Playlist: Songs About… The City/Downtown (No Place Specific… Unless “Suffragette City” Is An Actual Place?)

*Photo above from the internet, likely copyrighted

I’ve been a little bit behind in terms of posting of late. An old friend and his wife came to visit this past weekend and needless to say, I’m feeling a little ragged in the aftermath. It’s been a slow month for interesting releases so I thought I’d put together a new playlist, which is always fun. This month’s playlist is focused on songs about “the big city” or “downtown.” It’s all about the urban landscape. I’ve done lists tied to specific, real cities – both New York and Los Angeles – but this one is more about the concept of the city, the unbridled possibilities. I didn’t want to collect songs about specific places, like Chicago or London. There was real danger if I went that direction that this thing could have turned into a list of all the different versions of “Sweet Home Chicago” that only I would have enjoyed. I wanted songs that either glorified the excitement of going to “the city,” or a song that touches on the idea of a city….like say, Bowie’s “Suffragette City,” or U2’s “City of Blinding Light.” I mean, it’s hard to hear a Lou Reed song like “City Lights” and not know he’s talking about New York… but I tried my best to stay away from actual places… keep it vague.

I’ve spoken before about growing up in the suburbs. When you grow up in the ‘burbs, you have neither the plucky “can do” knowledge of the folks that grew up in rural areas, on farms (like the Rock Chick who could probably overhaul a car at age 10), nor the street cool of someone who actually grew up in a big city. I never claimed to be a big city guy, again, I was reared in the comfortable confines of the conformist suburbs in a very cookie cutter neighborhood and school system. It’s like everything was… well… beige… no excitement. After college, I spent a summer in Boston – a truly big city – but then joined the corporate ranks and moved to Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Talk about culture shock or perhaps better said, cultural whiplash. Ft. Smith wasn’t rural by any means, it was a town of maybe 60-thousand people, but it felt liked I’d landed in the middle of nowhere… Ft. Hell, Arkansas, indeed. While living there, I always thought about Blazing Saddles and that scene where Gene Wilder as the Waco Kid asks Cleavon Little, the Sheriff, “What is a dazzling urbanite like you doing in a rustic setting like this?”  One of my early experiences in Arkansas was standing on the curb on the main drag of Ft. Smith with the morning “rush hour” traffic flowing in over the bridge from Sallisaw, Oklahoma… My buddy Arkansas Joel said, “Look, he misses the city so much he’s breathing up all the exhaust fumes.”

There is a certain excitement you feel when you see that big city skyline, especially the first time. I remember my first trip to Chicago. My buddy Doug picked me up at Midway and we came around a curve and there it was, “The City With The Big Shoulders.” I had a similar experience the first time I flew out to the San Francisco Bay. Seeing that skyline was like picking up a live wire, it was an electric bolt of energy. I could barely keep myself inside the car. There’s just something about a big city… the pace, the noise, the different types of people and food. There was a bar in Chicago we used to go to where you’d see stock brokers drinking beer with construction workers. The mix of culture, the arts and nationalities is a spectacular goulash of experience. It’s a feeling you just don’t get in say, Walnut, Kansas. Not that there’s anything wrong with Walnut… I went to a tractor pull there once. It’s a long story.

Sure, there are dangers in the city. I’ve noticed certain folks these days like to malign our larger cities… it feels like places such as Chicago, L.A., and New York are “under siege” a bit which is baffling. When I used to live on the Plaza area of K.C., I used to see couples from small towns throughout the Midwest walking down the sidewalk, “all duded up for Saturday night,” looking happy and excited. This was where they came for a long weekend of food, drink, material consumption and romance. Everything seems possible. And that’s the excitement that so many of these artists capture in theses songs. It doesn’t matter if you’re living on a farm and your trip to the big city is heading to the county seat or if you’re in a small town and you head into Omaha or maybe you’re lucky enough to travel into “the city” of New York or London. It all brings the hope of new experiences. I’m still in KC, but I so love the city that I live in the city limits, not out in the suburbs like my folks. I am, as they sing, “a fool for the city.”

So on your next weekend get away, wherever it is, here are some tunes to get you a little farther down the road. As usual, we’re all over the place here in terms of artists and tempos. Listen straight thru or go random, season to taste. Skip the ones you don’t fancy. If you’ve got a suggestion that fits drop it in the comments and I’ll add it to the Spotify version of the list. What we’re trying to do is introduce you to something you haven’t heard or better yet, reintroduce you to a song you haven’t heard in a while…The list of tracks, with my comments, is below. So what d’ya say, “Meet me in the city?”

