The Great London Songs No.19: Baker Street

We've asked our London Walkers and London Walks guides to nominate their favourite London songs… and the playlist is proving to be wide-ranging and eclectic indeed. 

From punk to jazz, with a little music hall thrown in along the way, we'll be collating them all here on The Daily Constitutional over the next few weeks in the run-up to the launch of our new Rock'n'Roll London Pub Walk every Wednesday from 1st May 2013.


As usual, we want to hear from you. What are your favourite London songs? Anything goes, from a tune mentioning a London location, to a piece of music composed here, if it has a strong London connection or theme, we'll add it to the list. Email us at the usual address, message us on Twitter @londonwalks or leave a comment below…

We couldn’t close our list without this one…

@londonwalks #London songs..."Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty.:-)
— Tricia Gray (@MadAboutEngland) March 8, 2013

@londonwalks Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty, just adore that wailing sax. Also quite fond of The Clash's London Calling.
— mmmaxi (@mmmaxi) March 8, 2013

… Gerry Rafferty’s classic from 1978. Rafferty stayed in a friend’s flat just off Baker Street and wrote the song while enduring the legal wrangles that are so often part of the fallout of a band split – in this case the band was Stealer’s Wheel. the famous sax break was played by Raphael Ravenscroft, who later played session on Duffy’s debut album, from which we plucked Warwick Avenue earlier in our series. Click here for that one. 

In the meantime, here’s Baker Street…

The Rock'n'Roll London Pub Walk launches on Wednesday 1st May 2013. The Rock'n'Roll London Walk (without pubs!) goes every Friday at 2.00pm. Both walks meet at Tottenham Court Road Station (Exit 3). You can keep up with the Rock'n'Roll London Walk on Facebook, Twitter and at www.rocknrolllondon.com.

A London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.