The third-largest city in Germany, with a population of approximately 1.6 million, the wider metropolitan region is home to some 6 million people. It is located on the River Isa, north of the Alps and not that far from the border with Austria. It’s a young city as these things go, first mentioned as recently as 1158. Given its proximity to Austria, it’s hardly a surprise that it has long had connections with classical music, but it is also renowned as a city where Krautrock has long thrived and is home to studios where many of the established rock bands have recorded, such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Queen. Oh, and never let it be forgotten that the city was where Giorgio Moroder, the godfather of disco and electronic dance music, did so much of his early work, especially with Donna Summer.
mp3: Editors – Munich
From 2005, the second single to be released by the band from Birmingham, England (just in case anyone maybe thought they were from Alabama). Still going strong today, with their seventh studio album being released in 2022, all of which have gone Top 10 in the UK, although they haven’t had a song reach the singles charts since 2009….not that they seem bothered about it. Munich hit the #10 spot, bettered only by Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors, which got to #7 in 2007.
Was lucky enough, in the company of Jacques the Kipper to see them back in the day when they played at King Tut’s in Glasgow in August 2005, just a few days after the release of the debut album. Would have been nice to have seen them in Munich itself….where they played at a venue called The Atomic Cafe on 11 November 2005.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
This was covered by R.E.M. for a Radio One Live Lounge session, the first time I’d heard it. The version by the band from Athens (Georgia, USA not Greece) is on their huge BBC box.
Apart from the odd “Munich mix” or “Live in Munich” designation, I appear to have only one song with Munich in the actual title: The Munich Post by Bobby Wratten’s current project Lightning In A Twilight Hour. Guitars chime, sound effects swirl, Annemari Davies sings something I can’t make out. Ahhhh, lovely.
Léon Macduff
All these years and I’ve only just noticed how much Germany looks like the late queen on the stamps. We just need a song called “Munster” and the eye will be in the right place.