Streets of London is a song written by Ralph McTell. McTell left the song off his debut album ‘Eight Frames a Second’ since he regarded it as too depressing but was eventually convinced by his producer to include it in the second. It was first recorded for the 1969 album ‘Spiral Staircase’ but was not released in the United Kingdom as a single until 1974. It ended up being McTell’s greatest commercial success reaching number two in the UK singles chart at one point selling 90 000 copies a day and winning him the 1974 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically and a Silver disc for record sales.The songcontrasts the common problems of everyday people with those of the homeless lonely elderly ignored and forgotten members of society and has been covered by over two hundred artists around the world.As part of the Richmond Music Choral series Streets of London is arranged for SATB Voices.
