It is 150 years since the Metropolitan line, the first of the London Underground railways, was opened in Victorian London in 1863. Throughout 2013 London Transport Museum and Art on the Underground will be celebrating the Tube’s 150th Anniversary and considerable history with a series of events, including a ride on the steam train Locomotive No.1 pulling the ‘Jubilee’ carriage.

For anyone who has lived and worked in London, you have a real love / hate relationship with the London Underground or “Tube” as it’s colloquially referred to. On one hand you marvel at how London Underground makes all areas of the capital so accessible and easy to travel around; you marvel too at the feat of Victorian excavation and engineering that makes the whole tube experience possible in the first place; but what you never come to terms with as a daily commuter, is being herded around in cattle trucks during the rush hour, in hot, sweaty conditions….a very de-humanising experience!!

However on balance, whether a commuter, an occasional visitor to London or a tourist, we all have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to the Tube. So “Many Happy Returns” to the Tube, and here are five songs to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the London Underground –

Five songs to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the London Underground –

1)  The Jam – Down in the Tube Station at Midnight ( 1978 )

From the moment you hear the rumbling sound of an approaching train in the intro, this song captures the claustrophobic atmosphere of the London Underground perfectly.

2)  Tubeway Army – Are Friends Electric? ( 1979 )

Only if they topple off the platform and fall on the line!!

3)  The Jam – Going Underground ( 1979 )

This song has little or nothing to do with travelling on the tube.

4)  Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street ( 1978 )

Home of Sherlock Holmes, who was more inclined to take a Hanson Carriage rather than the Tube.

5)  Girls Aloud – Sound of the Underground ( 2002 )

Girls Aloud bring some much needed glamour to the grimey London Underground!!

Can you come up with any other songs to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the London Underground? Let us know in the Reply box below.

Celebrate your favourite song in your home or office, by ordering your favourite song in a vinyl or CD format; single, album or album cover; framed and mounted as a picture disc souvenir. You can also personalise it with an inscribed / engraved plaque…… 

ORDER NOW…….. www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/

Also available – the DVD of your favourite film or TV programme framed with a personalised engraved plaque  ORDER NOW… www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/

Framed vinyl records, framed CDs and framed DVDs with a personalised plaque, make unique presents or original gifts for a special celebration  ie a Wedding ( Wedding First Dance Song ), an Engagement Party ( Our Song ), a House Warming Party ( New Home ), a 21st, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th Birthday ( How about the No1 song on the day of birth? ), a Silver, Ruby or Golden Wedding Anniversary, Father’s or Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day!!  THE PERFECT PERSONALISED PRESENT!!