“Down to London” by Joe Jackson

"Down to London" is the third stop on Blaze of Glory, the 1989 album Joe Jackson built as a loose trip through a life, and here the traveller is about 17 and heading for the big city with everything to prove. Jackson, who wrote and produced it, drew on his own early days scrambling for a start in London. He told VH1 the song carries mixed feelings: the thrill of the bright lights set against kipping on somebody's floor because a hotel is out of reach, though he reckoned it comes out positive in the end.

He plays piano and synthesizer and sings with Joy Askew, Graham Maby holds down the bass, and a full horn section of trumpets, trombone, alto and baritone sax gives it a brassy swagger. It went out as the album's second single.

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