Today I want to share with you the first in an irregular series of rock and roll streets - inspired by a recent blog post over at Alan Parkinson's excellent 365 blog project for 2026 'World of Music' - that in some small way have shaped the musical gazetteer.
Ammonia Avenue can be found on the 1984 album of the same name by the Alan Parsons Project. It's also the name of one of the link roads that form part of ICI's massive ammonium nitrate manufacturing plant at Billingham on Teeside. The writer Aldous Huxley visited the plant nearly a hundred years ago and came away with the genesis of his 1931 novel Brave New World. Similarly in the early 80s, Eric Woolfson of the APP visited the chemical complex after being invited by the then-chairman, John Harvey-Jones. On his arrival Woolfson was struck by a street lined with pipes where nobody was working, featuring a sign that read Ammonia Avenue.
For those of you who seek meaning in their long players, the premise of Parsons' album hangs loosely round the themes of industrialisation and the disconnect between scientific development and public understanding. Yep, that's concept albums for you.
Alan Parsons Project - Ammonia Avenue (1984)
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