Sep 12Liked by Sintija Brence, Christopher Bradley
I love that кино song so much and have Sintija to thank for sharing it with me.
A few years back I was homesick and ended up doing a whole playlist dedicated to Houston, TX aka Bayou City, aka Space City. Here are a five (I obviously love my hometown).
Allah-Las—Houston
Sanford Clark—Houston (Lee Hazlewood wrote it)
Juke Boy Bonner—Houston, The Action Town
Iggy Pop—Houston is Hot Tonight
Mike Jones—Still Tippin' (it's basically a Houston song, and definitely a city wide theme song)
I had no idea that’s what Pittsburgh looked like. Great photo! This is such a good topic. As always, I enjoyed reading through the choices. For myself, I’d go with
In 'Love Letter To London,' Luke Haines casts a scornful side-eye glance at the retreating figures of those fair-weather denizens of the capital, who glibly professed their love for the city in their youth, before departing with their children to leafy commuter towns and beyond. A gentle ballad, rising and falling on slight swells, spiked with Haines' disdain for those who have moderately displeased him.
“Don't send us a postcard, we like it here now that you're gone,” he concludes.
'Leave The Capitol' by The Fall embodies a more violent expulsion from London; a voluntary purging of the self from the city as it was during the 1970s – a dingy pit (in the words of Mark E. Smith a “ten-times town”).
Over an open-road jangle of guitar - a band parred down to a driving rhythm section - Smith, a dyed in the wool Mancunian, standing a few steps back in the mix, and now taking flight, presumably back up north, narrates a stream of conscious imagery – “Vaudeville pub back room dusty pictures of white-frocked girls and music teachers”, “side-stepped cars”, and “brutish laughs from the flat and the wild dog downstairs”.
'Lucky Jim' – The Gun Club's swansong – arrives with the monsoon rain on the inundated streets of Ho Chi Minh City (formally Saigon); the hawkers driven indoors and the soviets at the quayside running back to their freighter as the terrace of the Rex Hotel is closed and the city goes on temporary hiatus. The Australians are hunkered down in the Bunny Bar. The opium dens are smouldering. Jeffrey Lee Pierce settles down in the doldrums, along with all the other rudderless, reprobate ex-pats, while they wait for a something – a war or anything – that will give their lives impetus and purpose.
'Dreaming a City (Hughesovka)' is that rare beast – a Manic Street Preachers instrumental – nodding its head towards the Ukrainian city, Hughesovka, improbably named after a Welshman – John Hughes, who was once a captain of industry there. (Later it was renamed Donetsk by Stalin). The guitar is either a weighted rumble – a precursor to some industrial process – or it is soaring outward along lines of perspective that stretch all the way to the horizon.
Finally, we arrive almost full-circle at 'City Life' by Terry Lee Hale: A man alone in a room with an acoustic guitar, pondering a move to the country as his baby learns to walk and “fewer friends are calling”. It is both a lament and a bittersweet acceptance of a life in transition from youth to middle age.
Thank you !!!!🙏
No, thank you for joining me!
I love that кино song so much and have Sintija to thank for sharing it with me.
A few years back I was homesick and ended up doing a whole playlist dedicated to Houston, TX aka Bayou City, aka Space City. Here are a five (I obviously love my hometown).
Allah-Las—Houston
Sanford Clark—Houston (Lee Hazlewood wrote it)
Juke Boy Bonner—Houston, The Action Town
Iggy Pop—Houston is Hot Tonight
Mike Jones—Still Tippin' (it's basically a Houston song, and definitely a city wide theme song)
There's a lot of damn songs about Houston.
Some great tracks here!
Seattle by PIL immediately came to my mind.
London Calling, The Clash
Down to London, Joe Jackson
London Dungeon, the Misfits
Hong Kong Garden. Siouxsie and the Banshees ·
London's Burning, The Clash
Can you make an exception for Lou Reed's 'New York' and allow an album?
Exceptions are the rule here!
Ima go old echool here
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans? - Louis Armstrong
Lodi -- CCR
Statesboro Blues -The Allman Brothers Band
El Paso - Grateful Dead by way of Marty Robbins
Alta Mira - Edgar Winter Group
Livin' On The Edge (Of Houston) - Reverend Horton Heat
My additions are "New York City" by They Might Be Giants and "Minneapolis" by that dog.
omg кино mentioned!!!
