The Strand, or just Strand to be official, is a remarkable London street, linking the City and the West End, its name derived from the Old English word for “beach” or “shore”. The tidal Thames, of course, is nearby. The three bits of popular culture below are all inspired by it, directly or otherwise. They span about 70 years of the 20th Century and a bit before.
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The music hall song Let’s All Go Down The Strand was written by performer Harry Castling and composer Charles William and apparently sung by Castling in the 1890s, though it wasn’t published until 1909. It was popular with British soldiers during WW1 and it had staying power – the Stanley Holloway version below was recorded in 1958, by which time the world had Elvis and Lonnie Donegan.
A year following Holloway’s rendition of the song, in 1959, the famous TV commercial for Strand cigarettes was released. It is famous for its look and location and for its failure to persuade people to purchase that brand of smoke.
The ad’s allure lingered, though. Apparently, it was an inspiration for Roxy Music’s Do The Strand, performed with great assurance on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973.
I’m trying to find a way to insert Roxy Music into my next novel. It passes the time while I’m failing to come up with a plot. Perhaps I’ll get the Strand into it too.
John Vane is a pen name used by Dave Hill, editor and publisher of On London. Buy his London novel Frightgeist: A Tall Tale of Fearful Times here or here. This article originally appeared on the John Vane Substack.