Towns and cities have been a key part of pop music ever since Petula Clark chirruped her way through 'Down Town'. Readers of a certain age may recall Phillip Schofield using that very song as a soundtrack while he showed pictures of children with their friends in urban settings from his broom cupboard on Children's BBC.

Back in 2011, we at Shout4Music thought we'd celebrate the city and trumpet the town with a collection of musical municipal marvels. So here we go. Baffled by a borough blunder? Let us know your own urbane suggestions in the comments box below.

Burial – 'Archangel'

Burial's whole 'Untrue' LP is the sound of the cityscape. I know that sounds really wanky, but seriously – listen to it while you're driving through a deserted city circa 11pm on a weeknight, and it just makes absolute perfect sense. Alone and defiant and heartbroken and stunningly beautiful all in the one hit. Almost impossible to pick a track from, because it only really works in a whole album piece, but 'Archangel' is probably the one that has the most impact as a single cut. Download here. (Alaster Kirk)

Johnny Cash — 'When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)'

Up to his hips in snow, the Man in Black takes respite from the cold Alaskan winds in a saloon, where chanteuse Lil teaches him the Eskimo hop before the assembled caribou. As ever, it all ends in the graveyard. June Cash lends her sumptuous pipes to the choruses. Download here. (Mark Nicholls)

Doves – 'Black and White Town'

The second song from 'Some Cities' opens with a nod to Martha And The Vandella's '(Love Is Like) A Heat Wave' with its syncopated piano. After that the song builds and builds with hope and expectation at the promise of leaving a 'black and white town' with 'no colour and no sound'. If you're bored with your home town and you want to get out, Doves wrote this song for you. Download here. (Stephen Morris)

Flight Of The Conchords - 'Inner City Pressure'

An excellent spoof of The Pet Shop Boys' 'West End Girls'. Here, Brett and Jermaine sing about the perils of having no money in the city. The subject matter shouldn't be funny, but the two Kiwis make it so, especially with the idea of, second hand underpants, becoming a prostitute to pay for flute lessons and staying home to 'play synthesisers'. Download here. (Stephen Morris)

The Jam – 'The Planner's Dream Goes Wrong'

The Jam were famous for the songs about the urban: see 'In The City', 'London Traffic'  and 'Town Called Malice'. In fact pretty much every single Jam song could be listed in a feature about towns and cities such as this one.

'The Planner's Dream Goes Wrong' from 'The Gift' is a searing indictment of 50s and 60s town planning and the evils of high rise flats: 'If people were made to live in boxes/God would have given them strings/to tie around theirselves at bedtime/and stop their dreams falling through the ceiling.' An unlikely bit of inspiration for a great song, but rather marvellous nevertheless. Download here. (Stephen Morris)

Nine Black Alps - 'Ghost In The City'

It may sound a little gloomy, but 'Ghost In The City' is actually a really good song to listen to when you're just walking around a city. Especially if you're in a pretty crappy mood. But it has a really peaceful quality to it, helped by both the tempo and gentle instrumentation. Nine Black Alps are currently working on a new album which I highly recommend keeping an eye out for. Download here. (Arusa Qureshi)

Good Shoes – 'Morden'

The band were conceived in Mordern which is a district in the London Borough of Merton Not technically a town or a city, I know. Nevertheless,  it's a song dear to my black heart. They sing about the uninspiring environment's that most of us grow up in littered with catchy hooks and playful lyrics - it epitomises everything that's great about their debut album 'Think Before You Speak'. This album basically got me through University. (Ash Meikle)

Frank Sinatra – 'Glad To Be Unhappy'

If you live in a small, miserable town that you hate and don't wish to be part of then this is for you. Load it on to your mp3 player, play it loudly, walk through the town centre and remind yourself that one day you'll escape it. Download here. (Christopher Moffatt)

Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros – 'Bhindi Bhagee'

A fantastic celebration of diversity and multiculturalism. The song tells the story of a man returning to the UK only to be told that they don't really sell mushy peas round here. Instead, he's treated to a wealth of food from around the world. 'Global A Go-Go', the album on which this song can be found, was released around the time of 9/11. Listening to this back then was, and remains, a life affirming counter to the paranoia that arose from the Twin Towers' ashes. Download here. (Stephen Morris)

The Young Knives – 'Loughborough Suicide'

Urban life isn't all non-stop excitement, despite what many songs about the city would have us believe.  The Young Knives take a different perspective with this portrait of being driven to despair by the monotony of living in a small town. Download here.  (Alan Ashton-Smith)