Howdy, fellow music freaks and geeks. For the last couple of Christmases, I've put together mix CDs for my nieces and nephews. I try to keep to a theme, and the theme I'm going with this year is "city songs." I haven't yet had time to give the subject much thought, so I figured I'd let y'all do some of the thinking for me. Here are a few off the top of my head:

London Calling - The Clash
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants
Memphis - Chuck Berry
One Night in Bangkok - Murray Head
Last Train to Clarksville - The Monkees
Leaving Las Vegas - Sheryl Crow
Vienna - Billy Joel
Vienna - Ultravox
I Love LA - Randy Newman
Kansas City - Wilbert Harrison (or the Beatles)

Get the idea? Please jump in with suggestions. I know you've got 'em.

Thanx
xoxox
Spaff

Cool; please tell me they call you "Unky Spaff".  Here's a few:

Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again - Dylan
Lodi - CCR
Viva Las Vegas - Elvis
Montego Bay - Bobby (something)
Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
Telephone Call From Istanbul - Tom Waits
Rocky Road to Dublin - Young Dubliners

I'll think of more later.

Okay, I thought of more:

Panama - Van Halen
Kokomo - Beach Boys
Little Old Lady From Pasadena - Jan and Dean
Marseilles - Angel City
El Paso - Mary Robbins
New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
Okie From Muskogee - Merle Haggard
(That "Gary Indiana" song) - (some musical)
Passage To Bangkok - Rush
Dark Streets of London - Pogues
Fairytale of New York - Pogues
Wild Cats of Kilkenny - Pogues
Sick Bed of Cuchulainn (sp?) - Pogues <This is the best song ever BTW
Hong Kong Phooey Theme - Just kidding
Do You Know the Way to San Jose? - Or is it Santa Fe?  I can never remember.  Plus I don't know who did it.
San Francisco - Scott McKenzie
Tijuana Taxi - Herb Alpert
Girl From Ipanema - ?

I love L.A. - Huey Lewis and The News
T.N.T. (Terror 'N Tinseltown) - Motley Crue
L.A. Woman - The Doors
Going TO Brazil - Motorhead
Old L.A. Tonight - Ozzy Osbourne
Detroit Rock City - KISS
Houston - Dean Martin
Maybe It Was Memphis - Pam Tillis
San Antonio Stroll - Tanya Tucker
San Antonio Rose - Patsy Cline or Reba McEntire
Miami - Will Smith
Tin Pan Alley - Stevie Ray Vaughan
Mississippi Delta City Blues - Chicago


all I can think of right now.

Here are a few more  :):

New York Minute- Don Henley
The Only Living Boy In New York- Simon and Garfunkel
Barcelona- Jewel
Nashville- Liz Phair
London- The Smiths
City of Night (Berlin)- Peter Schilling

All I can think of off the top of my head.... :-\\

The Night Chicago Died

Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen
Philadelphia - Neil Young
Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John

(okay, I guess you know my hometown!)

I love L.A. - ???
Born in East L.A. - Cheech Marin
New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
Miami - Will Smith

Tanya

Galveston -- Glen Campbell (Sad, but suited to the times again.)
Allentown -- Billy Joel
Surf City -- Beach Boys (Ok, maybe a stretch.)
We Built This City on Rock and Roll -- Starship (Definitely a stretch.)
Hot Child In the City -- Nick Gilder (Ok, now I'm doing it on purpose.)

Galveston -- Glen Campbell (Sad, but suited to the times again.)
Allentown -- Billy Joel
Surf City -- Beach Boys (Ok, maybe a stretch.)
We Built This City on Rock and Roll -- Starship (Definitely a stretch.)
Hot Child In the City -- Nick Gilder (Ok, now I'm doing it on purpose.)



You forgot Margaritaville

You forgot Margaritaville


*Doing the V8 head smack*

Sir Mix-A-lot - "Jump On It"
Marc Cohn - "Walking In Memphis"
"Wierd Al" Yankovic - "Bedrock Anthem"
Glenn Frey - "You Belong To The City"

Apologies if these double up with others above, but I am on a timeframe here!

