Sunday 29 September 2024

Snapshots #363: A Top Ten Songs Featuring Cities That Have Changed Their Names

It's Prince, of course, because he knew a thing or two about changing his name.

Here then are Ten Songs Featuring Towns Or Cities That Changed Their Names. Yep, another snappily titled Top Ten. Sadly I had to leave out the town of Fugging in Austria, which up until 2021 was known by a slightly different name...

One of the reasons they changed the name was that people kept nicking the sign.


10. Switched off the TV.

He abandoned his Television after only two albums (not counting the 1992 "let's-get-the-band- back-together-for-dollars comeback record").

Tom Verlaine - Stalingrad 

It's now called Volgograd. What did Stalin do wrong?

9. Tangled up cello? Solve its mystery!

"Cello... Solve its" was an anagram.

Elvis Costello - New Amsterdam

So good, they named it once.

8. Ron Moody, Martin Jarvis, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Ben Whishaw.

Four actors who have played the part of Uriah Heep in David Copperfield.

Uriah Heep - Salisbury 

As well as being a city in England, Salisbury was also the original name of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

7. Swears he never had any matches.

He did not start the fire!

Billy Joel - Leningrad 

Now Saint Petersburg. I would also have allowed...

Billy Joel - Goodnight, Saigon

...although a gentleman below also had that answer.

6. Found in red and yellow swill. I am simply not going looking for it!

...red and yellow swill I am simply...

Andy Williams - The Peking Theme (So Little Time)

Peking, of course, is now Beijing. I'm still waiting for them to change the name of our local Chinese restaurant.

5. Changed, to protect the innocent.

A rather apt band, and clue, given today's theme...

The Names - Calcutta

4. A diamond in the rough.

That was the name of his second album. John isn't an easy man to come up with clues for...

John Prine - Saigon

...and it's Ho Chi Minh City these days.

3. Rich studs.

Golden Earring - Bombay

Mumbai, if you please.

2. Awake, but not taking part.

Surely the most un-Cerys picture of Cerys on the internet. The 90s have a lot to answer for.

Catatonia - Londinium

1. Try to unravel Betty's thigh enigma.

"Betty's thigh enigma" was an anagram, you say? No way!

They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) 

Only one choice for Number One this week...


6 comments:

  1. I did wonder whether 4 might be Mr Prine as you used one of his album titles but I couldn't recognise him in the photo.

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  2. Well done Rol and well done to those who worked out the answer.

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  3. Hoho, Fugging is bad enough 😀

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  4. You set me off down a rabbit hole yesterday checking out the countries of South East Asia as I was rusty as to what the capital cities were nowadays. Turns out it's Hanoi in Vietnam and not Ho Chi Minh which I had thought.

    Thanks as ever for all the hard work that goes into Snapshots. I've not been doing too well of late but I'll keep on trying.

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    1. Interesting... but I guess Hanoi has always been Hanoi, otherwise I would have had a song for it.

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