London

"English songs are now forgotten. Everyone I know sings the tune The Land Of Cotton he must go. Some for Dixieland are sighing. Some for Alabam are crying. Others want to live and die in Ohio. I don't want their Dixieland nor their Alabam. I don't know where either are and I don't care a ... " sings music hall star Whit Cunliffe in the number There's No Place Like London. In Whit's London "the girls are young and pretty and the boys are gay hip hip hooray" which he why he claims "I don't want to go to USA". So more than 60 years before The Clash sang about being so bored with the USA having a bit of a go at the Yanks was a familiar music hall line. This particular number was written by R.P. Weston who has a special place in the London/Great British songbook. He had a hand in goodness knows how many songs/monologues in his day, including What A Mouth, I'm Henery The Eighth, Brahn Boots, Hobnailed Boots That Father Wore, With Her Head Tucked Under Her Arm, Paddy McGinty's Goat, and indeed Goodbye-ee. Now Goodbye-ee is an interesting one, because it mentions "nah poo" and Kew in certain versions. Among his writing partners were Bert Lee and Fred Barnes. If R.P. Weston songs may seem to have a bit of a tendency towards the cockney persona, then this little tongue twister might make you think again ...

My Love Went To London

"Never thought I'd live to see the city on the Thames. Where's that sky of grey? Where's that foggy day? The Gershwins have their say. But now I'm here to tell you ..." My Love Went To London sings the great Blossom Dearie on a song from Tweedledum and Tweedledee, an LP she made with Mike Renzi some 20 odd years after she'd sung about liking London in the rain. Lyrics for this song were written by New York cabaret favourite John Wallowitch, whose 1964 debut LP had a sleeve designed by one Andy Warhol apparently. Tony Bennett and Shirley Bassey are among others who have recorded this song. The wonderful Blossom had spent quite a bit of time in London in the '60s. She'd spent time too in Paris in the '50s where she'd directed the pioneering Blue Stars of France with their hip vocalese arrangements which paved the way for Les Double Six and Swingle Singers. And as for Americans heading for London ... well, on his lovely track When Americans Come To London Ed Harcourt took a bit of a let's not be beastly to the Yanks stance ...