Think window mannequins, street lamps and Starbucks on every corner. These are the Top 10 songs with a city in the title:
10. Heaven, Hell or Houston - ZZ Top
Classic three-piece band honors their home state.
9. Chicago - Crosby, Stills and Nash
Historical perspective on the '68 riots.
8. Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen
Somber portrait of AIDS coming of age.
7. Atlanta - Stone Temple Pilots
Scott Weiland eerily sounds like reincarnated Jim Morrison.
6. Miami 2017 - Billy Joel
Futuristic images with 9/11 intensity and relevance.
5. Queen of New Orleans - Bon Jovi
One of the greatest guitar riffs honoring the Crescent City.
4. Please Come to Boston - Dave Loggins
Lost 45 from '70s captures yearning, young love.
3. San Francisco - Scott McKenzie
One of Flower Power generation's understated anthems.
2. LA Woman - The Doors
Morrison in fine form, singing about his town.
1. Detroit Rock City - KISS
Marketing geniuses at the peak of their careers.
Do mean "Ohio" by CSN?
Honorable mention: "City of New Orleans" by Arlo Guthrie.
What about "One Night in Bangkok" by Murray Head?
Posted by: Scott | August 18, 2008 at 02:51 AM
Scott - "Ohio" is a CSNY song that was written about the 1970 Kent State shootings. Also, Ohio is a state...:)
"Chicago" refers to the 1968 Democratic National Convention that was held in Chicago.
I had "City of New Orleans" on my list but I needed to keep it to 10. Great song. I like the Murray Head as well, but then I would have had to consider Rush's "Passage to Bangkok."
Posted by: Dan | August 18, 2008 at 09:03 AM
This hip-hop fan would add Jermaine Dupri and Ludacris's "Welcome to Atlanta" to her list. Also, the Clash's "London Calling," if you're including international cities, that is. And who doesn't love that dirty water song? :-)
Posted by: Kate | August 18, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Ah, my bad on the CSN -- I should have known better! The more I think about it, the more I see how difficult it is to limit this list to ten. "Kansas City", "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" (the Isaac Hayes version, may he rest in peace), "Wichita Lineman", "Wichita Skyline", "Streets of Bakersfield"...
Posted by: Scott | August 18, 2008 at 01:35 PM
Kate - "London Calling" is an excellent choice. I saw the Clash in '82 when they were at their peak.
Scott - all good additions.
Posted by: Dan | August 18, 2008 at 09:32 PM
To be precise, none of those songs have city in the title. How about "We Built This City" from Jefferson Starship.
This song has one of Rock's most un-recognizable lyric lines, the undecipherable "Marconi plays the mamba" (which precedes "Listen to the Radio").
Top Ten Undecipherable Lyrics...now there's a blog entry for you.
Posted by: Richard | August 27, 2008 at 11:37 AM