A lot of members are interested in music, hence the 137 pages on 'what are you listening to at the moment', but I can't find anything in the forum about music inspired by railways; obviously suitable for playing when running trains or exhibiting layouts. It is worth starting a thread?
The most popular piece is probably Eduard Strauss' Bahn frie Polka ('Clear the Tracks!); easily found on Spotify or Youtube. Other members' favourites?
David
One of my faves is Saxon - Princess of the night.
Great track. By the way, I carelessly mistyped Bahnfrei, in case anyone has failed to find it
David
I have always been a big Lonnie Donegan fan (mainly doe to my mum as he was at the same school as she was - she said he was a scruffy little boy, and she remembers him stealing some of her cakes after she came out from a cookery class!) and I have always liked Rock Island Line -
Lonnie Donegan - Rock Island Line (Live) 15/6/1961 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI4nRD-DRpk#)
Or another popular one would be Kraftwerk and Trans-Europe Express -
Kraftwerk - Trans europe express (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBGNlTPgQII#)
Here are some on my iPod that I looked up quickly.....
Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
Johnny Cash - Blue Train
Johnny Cash - Hey Porter
Johnny Cash - Train of Love
Guns n' Roses - Night Train
AC/DC - Rock 'n Roll Train
The Business - Last Train to Clapham Junction
http://youtu.be/_yJGMIxcE50 (http://youtu.be/_yJGMIxcE50)
Nazareth's "Gone Dead Train"
Maybe showing my age here!
Night train (big band swing) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENxZ54WVXS8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENxZ54WVXS8)
Chatanooga choo-choo Glen Miller https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XQybKMXL-k (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XQybKMXL-k)
Coronation Scot, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwab4b7_7qA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwab4b7_7qA)
The Railway Children theme music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc7ZPz4l070 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc7ZPz4l070)
Puffin' Billy, by Edward White. One of those tunes we all know, but can never place.
Classic BBC Radio Theme ~ Childrens Favourites (Puffin' Billy) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtGUaScpSbg#)
Apparently it was inspired by White's travels on the Isle of Wight.
Missing an obvious choice: the Starlight Express soundtrack.
The original 1984 album is by far the better so far as the variety of music goes. It's also much less of a children's production than later versions (which seem to stress the "toy trains coming to life" aspect rather more).
What's cool is that many of the songs are about different types of locomotive and trains, so there are lots of inside jokes that train buffs will get.
Cheers, NeMo
The Monkees - Last Train To Clarkesville :thumbsup:
One of my faves....
Arlo Guthrie - City of New Orleans (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMS_ykiLiQ#)
also....
Free Catch A Train (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaDs790HoFA#ws)
and, of course.........
Doobie Brothers- Long train running (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnD0eVdHJfI#)
What I like about classical railway pieces is the way the composers were hearing unfamiliar noises and experimenting with ways of using them in their music. Johann Strauss Sen. - Eisenbahn-Lust-Walzer, op. 89 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgt22VrbKIs#) The link is to John Strauss Snr's Eisenbahn-Lust Waltz, from 1836, written to celebrate the opening of Austria's first railway. You have to listen for a minute or two to hear the whistle.
Hope I've done the link right; I'm quite new to posting.
David
Megadeth 'Train of Consequences'
Great track
Simon
IMHO the best version of City of New Orleans was by Willie Nelson...
The two to beat are Boomer's Story by Ry Cooder, and my personal favourite Another Train, by The Poozies, which I would like played at my funeral... ::)
I know how to cheer you all up on a wet Bank Holiday!
Chris
How about "Shanghai Express" by Graham Timbrel?
http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=3443702&q=hi&newref=1 (http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=3443702&q=hi&newref=1)
Peter
There's also "Last train to San Fernando", parodied by Billy Connolly as "Last train to Glasgow Central"
with the line "Ah wis hidin' in the lavvy when the ticket man came ...".
Interesting topic - let m e add a few to the list:
Leaving Nancy - Dubliners or Fureys
Hans Christin Lumbye - Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop
I also have a CD called 'Lomotiv Music(a musical train ride) which includes amongst others
Railway Delight Waltz by J Strauss Jnr
Locomotive Galop by Philip Fahrbach
Railway Steam Galop by J Gungl
Pleasure Train Polka by E Strauss
Just a few and I'm sure there are a few others
CVlive Hughes
Albert Hammond - I'm a train
Orange Blossom Special
The original Bonkers album (happy hardcore):-
"Thumper" by Hixxy
closely followed by
"Steam Train" by Hopscotch & Dougal
:laugh3:
Paul
A classic from 'Hard Days Night' filmed on a train.....
