Three times Macclesfield was mentioned in popular music
By Alex Greensmith
18th Nov 2022 | Local News
And now for something a little different.
Here are three times our great town was mentioned in popular music. The list spans tracks from the 1990s to the present day. Be sure to let us know if you liked this list, as we'd love to produce a sequel.
And to make things harder - as much as we love them - there will be no songs by The Macc Lads on this list (because that would be too easy, wouldn't it?).
So without further ado, here's three times Macclesfield was mentioned in pop music.
The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu
The highest charting song with Crewe in the lyrics is the 1991 dance track It's Grim Up North.
Released by the band better known as The KLF under the moniker The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. this UK top single shouts out 78 northern towns and cities over a thumping beat.
Bill Drummond's soft Scottish accent reads out the placenames, and at the three minute and four second mark you can hear Macclesfield as the 41st town given a shoutout, just after Morecambe.
Other local towns get a shoutout like Crewe, Buxton and Nantwich. Macclesfield is among nine Cheshire towns given a shoutout in the song, and the last of our county to be given a shoutout.
It was a Top 10 hit in the UK, Denmark and Finland. Listen to the thumping rave trap at the top of the article or by clicking here.
Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott
What would Macclesfield be without a football club? Well, that is a question our town had to ask in the year of 2020, when this very song came out.
However, the reference to the Silkmen in this album track by Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott is fleeting.
This song by the Mancunian songwriters chronicles the decline of a football fan who has a beard growing on his face like New York Ivy - which is the name of the track.
The second pre-chorus to New York Ivy contains the following lyrics:
"And it was retro kit, sign of the day Another one claiming Macclesfield away A season ticket holder since '72 A Stone Roses hat and a bee tattoo."
While Manchester City is never alluded to, meaning that the song could apply to any club, one would presume that the songwriter is referring to Manchester City's two matches in the 1998-1999 season in Division 2.
Sadly, the Silkmen lost both games one nil and two nil, but not so sad for the subject of the song at the time of course.
Listen for the track and make your mind up on it here.
Manchester Calling - the album the Macc-mentioning track is from - reached number one on the UK albums charts in the same week that the nation went into the first coronavirus lockdown.
AJ Tracey
One for our younger readers, AJ Tracey is a London rapper with over 17 UK Top 40 singles.
Sadly, his one track mentioning Macclesfield did not chart. However, it doesn't mean it still isn't worth a listen.
In his pre-fame days in 2016, Tracey recorded a diss track to prove he was a better performer than one of his contemporaries called Row D.
The song called Withdrawal Symptoms gets Tracey to take the mickey out of his rival by calling him an over 30-year-old who is only good enough to play for Macclesfield Town FC, who at the time were a club in the fifth tier of English football.
The Macclesfield-lyric clearly worked as the tune as a whole boasts a whopping 63,000 views, and now Tracey is one of the UKs most famous grime artists, meanwhile Row D is nowhere to be seen.
Listen to Macc's mention at the 30-second mark here.
And that is it! Which is your favourite songs of the trio?
If you liked this list, you can also view our article about six times Macclesfield's Jodrell Bank was used in song.
Did we miss any tracks? Join in the conversation on our social media.
New macclesfield Jobs Section Launched!!
Vacancies updated hourly!!
Click here: macclesfield jobs
Share:
