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Railways in Pop Culture

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br0llz

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What's you're favourite example of the UK Rail Network being mentioned or referenced in pop culture, films, books music etc?

Mines a reference to Pendolino's in a Courteeners song.
 
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shaun

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Recently - 2 x HSTs showing up for no logical reason in 'Hannibal' (a US TV show).
 

gimmea50anyday

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Prodigy Firestarter video filmed in one of the piccadilly line tunnels.

Creep filmed in Charing Cross - Jubilee line.

Ths 210 in Bronski beat's Smalltown Boy video
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How about pretty much everything released by iLikeTrains?
 

theageofthetra

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Terry meets Julie....

When new railways opened in the Victorian era the opening ceremony would often involve a song specially written for the event. As this was before recorded music the song sheets were handed out-a very common way of spreading a song until recorded music became affordable (worth also remembering that the 'charts' were based on sheet music sales well into the 50's)

There are literaly hundreds of these opening songs and I wish the NRM would record and archive them.
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Videos I can think of

Level 42 Something About You featured Waterloo in it

Breakthru by Queen was on on a preserved line (Gloswarks?)


The cover of Duffy's Rockferry was on the Ffestiniog.
 

RichmondCommu

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One of the Blur tracks on their first album starts with the noise of a tube train. Modern Life Is Rubbish has an A4 on the album cover

The Beta Band have an album called the 3 EP's and there is a class 50 on the album sleeve. My wife and I saw them live several times and they were always wonderful, albeit off their collective rockers!

Finally Steve Lamacq (BBC DJ) loves trains and has a model railway with various scratch built structures.
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Didn't a James Bond film (maybe Golden Eye) feature a class 20?
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What's you're favourite example of the UK Rail Network being mentioned or referenced in pop culture, films, books music etc?

Mines a reference to Pendolino's in a Courteeners song.

Saw them in Kentish Town at the start of the year. They were really good :)
 
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theageofthetra

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Oh and of course Marylebone in A Hard Days Night.

Before the day of videos you still had promo films & I think Bill Hayley (& presumably attendant Comets) used one showing their train up from their liner at Southampton to Waterloo with lots of groupies dancing with them in a mk1 luggage compartment.
 

Sod

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Covertly, the rather overdressed Class 20 with a major (yet non-speaking) role in the 1995 James Bond film "GoldenEye" (the first of the Pierce Brosnan canon).
 

yorksrob

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The video for "The Everlasting" by The Manic Street Preachers has some wonderful shots of 87's and 125's at Euston in InterCity livery. Very nostalgic video with a deeply moving song.

The Pet Shop Boys iconic "West End Girls" video has some lovely shots of the concourse at Waterloo in the 80's with a blue/grey VEP in the background.
 
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Busaholic

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Oh and of course Marylebone in A Hard Days Night.

Before the day of videos you still had promo films & I think Bill Hayley (& presumably attendant Comets) used one showing their train up from their liner at Southampton to Waterloo with lots of groupies dancing with them in a mk1 luggage compartment.

Bill Haley, if you don't mind. Their LP 'Rock Around the Clock' on the midprice (one guinea) record label Ace of Hearts was the first album I ever bought, at Christmas 1961. Groupies hadn't been invented in 1956, either in name or in demeanour. They really were a harbinger of the Swinging Sixties.:)
 

yorksrob

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The BBC adaptation of Hanif Kureshi's "Budda of Suburbia" has some lovely shots of EPB's.
 

90sWereBetter

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One of the Blur tracks on their first album starts with the noise of a tube train. Modern Life Is Rubbish has an A4 on the album cover

The song in question is "Bang", and the music video shows London in the evening peak, complete with MCW Metrobuses, an unidentified LU station, and a clearly stoned Damon Albarn. :lol: Song also makes mention of "Waiting for an underground train/To rumble underneath my feet".

"Lonesome Street" off their Magic Whip album makes mention of "the 5:14 to East Grinstead", and I think there was a bit of debate whether that was an actual service.

Pulp's "Disco 2000" has an LU 1959 Stock in the music video for a few seconds

Not to be ignored, the Glasgow Subway gets some coverage in the music video for Amy Macdonald's "Poison Prince", along with a Class 334.
 
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theageofthetra

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Bill Haley, if you don't mind. Their LP 'Rock Around the Clock' on the midprice (one guinea) record label Ace of Hearts was the first album I ever bought, at Christmas 1961. Groupies hadn't been invented in 1956, either in name or in demeanour. They really were a harbinger of the Swinging Sixties.:)

I suspect the ladies seen in that promo were probably bussed in specially.
 

Ash Bridge

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Didn't a James Bond film (maybe Golden Eye) feature a class 20?

That was the one masquerading as a Russian loco wasn't it? I'm sure it's preserved somewhere.

A couple from me, Waterloo Sunset from The Kinks, Ray Davies was apparently inspired by the last Bullied Pacifics working out of Waterloo Station around 1967, another one was the 1979 album and single entitled 'Deltic's' from Chris Rea.
 

theageofthetra

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That was the one masquerading as a Russian loco wasn't it? I'm sure it's preserved somewhere.

A couple from me, Waterloo Sunset from The Kinks, Ray Davies was apparently inspired by the last Bullied Pacifics working out of Waterloo Station around 1967, another one was the 1979 album and single entitled 'Deltic's' from Chris Rea.

Christ forgot about that!
 

50039

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Sting - Never Coming Home from the Sacred Love album, featured an HST at speed halfway through the track...
 

theageofthetra

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The Men They Couldn't Hang & Rain Steam & Speed. Not only a great band name & album title but it featured a Duchess on the cover.
 

mikeg

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If you count noise and not just lyrics, there's always the Valenta thrash at the beginning of 'Johnny on the Monorail' by The Buggles. Of course back then it was something new and modern, not something we get nostalgic about!

Edit: And even though you don't need to be a kettlehead to be a metalhead (or vice versa - I'm not the former and only slightly the latter!) , who can deny the awesomeness of Saxon's 'Princess of the Night', written about the LMS 'Princess Royal' class. Probably one of the best popular songs about anything rail related, can't believe it slipped my mind!
 
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AJM580

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"You said no strings could secure you at the station.
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows.
I walked into such a sad time at the station.
As I walked out, felt my own need just beginning."

Cream - White Room
 

Stewart2887

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The Jam's Tubestation for sure. But in "That's Entertainment" Paul W refers to "An electric train and a ripped up phone booth" So he's done a bit of spotting somewhere on the south easts' network perhaps?
Oh and I like "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum
 

cf111

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"Pulling the ice-axe from my leg, I stumbled on, spin-drift stinging my remaining eye
I finally managed to reach the station, only to find that the bus-replacement service had broken down
After wondering to myself whether or not it should actually be called a "train-replacement service"
I walked out on to the concourse and noticed the giant screen seemed to have been tampered with
Probably by a junior employee
Disgruntled commuters were being regaled with some dismal TVM, involving a tug-of-love custody battle
Stockard Channing held sway..."

Half Man Half Biscuit - National S***e Day.
 
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