Lots of great tracks already mentioned. I'm late to the party (again), but I'd add:
Bran Van 3000-Drinking in LA
Siouxsie & The Banshees- Hong Kong Garden or Cities in Dust (both a reach, but...)
LCD Soundsytem- New York, I love You but You're Bringing Me Down
Glen Campbell-Wichita Lineman
The Pretenders- My City Was Gone
Also: Seeing Pine Street mentioned made my morning. So many really good memories of great shows at that place!
Always a great topic for music lists! Love seeing an underrated Replacements track right from the jump, too. Here’s a quick list of some of mine:
Daddy Don’t Live In That New York City No More - Steely Dan
Cities - Talking Heads
Theme For Great Cities - Simple Minds
Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa - Merle Haggard
Minnesota, WI - Bon Iver
Bonus “City” Albums:
Lou Reed - New York
American Music Club - San Francisco
Amercian Music Club! Nicely referenced. :)
Five songs for my current city of Dallas.
Dallas (DC9 at Night) - The Flatlanders
Oak Cliff That's My Hood - Young Nino & Hot Boy Star
St. Ignatius - The Old 97s
Dallas After Midnight - Ray Wylie Hubbard
Welcome to Dallas - Big Tuck
I had no idea that’s what Pittsburgh looked like. Great photo! This is such a good topic. As always, I enjoyed reading through the choices. For myself, I’d go with
Lisbon - Wolf Alice
Vegas - Sleeper
Glasgow - Catfish and the Bottlemen
Munich - Editors
Vienna - Billy Joel
"Sacramento" by Middle of the Road, a Euro pop band that had never even been to the city. Hilarious song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjkyc3eWO_A
In 'Love Letter To London,' Luke Haines casts a scornful side-eye glance at the retreating figures of those fair-weather denizens of the capital, who glibly professed their love for the city in their youth, before departing with their children to leafy commuter towns and beyond. A gentle ballad, rising and falling on slight swells, spiked with Haines' disdain for those who have moderately displeased him.
“Don't send us a postcard, we like it here now that you're gone,” he concludes.
'Leave The Capitol' by The Fall embodies a more violent expulsion from London; a voluntary purging of the self from the city as it was during the 1970s – a dingy pit (in the words of Mark E. Smith a “ten-times town”).
Over an open-road jangle of guitar - a band parred down to a driving rhythm section - Smith, a dyed in the wool Mancunian, standing a few steps back in the mix, and now taking flight, presumably back up north, narrates a stream of conscious imagery – “Vaudeville pub back room dusty pictures of white-frocked girls and music teachers”, “side-stepped cars”, and “brutish laughs from the flat and the wild dog downstairs”.
'Lucky Jim' – The Gun Club's swansong – arrives with the monsoon rain on the inundated streets of Ho Chi Minh City (formally Saigon); the hawkers driven indoors and the soviets at the quayside running back to their freighter as the terrace of the Rex Hotel is closed and the city goes on temporary hiatus. The Australians are hunkered down in the Bunny Bar. The opium dens are smouldering. Jeffrey Lee Pierce settles down in the doldrums, along with all the other rudderless, reprobate ex-pats, while they wait for a something – a war or anything – that will give their lives impetus and purpose.
'Dreaming a City (Hughesovka)' is that rare beast – a Manic Street Preachers instrumental – nodding its head towards the Ukrainian city, Hughesovka, improbably named after a Welshman – John Hughes, who was once a captain of industry there. (Later it was renamed Donetsk by Stalin). The guitar is either a weighted rumble – a precursor to some industrial process – or it is soaring outward along lines of perspective that stretch all the way to the horizon.
Finally, we arrive almost full-circle at 'City Life' by Terry Lee Hale: A man alone in a room with an acoustic guitar, pondering a move to the country as his baby learns to walk and “fewer friends are calling”. It is both a lament and a bittersweet acceptance of a life in transition from youth to middle age.
Goodnight Saigon - Billy Joel
Adelaide - The Rockfords
Santa Monica - Everclear
Joyful Kilmarnock Blues - The Proclaimers
Arms Aloft (in Aberdeen) - Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
I really should wait to see what the original post was before replying to your Top 5 posts! 🤣🤣