City, places, they are all the same  ;D

Hot Child In The City - Nick Gilder
Hot In The City - Billy Idol
Kansas City - Beatles
Lovely City - Cat Stevens
Suffragette City - David Bowie
Summer In The City - Lovin' Spoonful
Sweet City Woman - Stampeders
The Boy From New York City - Darts
City Lights - David Essex
Dancing In The City - Marshall Hain
A Town Called Malice - The Jam
Allentown - Billy Joel
An Englishman In New York - Godley And Creme
Back In The New York Groove - Ace Frehley
Born In East L A - Cheech And Chong
Buffalo Gals - Malcolm Mclaren
Buffalo Soldier - Bob Marley
Costafine Town - Splinter
Daytona Demon - Suzi Quatro
Do You Know The Way To San Jose - Dionne Warwick
El Paso - Marty Robbins
From New York To L A - Patsy Gallant
Funkytown - Lipps Inc.
Galveston - Glen Campbell
Goodnight Saigon - Billy Joel
Harlem Shuffle - Rolling Stones
Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie C Riley
Hollywood Nights - Bob Seger
Hometown - Bruce Springsteen
I Guess The Lord Must Be In New York City - Harry Nilsson
Kansas City - Beatles
Key Largo - Bertie Higgins
Khe Sanh - Cold Chisel
L A International Airport - Susan Raye
L A Woman - Doors
Last Train To Clarksville - Monkees
Last Train To London - Electric Light Orchestra
Last Train To Sydney - Cold Chisel
Life In A Northern Town - Dream Academy
Little Old Lady From Pasadena - Jan & Dean
London Calling Clash
London Town - Wings
Man From Nazareth - John Paul Joans
Marrakesh Express - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Monterey - Animals
New Kid In Town - Eagles
New York Mining Disaster 1941 - Bee Gees
Nutbush City Limits - Ike And Tina Turner
One Night In Bangkok - Murray Head
Pasadena - John Paul Young
Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John
Rivers Of Babylon - Boney M
San Bernadino - Christie
San Franciscan Nights - Eric Burdon
San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) - Scott Fitzgerald
Say Goodbye To Hollywood - Billy Joel
Scarborough Fair - Simon And Garfunkel
Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat
St Louis - Easybeats
Stranger In Town Toto
The Boy From New York City - Darts
The Girls In Paris - Lee Hazlewood
The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace
The Only Living Boy In New York - Simon And Garfunkel
The Witch Queen Of New Orleans - Redbone
Tijuana Taxi - Herb Alpert
Tokyo Joe - Bryan Ferry
Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa - Gene Pitney
Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
Vienna - Ultravox
Waterloo - Abba
Waterloo Sunset - Kinks
West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
Witch Queen Of New Orleans - Redbone
Woodstock - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Zanzibar - Billy Joel
An Englishman In New York - Sting


There ya go  :)

Ooh!

"Sunshine On Leith" - Proclaimers  :)

Apologies if these double up with others above, but I am on a timeframe here!




Cheater, cheater!!    ;)
And even cheating, you missed EL Paso City by Marty Robbins (not to be confused with El Paso)

"I've been livin' on the wrong side of Memphis"
"On a bus to St. Cloud"
Both of these are by Trisha Yearwood

Cheater, cheater!!    ;)
And even cheating, you missed EL Paso City by Marty Robbins (not to be confused with El Paso)


No  :(  No cheat !  ;)

I left out El Paso 'cause it makes me hurl  ;D

Shoot, I forgot to list one of my favorite old standards: 
Streets of Laredo (The Cowboy's Lament) -- lots of versions out there, my fave is Webb Wilder's, on his Town and Country album... but good luck finding that version. 


Oooh...  I just remembered another one (this one, I don't like:)
Lights -- Journey 

Wow. Thank you all for your helpful, valuable, and (in Pippin's case) frighteningly geeky contributions.

The CD was/is a success. I called it "Party All Over the World." The first track is - you guessed it - ELO's "All Over the World" and the last one is Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World." All of the tracks in-between include place names in their titles, and many were gleaned from your suggestions. I won't say which ones I used because I don't want to kill this discussion quite yet. (Feel free to keep responding, y'all.)

In fact, I think it would be cool to compile a comprehensive list of "place songs" and use this this thread as a starting point. Does anyone know if such a site already exists?

Thanx again
xoxox
Spaff

Wow. Thank you all for your helpful, valuable, and (in Pippin's case) frighteningly geeky contributions.


Oi  :o :(

When you have been around as long as I, your spaffedness, you build up quite a knowledge base of all things good and bad.

Most of this list stems from when a friend of mine and I had this brilliant idea about creating our own Music Trivia Game.  I started creating lists.

Game never got off the ground (what a surprise) but the lists have become indespensible in the meantime, for all sorts of things to do with this and other websites  :)

Geeky?  Well, I guess I did include Key Largo by Bertie Higgins...  There's a song I could gleefully blow up  ::)

Geeky?