• Bruce Springsteen, “Meet Me In The City Tonight” – Great outtake from The River. Springsteen performed this track as the opener when he went on the road and performed that album in it’s entirety. Great way to start…
• Neil Young & The Blue Notes, “Life In The City” – I realize I may be alone in my love for Neil’s Blue Note period, but I do so love the blues.
• Foghat, “Fool For The City” – My favorite Foghat tune… It’s included on our April Fool’s Playlist as well. And yes, I really am a fool for the city.
• Talking Heads, “Cities” – Twitchy, jittery wonderfulness from the Heads. Extra credit for adding the joke, ” forget to mention, forget to mention Memphis, Home of Elvis and the ancient Greeks…”
• Billy Idol, “Hot In The City” – Yes, Billy yells “New York” towards the end of the track, but you can be hot in any city you want!
• Nick Gilder, “Hot Child In The City” – I know nothing about this song other than it was played on the radio in KC when I was in high school and I always liked it. I thought it was a woman singer for a long time.
• Stevie Wonder, “Living For The City” – The genius of Stevie Wonder is unsurpassed. He delivers a cinematic experience in a 7-minute song. There’s even an unwarranted arrest. The city can be tough.
• Triumph, “Hot Time (In This City Tonight)” – Canada’s other power trio, from one of my favorite albums, Allied Forces.
• Guns ‘N’ Roses, “Move To The City” – Early GnR that I’ve always dug… and turns out that’s what I did, moved to the city.
• Electric Light Orchestra, “Night In The City” – Dedicate this one to my pal Doug who is an unabashed ELO fan. I still consider them derivative of the Beatles… this is actually a good track but I wish they hadn’t smothered it in strings.
• Siouxsie & The Banshees, “Cities In Dust” – The Rock Chick turned me onto Siouxsie. I think she’s also suggested on the Rock Chick’s list of favorite female singers. Sadly, I think there are people who might want to see our bigger cities reduced to dust…
• The Who, “In The City” – Early Who that sounds like an advertisement jingle, but I couldn’t resist including it.
• The Lovin’ Spoonful, “Summer In The City” –  “Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty.” Also on our Playlist: Summer/Sun Songs.
• The Clash, “Clash City Rockers” – Ok this might have been a reach, but if there is a Clash City, put me on the train to that place.
• Thin Lizzy, “The Boys Are Back In Town” – “I told them you were living downtown…” And “If that chick don’t wanna know, forget her.”
• Bob Dylan, “Marching To The City” – Dylan sounding like the embodiment of vengeance when he sings, “Once I had pretty girl, did me wrong, Now I’m marching to the city and the road ain’t long…” Sounds like someone is in trouble.
• Journey, “Lights” – Steve Perry originally wrote this about L.A., but rewrote it to suit San Fran, the home of his then-new band. This one is about the lights coming off and the sun coming up…
• Talking Heads, “City Of Dreams” – An oft overlooked gem of a track.
• Bruce Springsteen, “It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City” – Oh, don’t I know it… The records of my past are sealed until 25 years after I’m dead.
• Lenny Kravitz, “Rock Star City Life” – Lenny just knows how to live, like a Rock Star, baby!
• B.B. King, “Ghetto Woman” – Smooth blues from the man, B.B. King who sings about a woman having a tough time, waiting for her man to come home. It’s sad we still have areas that are ghettos in America.
• Scorpions, “Big City Nights” – This song makes me want to get in the car and drive entirely too fast through the streets of the city. From the wonderful Love At First Sting.
• Audioslave, “Broken City” – Audioslave was such a great band. I recommend all three of their studio albums. I hope somebody recorded a concert or two somewhere that we’ll all get to hear some day.
• Marvin Gaye, “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” – Marvin Gaye laying down a soulful state of the union.
• Tom Waits, “Downtown” – A boozy Tom Waits doing a great, straight up rock song.
• Eagles, “In The City” – Joe Walsh’s best track with the Eagles. I actually first heard Joe’s solo version as it ran over the credits of the great movie, The Warriors, also about a dark night the city…
• Chris Cornell, “Sad Sad City” – Man do we miss Chris Cornell… just a tragedy. Rather jaunty song for a sad city.
• Prince, “Erotic City” – Well, if you’re heading to a city, why not this one?
• U2, “City Of Blinding Lights” – From the great How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.
• Pete Townshend, “White City Fighting” – Basically the title track from his 1985 album. I know this is a specific neighborhood in London… but I couldn’t resist this track.
• Lou Reed, “High In The City” – I love Lou’s New Sensations album. I think we’ve all been “high in the city.”
• The Clash, “Inoculated City” – Inoculations? Could the Clash have foreseen the pandemic? This song makes me wonder. Another jaunty track.
• Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane, “Street In The City” – Another great Pete song that you can find in his new box set containing all of his studio albums.
• April Wine, “Big City Girls” – Another fabulous band out of Canada that were big here when I was in high school. And oh, those big city girls, they’ll break you’re heart.
• David Bowie, “Suffragette City” – An explosive glam rock song with Mick Ronson slaying on guitar. I miss Bowie, the world could use him about now.
