You can hit both coasts in the Rancid song “Olympia, WA”:
“Hangin on the corner of 52nd and Broadway
Cars passin by, but none of them seem to go my way
New York City, well I wish I was on the highway
Back to Olympia”
Morrissey’s made tons of references to London locales, in his solo work as well as in The Smiths:
“London”–refers to Euston (station)
“Hairdresser on Fire”–Sloane Square (in Chelsea)
“Picaddilly Paladare”–Earl’s Court
“Mute Witness”–Clapham Common
“You’re the One for Me, Fatty”–Battersea
“Dagenham Dave”–Dagenham (N.B.: not a cover of the Stranglers’ song)
“Maladjusted”–Fulham Road and SW6 region of London
“Trouble Loves Me”–Soho
And to neighborhoods in Manchester:
“Miserable Lie” references Whalley Range
“Rusholme Ruffians”–Rusholme is another area in Manchester
Of course, the song “Panic” mentions a whole slew of British cities (e.g., “the Leeds side streets that you slip down”), but it doesn’t really mention in particular neighborhoods or areas of these towns.
There are probably a lot of other Morrissey references that I can’t think of right now…
Sheryl Crow, “All I Wanna Do”
For Pittsburgh, PA, The Iron City Houserockers and Donnie Iris make references to streets several times.
How about the song Girls, Girls, Girls? It mentions the names of strip club in a number of cities.
London
“The fog rolls in from the east riverbank
Like a shroud, it covers Bleeker Street”
– Simon and Garfunkel
New York
“We’ll have Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island too.
It’s lovely going through the zoo
It’s very fancy on old Delancey Street you know…”
“and tell me what street compares with Mott Street in July…”
“There’s a broken heart for every light on Broadway”
“East Side, West Side, ridin’ through the Park.
We started swingin’ at Gilly’s then we split for PJ Clark’s
On to Chuck’s Composite, then a drink at The Stork…”
“like the folks you meet on, like to plant my feet on the Brooklyn Bridge…”
“Come and meet those dancin’ feet
On the avenue I’m takin’ you to – 42nd Street…”
– Mel Torme Songs of New York
Here’s a slightly more obscure one: Apparently the song “9th at Pine” by Less Than Jake is about a concert they played in my home town, Portland Oregon. The name of the song is the address of the concert hall.
[sub]That song’s stuck in my head now, I have to listen to it.[/sub]
** At the Foot of Canal Street**- Cowboy Mouth(also Paul Sanchez who I think wrote it)
Too Many Keys- Caitlin Cary (I thought New Orleans could save me. I lost my way in the Quarter"
Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway- Continental Drifters (I’m having some trouble just keeping my mind on the 10)
Our Lady of the Highways- John Wesley Harding (By the time she gets halfway she’ll be tired of 95)
Waratah Street- Mark Seymour (in Australia, Melbourne I’d guess)
** Dominion Road**- Mutton Birds (a street in Auckland)
Leaps and Bounds - Paul Kelly (I’m high on the hill looking over the bridge to the M.C.G.) I mean, I’d consider a cricket ground big enough for this, dontcha think?
At this point I’m giving up.
-Lil
Jethro Tull : Mother Goose -
“As I did walk by Hampstead Fair…”
“Was it really true there are elephants and lions too, in Piccadilly Circus”
Cross-Eyed Mary -
“Dines in Hampstead village”
Cheap Day Return -
“On Preston platform”
-all off “Aqualung”
And here’s someone making a mix just with songs about London:
http://www.artofthemix.org/FindAMix/getcontents.asp?strMixID=76713
He mentions a couple others I haven’t seen:
“Your mother she’s an heiress, owns a block in St. John’s Wood”,
“Now she gets her kicks in Stepney, not in Knightsbridge anymore” - Play with Fire, Rolling Stones
“Do you remember loving on the floor in Belsize Park” - Kayleigh, ** Marillion**
sigh I miss London
How about the pedestrian travelogue Walkin’ In Memphis by Marc Cohn?
Doraville by The Atlanta Rhythm Section - a suburb northeast of Atlanta
Another L.A. one - Carmelita by Warren Zevon:
“I hear Mariachi static on my radio
And the tubes they glow in the dark
And I’m there with her in Ensenada
And I’m here in Echo Park”
NYC again:
Simon and Garfunkel’s “come on from the whores on Seventh Avenue” in The Boxer.
“Funky Ceile” by Black 47; the guy winds up on Bainbridge Ave. in the Bronx.
Another London one:
“A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square”
Manhattan Transfer
I know theirs wasn’t the first. But it is my favorite.
This is a fun question!
Okay, I have a couple:
From Three Dog Night: “Eli’s Coming”: “I walk to Apollo by the Bay, everywhere I go”
Did anyone else say Cheryl Crow, from “All I wanna do” : “when the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard”
What about the song “Ventura Highway”? Would that count?
“St Bridget” from Mame (Beekman Place)
“Scum Goddess from the Lower East Side” by the Fugs
“I Love L.A.” by Randy Newman (Century Blvd among others)
Including those from MrDibble’s link: Portobello Rd (Cat Stevens), Chelsea morning (Joni Mitchell), Barnet fair (Steeleye Span), Mile End (Pulp), King’s Cross (Cinerama), A rainy night in Soho (The Pogues) and Midnight in Chelsea (Bon Jovi) - all London, I tally the running total of songs adhering to the OP as:
- London (30.5)
- Los Angeles (incl. Santa Monica) (13)
- New York (9.5)
4=Auckland, Toronto, Melbourne, Minneapolis, Seattle (2)
7=Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Liverpool, Manchester, Asbury Park, Atlanta, Houston, Washington DC, Belfast, Portland, Richmond, San Francisco, Berlin, Moscow(1)
9th and Pine? That’d be La Luna! Man, that place was great…
I’ll contribute Everclear’s “I Will Buy You A New Life”, which mentions the West Hills, a swanky neighborhood in Portland.
Actually since Everclear is from Southern California i believe they are referencing the West Hills of L.A. or Santa Monica.
Actually, since the band formed in Portland, and Art was in fact talking about the house he bought and currently lives in, I’m positive that it’s about Portland.