10. âSweet Georgia Brownâ â Ben Bernie (1925)
Who knew that the hijinks originally associated with this song had nothing to do with the Harlem Globetrotters? Adopted in instrumental form â complete with whistles and bone cracking â as their theme in 1952, âSweet Georgia Brownâ was written with lyrics about 30 years earlier and centered around the eponymous black streetwalker with a stellar reputation. And though the tune has been popularized by the exhibition basketball team, the lyrical version has been covered by the likes of Ethel Waters, The Beatles and the Grateful Dead.
9. âJust a Gigoloâ â Bing Crosby (1931)
Though weâve grown accustomed to David Lee Rothâs uptempo version, this classic goes all the way back to 1931 when it was made famous by Bing Crosby, Americaâs first pop star. Taken from an even earlier German tango, his slow, sad ballad told the tale of a young French war hero who has fallen on hard times and can only find a living as an escort. Many artists besides Diamond Dave have covered this song over its long history and it has been heard in various onscreen incarnations as well, from a 1930s Betty Boop short to the closing credits of a âMad Menâ episode.
8. âHot Child in the Cityâ â Nick Gilder (1978)
Weâre not sure what is most surprising about âHot Child in the Cityâ â that the subject matter of the ultra poppy tune is about underage prostitutes or that its high-pitched singer is really a man. Whatever the answer, this song boasts a combination of all the groove of the â70s with the bright melody of the â80s that were on the horizon. Settling into Los Angeles from a life in Canada, Gilder was shocked by all the 15- and 16-year-old girls he witnessed working the corners of Hollywood Boulevard. Narrating from the point of view of a pederast admirer, he transformed this shock into a catchy radio-friendly anthem.
7. âLady Marmaladeâ â LaBelle (1974)
Its chorus âVoulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soirâ means âDo you want to sleep with me tonight?â It pretty much gets straight to the point and was the reason âLady Marmaladeâ drove censors crazy. The story surrounds a New Orleans hooker who does the same thing to her satisfied clients. Patti LaBelle admits the subject matter was completely taboo when she recorded the song, but when questioned on the matter of â[W]hy sing about a hooker?â she immediately answered, âWhy not?â
6. âCall Meâ â Blondie (1980)
Stevie Nicks declined to co-write the theme song to Richard Gereâs âAmerican Gigoloâ due to a contractual conflict, so Deborah Harry was brought on board instead. Thereâs not much narrative to the song, with the title essentially repeated over and over and over again throughout, but Blondie gave it a groundbreaking New Wave edge at the dawn of the â80s. It became a long-lasting chart topper and her bandâs biggest hit.
5. âBad Girlsâ â Donna Summer (1979)
The gritty streets of Los Angeles also inspired another song on our list. This time, Sunset Boulevard ânot just an avenue of celebrities and palm trees for those whoâve never paid the city a visit. Working for a record company, Summer sent her African-American assistant on an errand, and when she returned she complained that a police officer mistook her for a prostitute and harassed her. Though the incident provoked anger in the future Queen of Disco, it also sparked the idea for âBad Girls.â The result â a brassy ode to the worldâs oldest profession, complete with bleating car horns and loose women willing to party for loose change.
4. âKiller Queenâ â Queen (1974)
While some prostitutes walk the mean streets, others are high class, pampered and proper. We meet such an example in âKiller Queen.â A departure from Queenâs earlier hard-driving rock, it led Freddie Mercury and company to become reigning radio kings. Harmonies, a striking guitar solo and even a bell combine to illustrate our heroine as a fictional female with truly refined appointments. âIâm trying to say that classy people can be whores as well,â Mercury once explained. Arenât we all lucky for that?
3. âHonky Tonk Womenâ â The Rolling Stones (1969)
Often introduced at live shows by Mick Jagger as âa song for all the whores in the audience,â âHonky Tonk Womenâ is another example of a spare musical narrative, yet is among the bandâs indisputable favorites. From the start, we meet a working girl dancing in a bar, and what follows is enough innuendo to get the song banned from the set list when The Stones performed in China. As it turns out, wherever itâs played, the song creates a fever whose only prescription is its iconic cowbell.
2. âWalk On The Wild Sideâ â Lou Reed (1972)
Five characters inhabit this enchanting song released in the early â70s, a time when tales of cross-dressers, drug dealers, prostitutes and hustlers were not commonly heard on the radio. All hailing from New York City this time, their ranks didnât just inhabit boulevards like in Los Angeles, but the entire span of the city. And while the call girl and boy creations found in the other songs on this list are mostly fictional, here they are real, and infamous. All âsuperstarsâ from Andy Warholâs storied Factory crowd, you can find them immortalized in the trailblazing artistâs controversial films, as well.
1. âRoxanneâ â The Police (1978)
Our list has taken us all over the world â Los Angeles, New York, parts in between and beyond â and we have resettled in Paris for our last entry. As the story goes, The Police were staying in a seedy hotel near the cityâs red-light district and Sting imagined what it would be like to fall in love with one of the many streetwalkers he observed there. An old poster for the play âCyrano de Bergeracâ gave her a name and the song its title. Rhythmically a tango â much different than the bandâs usual sound â the song stood out and has gone on to become perhaps their most iconic. And here, it easily tops the very best songs about prostitutes.