I meant that as a compliment. I'm an unabashed music geek myself.

Thanks again for your great suggestions.
xoxox
Spaff

"Streets of London" ~ Ralph McTell

Howzabout these, then:

Cleveland Rocks (aka Drew Carey Theme) -- Presidents of the US of A



I'd cry over this outrage, but then they did snag me a bunch of $$s in royalties...

Can we still do this? In case Spaff wants to do a volume II? :)

Point Me in the Direction of Albuquerque - Partridge Family
Running Back to Saskatoon - Guess Who
Grimsby - Elton John
Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen
Nutbush City Limit - Ike & Tina Turner
Katmandu - Bob Seger
Doraville - Atlanta Rhythm Section
Please Come to Boston - Dave Loggins
Skinny Little Boy from Cleveland Ohio - Alex Bevan
Omaha - Moby Grape
Free Man in Paris - Joni Mitchell
Next Plane to London - Rose Garden
My Woman from Tokyo - Deep Purple
Marrakech Express - CS&N
Back in the New York Groove - Ace Freeley
Babylon - New York Dolls
Still in Saigon - ??
Berlin - Lou Reed
Half Moon Bay - Mott the Hoople
Coming into Los Angeles - Arlo Guthrie
Jackson - Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood
New Orleans Ladies - Louisiana Laroeux
Hollywood - Elliott Murphy

Cool! Thanx! Now I like, TOTALLY want to compile the definitive list of place songs. I've asked this before, but has anyone seen a site that already has such a list? (I'm not interested in the effort if someone's already expending it.)

xoxox
Spaff

I have some too !

Somewhere In Sydney - Skyhooks
This Is My City - Skyhooks
Pasadena - John Paul Young
April Sun In Cuba - Dragon
My Little Town - Simon & Garfunkel
From St Kilda To King's Cross - Paul Kelly


(I know of no such site, Mr Spaff.com ....  .org)  :-\\

Thanx, FBVP.

Hey all - look what I found: http://www.mapville.com/riback/places.htm

Guess I don't have to tackle that project after all.

xoxox
Spaff

I have a few too...

Los Angeles by X
Sausalito Summer Nights by Diesel
My Town by the Cucumbers
Night Boat to Cairo by Madness
Echo Beach by Martha and the Muffins
Going Down to Liverpool by the Bangles
New York by the Sex Pistols
Punch Out at Malibu by the Surf Punks
(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea by Elvis Costello
Rockaway Beach by the Ramones
What You Doing in Bombay by Tenpole Tudor
This Ain't Havana by the Ramones
Waiting in Queensland by the Pressure Boys
Summer in Berlin by Alphaville

I can't resist:

Albuquerque--Weird Al Yankovic
Istanbul (Not Constantinople)--They Might Be Giants (among others)
Constantinople--The Residents

Further to Fussy's list, some more Aussie songs....

Last Train To Marseilles – Richard Clapton
Marseilles – Angels
Somewhere In The City – Paul Kelly
Santa Never Made It Into Darwin – Bill and Boyd
Melbourne – Whitlams
You Gotta Love This City – Whitlams
The Newcastle Song - Bob Hudson

I know I'm a little late on this one... but there's the old stand-by when my Bruins score a goal:
    "Love that dirty water (Boston you're my home)" By the Standells, I believe.    :D Just thought I'd share...

Didn't see 'Luchenbach, Texas'

not sure if Battle of New Orleans was mentioned....

I recall a song 'houston' by Mark Lynday (from Paul Revere and the Raiders), it may have been the Bb side to 'Arizona'...but then that's the kind of guy I am-listening to B sides.... ;D

For the oldsters- Chattenooga Choo Choo

Spaff, I can't BELIEVE you didn't include "Salt Lake City" by the Beach Boys!

Idiot.

Serious: (rock/blues) John Cafferty "CITY" (aka "C.I.T.Y.") - arguably about Detroit, lyrics work for any blue collar city.

Serious/funny (rock/bluesey) - the already-mentioned Diesel, "Sausalito Summer Nights"

Serious: (disco) ABBA: "Summer Night City" (would work for Vegas)

Serious: (If you're really feeling snarky) - follow up "Summer Night City" with Artists United Against Apartheid: "Sun City" (try a couple of the remixes to figure out what fits your set best.)

Funny (also a rock/blues beat):  Maclean and Maclean: "Two nights in a Toronto hotel"

Funny (gotta second this nomination!)  Weird Al Yankovic:  "Albuquerque"

Close second -- on that note, Weird Al "Biggest ball of twine in Minnesota" would also be a great road trip track.