The Beatles - I Should Have Known Better Lyrics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhPvtDDxEV0#)
A tune which may not be familiar to the membership is the Earnslaw Steam Theme by Ron Goodwin.
The T.S. S. Earnslaw is a coal-fired passenger steamer ship that was built in 1912, and still operates commercially on Lake Wakatipu (Wha-car-tip-ooh) in New Zealand's South Island. She is now the only such vessel in the Southern Hemisphere With Queenstown as her home port, some of the membership may have travelled on her.
The connection with railways is that the Earnslaw was built for and operated by the NZ Government Railways Department for most of her life.
The following is a 1970's-era clip off Youtube (hence the poor colour).
Hope that you enjoy it.
T.S.S. Earnslaw Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w86c9Isvqq0#)
Funnily enough, Bernard Docherty on Planet Rock yesterday did a listomainia - hour or so of connected tracks, yesterday's theme being trains & railways!
Listen again here (http://radioplayer.planetrock.com/la1000082/listomania/) for the next few days..
Quote from: Jools on May 26, 2014, 11:47:35 PM
Funnily enough, Bernard Docherty on Planet Rock yesterday did a listomainia - hour or so of connected tracks, yesterday's theme being trains & railways!
Listen again here (http://radioplayer.planetrock.com/la1000082/listomania/) for the next few days..
Connected tracks being the operative words, I guess :D
Quote from: newportnobby on May 27, 2014, 12:29:44 AM
Quote from: Jools on May 26, 2014, 11:47:35 PM
Funnily enough, Bernard Docherty on Planet Rock yesterday did a listomainia - hour or so of connected tracks, yesterday's theme being trains & railways!
Listen again here (http://radioplayer.planetrock.com/la1000082/listomania/) for the next few days..
Connected tracks being the operative words, I guess :D
Bugger, missed my own pun! ;D
Jools
I know it isn't railway-related, but pun-wise you also overlooked Franz (List) (although I doubt he would be railey very concerned concerned...)
Thought you should know...
On the classical side there is "Pacific 231" by Honneger
One of my faves...... :thumbsup:
Railroad Man - The Eels........(listen to the lyrics...........wonderful)
Eels - Railroad Man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47nKUHnlNy4#)
Also The Festival Express...... 8)
Festival Express - movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxCCqzHG2yY#ws)
"Night Mail" by Public Service Broadcasting trumps everything else. Check it out on Youtube - classic footage, classic poem given a modern revival.
PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING - NIGHT MAIL (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFJPYi3JXw4#ws)
I bet no other song has ever mentioned "Beattock".
Not forgetting Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express...
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express (live) [HD] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj_scseCmkk#ws)
And anything by 1990's Manc guitar band The Railway Children,
Wasn't there also a song about 3801?
Edited - Here it is.
http://youtu.be/YRQg_IxNmGg (http://youtu.be/YRQg_IxNmGg)
Music by Dave Goulder (an ex fireman) my favourite being 'eight freight blues'
"smoke in my eye, soot in my hair,
Cinders in my shoes
watching the needle falling away
singin' the eight freight blues"
or 'Requiem for Steam'
"O Britannias and Jubilees, Compounds and Crabs
Have been taken away from the shed
And along with the clipper, the coach and the cab
They speak of an age that is dead
For some are away to be mounted and stuffed
While others are butchered and sold
And the steamraiser's gone for the very last time
And his brazier's broken and cold"
One of Chris Rea's early albums was called "Deltics".
Marakesh Express - CSN&Y
(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/46/thumb_12697.jpg) (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=12697)
Traveling by steam, fairport convention:
Fairport Convention - Travelling By Steam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrxa-2NUJYA#)
Gerard.
From the 50s, Freight Train by Les Paul and Marie Ford.
Quote from: GroupC on May 27, 2014, 10:15:03 AM
I bet no other song has ever mentioned "Beattock".
Not sure :hmmm: Didn't Michael Jackson have a hit with that :laugh:
Just thought of this one too: The Clash, Train in Vain.
The Clash - Train in Vain (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Yl4ehzX-o#)
... and this list may keep you going for a bit...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_train_songs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_train_songs)
... and absentmindedly gazing at my CD's just now this gem popped into my mind: Daly City Train by Rancid. Ska punk rockers. Can't go wrong.
