St. Louis Pop Culture

To prepare for your trip, load up your iPod with some Tina Turner and Chuck Berry rock ’n’ roll tunes, David Sanborn saxophone riffs or blue-eyed soul by Michael McDonald. For something more old-school, dig up Scott Joplin’s popular ragtime number “The Cascades,” which was inspired by the 1904 World’s Fair —as was Judy Garland’s classic musical Meet Me in St. Louis. For a more modern tune, download the song “St. Louie” by rapper Nelly, in which the native son raps about the city’s landmarks. For your reading pleasure, check out local author Laurel K. Hamilton, who uses St. Louis as the backdrop for her best-selling Anita Blake vampire series. And don’t miss A.E. Hotchner’s memoir King of the Hill for its touching depiction of life in the city’s Italian neighborhood during the Great Depression. If you prefer, watch Steven Soderbergh’s 1993 film adaptation, instead. For another celluloid tour of the St. Louis of yesteryear, Steve McQueen stars in the 1959 thriller The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery, which was based on a real 1953 heist and filmed on location.