Favorite "City" Songs #5 - "Paradise City"

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I am counting down my favorite songs with "Town," "City," "State," and "Country" in the title. Yesterday, I got sidetracked by some popcorn trim at 80 bucks an ounce, and while, at the moment, I am still quite sidetracked by the stuff, here's the "City" part of yesterday's discussion. We are at #5: "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses. Like this one wasn't obvious or anything! It's the soundtrack for a portion of my service in the Army. I didn't even actually need to own my own copy. In the barracks, "Paradise City" could be heard over and over and over, often, being played on all three floors. The Stuttgart-based local Armed Forces Radio station had it in the heaviest of heavy rotation. They regularly played it in the Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart bars and clubs that we frequented. You'd think that at some point, I would've gotten tired of hearing it, but it's been over 30 years since the album, Appetite for Destruction, was released, and I still crank the damn volume knob all the way to the right when it comes on. "Paradise City" was written by the band as they were getting loaded in the back of their van while driving back to Los Angeles after a San Francisco gig, just some drunk musicians playing acoustic guitars and improvising lyrics. Andy McCoy, leader of the great Finnish glam metal band, Hannoi Rocks, says that the "Paradise City" guitar riffs were based upon different guitar riffs created by his band. This actually does make a lot of sense when you understand that Guns N' Roses claims Hannoi Rocks as their major influence, and Hannoi Rocks guitarist appeared in the "Paradise City" video, so there must not have been too many hard feelings. Anyway, the hard-rocking tune achieved platinum status in Italy, gold in the UK, hit the Top 10 in 11 countries, and was the third GNR Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hit. It has been covered by Pat Boone, and both Hole and Carrie Underwood have been known to perform it in concert (Underwood used it as an encore during the tour for her 2007 album, Carnival Ride. At times, she reportedly would combine "Paradise City" with "November Rain" as a bonus.) Meanwhile, in some barracks somewhere, some enlisted dudes probably have this cranked up at this very moment! (Info verified by Wikipedia)