Whenever I’m in New York City, and wander past the Flatiron Building, this song comes into my head. Because at that point I am literally Walking Down Madison. Or, to be pedantic, Up.

With its packed pavements filled with men in designer streets, it’s a street that’s been synonymous with the advertising industry for more than a century, and by association with wealth.

MacColl was struck by the inequality in its sharp contrast to the city streets further downtown (and uptown) filled with rough sleepers. Which is what inspired a lyric, imagining the arrest of an innocent bystander from Harlem who fails to fit in:

“From an uptown apartment to a knife on the A train… From the sharks in the penthouse to the rats in the basement… To the bag lady frozen asleep in the park… It’s not that far.”

She set her words to a tune composed by Johnny Marr when he left The Smiths – his first ever solo composition – and he plays the guitar and keyboards on her recording, made at the legendary Electric Lady studio in Greenwich Village.

Hence the marvellous punning title of her album, Electric Landlady.

The song was a big departure for Kirsty, blending breakbeats and squealy guitar with a hip-hop feel, including a rap by Aniff Cousins, whom she recruited after hearing Black Whip by his band Chapter And The Verse.

The video also features members of the dance group Londonbeat, who supply backing vocals.