Streets of London (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Streets of London" is a song written by Ralph McTell. It was first recorded for McTell's 1969 album Spiral Staircase but was not released in the United Kingdom as a single until 1974. It was his greatest commercial success, reaching number two in the UK singles chart, at one point, selling 90,000 copies a day[citation needed], and winning him the Ivor Novello Award.
The song was inspired by McTell's experiences busking and hitchhiking throughout Europe, especially in London and Paris; although the individual stories are taken from Parisians, London is chosen for its arguably more sonorous name. The song contrasts the common problems of everyday people with those of the homeless, lonely elderly, and ignored and forgotten members of society.
The melody resembles in some parts "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel from the year 1677, and main verses as well as the guitar arrangement and fingerstyle pattern were taken from that of "Samuel, Oh How You've Changed!" recorded by Al Stewart in 1967 (from the album Bed-sitter Images).
McTell left the song off his debut album, as he regarded it as too depressing, and did not record it until persuaded by his producer Gus Dudgeon, for his second album in 1969. This version charted in the Netherlands in April 1972, notching up to #9 the next month.[1]
Many artists have made covers of this song including Cliff Richard, Blackmore's Night, Sinéad O'Connor, and the Anti-Nowhere League in 1981.
The comedy program Big Train featured a sketch in which Ralph McTell (played by Kevin Eldon) (having just finished a performance of "Streets of London") tries to play "a new song". This results in cries of shock and disbelief from the audience, unable to comprehend that McTell could play any other song. The insistent audience forces him to segue into Streets of London once more.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
 |
This 1970s single-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