Daly City Train- Rancid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8oXts5hQCg#)
Desiro by U2 ;)
If you like a bit of old-school Prog in something of a Gabriel-era-Genesis style, you might like to check this out:
Big Big Train - East Coast Racer
Big Big Train - English Electric Part 2 - East Coast Racer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aCZGM6z9Ls#)
Here's some from my music collection
'"Mystery Train" and Frankfort Special"' by Elvis, "Last Train to Expo 67" by Duke Reid, " Down Bound Train" by chuck Berry and "Les Chants Magnetiques Pt 4" by Jean Michel Jarre", you'll have to listen to this one to see why I included it!
Although it's not the sort of song you can listen-to while running your trains, (well, not normally), this might be of interest.
There are some songs which enter a national conciousness, and what follows is one of these. It's a New Zealand folk song / ballad called 'Taumarunui (Correctly Tow (rhymes with Cow)-mah-roo-noo-ee, but pronounced by most Kiwi's as Tamm-rah-noo-ee) On The Main Trunk Line', as sung by Pat Rogers.
To get the full picture, some background is necessary:
Until the 1960's Taumarunui (which is a small town located in the middle of New Zealand's North Island) was the site of a major locomotive depot , and a 'Refreshment Room'. The town was very much a 'railway town' and the locomotive depot formed a pivotal part of the central section of the North Island Main Trunk Railway, the official name for the railway line connecting Wellington (the capital) and Auckland (the largest city) This song was written in 1958. At that time there were no 'dining cars' on the railway system and as passengers on the trains got hungry on what is a long trip (12 hours, normally) , the New Zealand Railways (NZR) established places at various stations along the line where the train passengers could get off, purchase food and re-train. These 'feeding places' were termed 'Refreshment Rooms' and (for a price) dispensed hot tea, coffee, pies and cakes to the passengers on the passing trains. They were staffed by locally-recruited young women (for whom little other work was available due to the remoteness of the area) all dressed in a matching uniform and looking very smart as a result. The 'Refreshment Room' idea was a wonderful one, and (for those old enough to remember them) were somewhat similar to the old Lyons' Corner Houses, although a lot more hectic at certain times as will be seen) The trains stopped for 10 minutes at such places, and the unloading, purchasing and re-training of 600-plus people (now carrying food and hot drinks), could result in scenes which were somewhat chaotic.
At the time that the song's 'story' occurred, the premier passenger trains on the NZR's North Island railway system were four overnight expresses, two running northwards from Wellington to Auckland and from Auckland to Wellington. As already noted, these trains were usually carrying at least 600 people each. Distance and scheduling meant that they all passed through Taumarunui between 2300-0200, stopping as they did so so that people could visit the 'Refreshment Rooms. Because of this, Taumarunui became notorious as being a 'cold 'ole' where at around midnight, half-awake passengers were compelled to stagger-off the trains to purchase food and then re-train. As such it entered the national conciousness, aided and abetted by this song. To most Kiwi's, (especially those of the Baby Boomer generation), mention of Taumarunui will bring a response of familiarity with the town name, (although the refreshment rooms are long extinct) and possibly a singing of the opening line of the Chorus (Taumarunui, Taumarunui etc. etc.) ....
BTW, as local colloquialisms can be confusing, herewith an interpretation:
'Refreshments': The abbreviated word for the Refreshment Rooms
Sheila: The term 'Sheila' was the then-current Kiwi term for a young female of 'marriageable' age. Thankfully it has fallen into disuse...
'Ordinary Joker' : Ordinary Bloke/ Guy
'Pop-off': Go to
'She'd be Jake': Everything would be OK
Flaming: a polite variation on a well-known F-word...
The Limited Express': The premier express train. for which you paid a bit more, and (supposedly, because the passenger numbers were 'limited' by the cost- hence the name) received better service, and had fewer stops en route.
And yes, I DO realise that Pat Roger's singing is appalling (but it was a typical Kiwi accent of the time)
BTW, the loco in the image is a Ka (Kay A) class 4-8-4, specifically the preserved and still running Ka 945. The Ka's were synonymous with the Limited Express services during the later years of steam operation over the section of the North Island Main Trunk railway passing through Taumarunui
Finally, although Taumarunui residents at first hated the song, believing it portrayed them in a poor light, they now sing it with with pride....
Sorry about the long post, but I hope that the song will be of interest.
Peter Cape - Taumarunui (On The Main Trunk Line) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VdbwmJX70Y#)