Man, I love being my own DJ.  Let us know what kind of playlist you end up with.

Spaff, I can't BELIEVE you didn't include "Salt Lake City" by the Beach Boys!

Idiot.


Whoa, there, Sister. This year's mix CD, "Party All Over the World" was my third for the nieces; I actually included "Salt Lake City" on the first one (I kid you not) so it would have been redundant. Still, I won't argue with your "idiot" assessment.

Liberal.

Does no one remember Liza Minelli, and then later Frank Sinatra, performing "New York, New York"? Oh, I'm feeling old.......  ;)

Does no one remember Liza Minelli, and then later Frank Sinatra, performing "New York, New York"? Oh, I'm feeling old.......  ;)


Heh.  I remember Sinatra.  But now that you mention it:

Manitoba's Wild Kingdom, "New York, New York" (early 90s, punkish)
Micro Chip Leaghe, "New York" (80s / Belgian New Beat / EBMish)
Nina Hagen, "New York, New  York" (umm, 90s, but indescribable in terms of genre)

All three utterly unrelated to the classic.  But fun in their own rights.

A few good country neo-classics (mike and i seem to hold the fort down here at amiright on this genre)

"Calling Baton Rouge" - Garth Brooks
"(If I Hurry) I Can Still Make Cheyenne" - George Strait
"Paint Me a Birmingham" - Tracy Lawrence
"Mayberry" - Rascal Flatts
"Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" - George Strait
"The Beaches of Cheyenne" - Garth Brooks
"Little Rock" - Colin Raye
"Austin" - Blake Shelton
"Laredo" - Chris Cagle
"A Little Past Little Rock" - Lee Ann Womack

this would actually make a pretty sweet cd  :)

Jet City Woman    Queens Ryche    A song about  seattle women from a Seattle Based Band

Does no one remember Liza Minelli, and then later Frank Sinatra, performing "New York, New York"? Oh, I'm feeling old.......  ;)
I remember Liza Minelli singing "New York, New York" at to well, I was working in a cinema that ran the film for three months.

"Wigan Work It Out" by the Beatles?

Does "I've Been Everywhere" by Johnny Cash count?

The Night the Lights went out in Georgia            Vicki Lawrence  (aka: Mama from Mama's Family)

Sexual 'Ealing by Marvin Gaye

A few good country neo-classics (mike and i seem to hold the fort down here at amiright on this genre)

"Calling Baton Rouge" - Garth Brooks
"(If I Hurry) I Can Still Make Cheyenne" - George Strait
"Paint Me a Birmingham" - Tracy Lawrence
"Mayberry" - Rascal Flatts
"Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" - George Strait
"The Beaches of Cheyenne" - Garth Brooks
"Little Rock" - Colin Raye
"Austin" - Blake Shelton
"Laredo" - Chris Cagle
"A Little Past Little Rock" - Lee Ann Womack

this would actually make a pretty sweet cd  :)
hey what about Santa Fe-The Bellamy Brothers
                                    Meet Me In Montana-Dan Seals and Marie Osmond

Wow, can't believe nobody said: "Nehalem" by Everclear. Love that song, it's about my home town.

"Cities", by The Moody Blues (Justin Hayward). This track was released in the UK on two occasions (1967 Deram; 1972 Threshold), on both occasions as the B-side on the single of "Nights In White Satin".

These are all from Counting Crows ( a great band )

Tuesday in Amsterdam
Chelsea
Sweet Home Alabama ( A state, but it still counts )
Sullivan Street ( Does that count?)
Miami
Omaha
Raining in Baltimore
Holiday in Spain (Okay, that's not a city, but it's a country )
Goodnight L.A.

Life in Tokyo - Japan

show me the way to St Louis - Easybeats :)

Bow River - Cold Chisel :)

Hawaii - the Beach Boys

Waterloo - ABBA

Back in the USSR - The Beatles

Sunshine on Leith - THe Proclaimers

LA Woman - The Doors

Copperhead Road - Steve earle

Route 66 - The Rolling stones

Dreadlock Holiday - 10CC

Suburbia - Pet shop Boys

Los Angeles - Frank Black

walking in Memphis - Marc Cohn



cant think of anymore.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Leaving for Paris No. 2 - Rufus Wainwright
Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
Los Angeles - Denison Witmer
All the Way to New York City - Rosie Thomas

a country oldie.......'ROCKYTOP'