• Dire Straits, “Wild West End” – Again, I realize this is about a specific part of London. But this is the greatest song ever written about a neighborhood.
• Crazy Horse, “Downtown” – A live version of this song was originally released on Neil Young’s Tonight’s The Night. Great album from Neil’s once and future backing band. Danny Whitten’s best stuff.
• James Taylor, “Up On The Roof” – I know the Drifters did it first and this is a cover, but I love this version of the song. Nothing better than sitting up on the roof, sipping a cocktail and listening to the rumble of traffic while the lights come on.
• Wilko Johnson & Roger Daltrey, “All Through The City” – Great garage rock from Wilko with his then-new buddy Roger Daltrey. One of my favorite things Daltrey has done outside the Who.
• Pretenders, “My City Was Gone” – Chrissie Hynde finding out the hard way, you can never go home. Pretenders just put out a great live album…
• Guns ‘N’ Roses, “Paradise City” – This is the song that finally convinced me Guns N Roses were the real deal. Epic, rocking and just spectacular.
• Dio, “One Night In The City” – Epic rock from Dio from my favorite of his solo records, The Last In Line.
• Iggy Pop & James Williamson, “Kill City” – Great rock song. We love Iggy Pop around here.
• Lou Reed, “City Lights” – Sure, it’s got to be about New York, but this jaunty little track could apply to anywhere, really. What Charlie Chaplin is doing here is anybody’s guess.
• Prince, “Uptown” – Early Prince that just shows the brilliance starting to explode out of him. We certainly miss Prince around here…
• The White Stripes, “City Lights” – Acoustic and a bit obscure, but wonderful stuff per usual from Jack White.
• Tom Waits, “Downtown Train” – Sure Rod’s version was more popular, but I love Waits doing Waits’ songs.
• Neil Young, “Crime In The City (Sixty To Zero Pt. 1)” – Mostly acoustic, somewhat surreal track from Neil. “There’s still crime in the city, said the cop on the beat, I don’t know if i can stop it, I feel like meat on the street…”
• Johnny Thunders, “Downtown” – I was late to the whole New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders bandwagon, but I’m fully on now. Great riff on this track. He almost sneers instead of sings.
• Keith Richards, “Big Town Playboy” – Outtake from the great Talk Is Cheap. Keith mumbling some bluesy stuff.
• Ms. Lauryn Hill, “Every Ghetto, Every City” – I love me some Lauryn Hill.
• Elvis Presley, “In The Ghetto” – The King addressing poverty and violence. I heard some Italian kids singing this on a train to Barcelona once. It’s the kind of song that leaves a mark.
• Talking Heads, “The Big Country” – I don’t think you’ll ever find someone who despises the entirety of the planet outside of the island of Manhattan the way David Byrne does.
• Motley Crue, “City Boy Blues” – Nice little deep cut hair metal from Motley Crue!
• Bruce Springsteen, “My City Of Ruins” – Beautiful, gospel inflected ballad about the economic failures of the last 40 years.
• Elton John, “Honky Cat” – “Until I saw those city lights, honey I was blind…”
• U2, “Atomic City” – I saw them play this song at the Sphere in Vegas.
• Yes, “City Of Love” – From the wonderful 90125. I could have put this Playlist: Songs About Night.
• The Who, “Armenia City In The Sky” – A nice blast of early psychedelic rock from the Who.
• Green Day, “Murder City” – Green Day are just so rock solid. Nice blast of punky rock. “Desperate but note hopeless…”
• Cream, “Deserted Cities Of The Heart” – Trippy classic rock from Cream. I’ve always really liked this song. Does Jack Bruce get the love he deserves?
• Steve Winwood (featuring Eric Clapton), “Dirty City” – This is the best guitar solo Clapton has played since he left Cream… Only Winwood could coax this kind of solo from Clapton.
• The Rolling Stones, “Living In A Ghost Town” – A pandemic era track… even the big cities were like, well, ghost towns.
• John Lennon, “Meat City” – A thoroughly enjoyable, thoroughly disposable song from John Lennon. Even his throwaway songs were listenable. Well, most of the time.
• David & David, “All Alone In The Big City” – I always love David & David but was surprised when I discovered the Rock Chick dug them as well. I didn’t think anybody remembered them. It sucks to be “all alone in the big city…” bring a friend.
• Aerosmith, “Downtown Charlie” – Crazy outtake from the Night In The Ruts era of Aerosmith. Sad to see those guys bow out the way they did, cancelling the tour.
• Jimmy Reed, “Bright Lights, Big City” – Classic, essential blues.
• The Cars, “Heartbeat City” – Title track from their wonderful 1984 album.
• The Rolling Stones, “Downtown Suzie” – Crazy, bluesy Stones vamp from Metamorphosis.
• The Cult, “Zap City” – Wonderful Cult deep track!
• Blue Oyster Cult, “Cities On Flame With Rock & Roll” – When I grew up the cities really were on flame with rock n roll. I should have put this on my Playlist: Songs About Fire.
• The Rolling Stones, “(Walkin’ Thru The) Sleepy City” – This takes me back to so many lonely walks through a foggy neighborhood after the bars had closed and most sensible folks were in bed… I was not sensible.

These are the tracks we came up with, but again, if you have a song that would fit, please drop it in the comments section and I’ll get it added. These are our playlists, not mine. We’ve got a new album from a band that’s really come back from the brink, Bush, out this weekend so stay tuned.

Otherwise, if you’re out there in a big city or working on a farm, take care of yourselves out there. It’s been a long hot summer. Stay cool!

Cheers!