Season 548 - Second City Songs

[One Man And His Uke]

Welcome to Season 548 Second City Songs

The past couple of weeks have seen athletes from all over the Globe gather in my old home town of Birmingham, England’s Second City, for the Commonwealth Games, although the games closed a few days ago. So a simple one this week, bring me songs from artists who hail from Birmingham ( this can also be any city or town in the world called Birmingham- even though I only know of my home town and the Alabama one), or songs that mention Birmingham or famous Brummies. Basically any song with a Birmingham connection is fine by me.

Originals are welcome, on any topic so long as it mentions Birmingham, or a person who hails from Brum, in the lyrics or title. Do with that information what you will.

Usual Season rules apply, ukulele main instrument, collabs welcome etc etc and so on. Oh, forgot to say, no song limit.

There might be a prize there might not.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTNUmu6DfdZlyBBomKq0QL_psGBUal1Tl

As the late great Bamber Gascoigne might say, your starter for 10…., here’s a list of Brummie artists…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musical_groups_from_Birmingham,_West_Midlands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musicians_from_Birmingham,_West_Midlands

And don’t wander away from the Baggage Carousel yet as there’s a day or two left of Brian’s Season 547.

 

[UkeCan1]

Sounds like fun. I just happened to pop over here and saw the notification 2 minutes after you posted. (Haven't been obsessively refreshing - honest!) I'm in the weekly open mic. So I got to announce the "breaking news" to a dozen Seasonistas live. We'll see you soon.

 

[LimousinLil]

There are actually a fair few Birminghams scattered around the World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_(disambiguation) .... but whether any of these have produced artists who qualify to feature in this week's Season could require a fair bit of research to determine. This could be a challenging week ... but fun, John!

 

[hendulele]

Not that anyone would need any more choices, John (wow, what an incubator!), but the musicians from Alabama’s Birmingham is impressive, too — especially if you’re a blues or jazz lover:

List of people from Birmingham, Alabama - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[TCK]

WOW- this is a huge list! This is gonna be fun! Napalm Death is going to sound so rad on the ukulele

 

[Yukio]

WOW- this is a huge list! This is gonna be fun! Napalm Death is going to sound so rad on the ukulele

You Suffer (but why?) sounds totally rad on the ukulele.

 

[Yukio]

I had only vague ideas about bands from Birmingham until I saw that Wikipedia page. I was stunned at the depth and diversity of talent hailing from that city. You are in good company, John!

 

[bobjking]

Who loves Birmingham, baby?
Telly Savalas. That's who!

...and with cultural highlights such as the over 40's disco dancing, who can blame him?

 

[One Man And His Uke]

Who loves Birmingham, baby?
Telly Savalas. That's who!

...and with cultural highlights such as the over 40's disco dancing, who can blame him?

Oh man Bob, that is priceless . Never seen that before. “The view nearly took my breath away!” Yes Telly, of course it did. I wonder how much he got paid for that? The Bullring Shopping Centre is long gone, thank goodness

 

[UkeCan1]

The Moody Blues are from Birmingham - who knew? This anthem to being guided by the voice within is the perfect message for the big changes I'm making in my life right now.

 

[Canada Jim]

The last time I was in Birmingham was July 21, 1969. I had been living and working in Wem, Shropshire, with some new friends, Brian and Ruth. Brian's parents, who lived in Birmingham, had a TV and invited us to come and watch the moon landing. It was my first time watching anything on a colour TV. . .probably not a great choice of programming for colour, but very memorable.
The next morning Ruth drove me to the outskirts of town and I stuck out my thumb and left Birmingham.
It seemed to me that everyone I met in Birmingham, of both sexes, called me "Luv".

Down In The Valley

Here's a song I first heard my brother Bob play when he was taking guitar lessons in the fifties. I've seen it under many titles, including Birmingham Jail and with various verses, but here's a basic version as Burl Ives, Pete Seeger or Bob Yates might have played it.

 

[Charley B]

Last night i went to see The Jalapeños (check them out on google) at my local pub. They opened with this one from The Move who hail from Birmingham, and who were arguably one of the most influential bands in the UK. I don't know how i managed it, but i've made the song almost unrecognisable from the original!! Roy Wood will be round to punch me on the nose!

 

[Flatbaroque]

Thanks for hosting John Boy. Here's a Stevie Winwood version of John Barleycorn Must Die. I always liked this song but only ever listened to it in a cursory fashion and thought it an old folk murder ballad. But learning it today I found it's a very clever allegory of plant / man /farming /and alcohol.

 

[mythinformed]

Ahhhh So John of the North Is actually John of the Midlands. I used to date a girl in Bromsgrove, the Friday evening trek from Bournemouth to Bromsgrove could take me anywhere from 2.5hrs up to 6hrs depending on the motorway. I Imagine a fair bit of red wines gonna be drunk on this season, cheers John

 

[RAB11]

I mean I had to didn't I?

 

[wee_ginga_yin]

steve winwood from the Spencer Davis group did Georgia.

 

[mythinformed]

Brum the hometown of UB40 ............

 

[Bystander]

Ryan beat me to Paranoid so I've gone with this Elvis tune that the Fine Young Cannibals covered back in 1986.
Thanks for hosting John.

 

[One Man And His Uke]

Wow! Thanks for such a fine start Seasonistas! We have the outlaws around shortly but I’ll have a proper look see later on.

 

[bird's eye view of my ukelele]

Gravelly Hill Interchange in Birmingham, more popularly known as Spaghetti Junction, is a famous maze and knot of roads, which Ken Dodd described as the eighth wonder of the world, because you get on and wonder how to get off! here's a homemade song about it for the season...