Songs about South London is a Transpontine perennial, and one area that has more than most is Brixton. Urban 75 has a good list of 26 Brixton songs, and there are a few that aren't on their list in the Wikipedia Brixton article. Some of these are well known (Guns of Brixton by The Clash, Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant), others I haven't heard but would like to (e.g. Scandal In A Brixton Market by ska artist Laurel Aitken), and then there are some that you just know are going to be terrible and probably racist - such as 'comedian' Jim Davidson's 'The Devil Went Down to Brixton'. Alabama 3 (of course), Renegade Soundwave, Angelic Upstarts and Rancid have all had a go.
Neither list specifically mentions Linton Kwesi Johnson's Sonny Lettah, with its opening line 'Brixton Prison, Jebb Avenue, London South West Two, Inglan'. Here it is:
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ReplyDeleteIf you send me an email address that can take mp3s, I can send you the wonderful Brixton Blues by Ram John Holder (who went on to be Porkpie in Desmonds) - an excellent 60s R&B tune about dealing with the Man in Brixton...