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Per_Mikkelsen

£50 in 1980 would be worth about £270 in 2024. Something - or someone, that cost £50 back then wasn't really cheap. Of course, it's not so much about inflation as it is purchasing power. In 1980 the average home in the UK was going for about £20,000. The average home price in 2024 is about £270,000 which is 13 and a half times higher. Prostitutes can set their own rates. I wouldn't doubt that if you were to look hard enough you could indeed find a lady of the evening willing to take £50 today, so essentially figures for these things are meaningless. Most importantly I think you misheard the lyric -it isn't 50 quid, it's 15 quid.


Jesusthezomby

Really? 15? Huh. I guess that makes more sense in context.. he said 15 Quid IS ALL she asks for "... Ok. Thx.


JerronVrayl

It's also referenced in the 1st song- "She charges a Fiver (£5) that's only for starters and 10 the main course"


Jesusthezomby

She's a saint that one


Timespacedistortions

Always taught it was 50 as well. Thanks for correcting that for me. Seems like a bargain.


Mellonut

Hey, just tell her you know me. You might even get it free.


Fingerman2112

“Excuse me I know this guy Bruce. Will you fuck me for free?” is a line that works every time!


Mellonut

Charlotte has a heart of gold.


ScoobyDoNot

Written by Dave Murray, and sung by Paul Di'Anno on the original album.


Fingerman2112

Tell her that you know me is from 22 Acacia Ave


ScoobyDoNot

True


RedEyeView

You're Banana Man?


Howitzer92

So anytime you're down the East End. Don't you hesitate to go.


Mellonut

You can take my honest word for it. She'll teach you more than you can know.


Tailgunner_

Charlotte can't you get out from all this madness? can't you see it only brings you sadness?


Author_Willing

Depends…are you feeling, down, depressed and lonely?


BasementCatBill

50 quid is a very high class sort of escort. Which is why Charlotte only charged fifteen quid.


Pr0sthetics

Isn't it 15 ?


bl0odredsandman

Yes. It's 15.


Jesusthezomby

TIL it was just 15


SuicidalGuidedog

"She was only (worth) fifteen" - Michael Caine, but not.


Active-Knee1357

If you listen to Charlotte the Harlot: "You charge them a "fiver", It's only for starters And ten for the main course" so yeah, definitely 15 quid.


tastyreg

You can still get a quick hand shandy for a fiver by the magic roundabout in Cardiff. Um, a friend told me.


SuicidalGuidedog

TIL tastyreg will do almost anything for a fiver.


Jesusthezomby

Right ... A friend 😉


MeatGayzer69

50 quid in 80s was expensive


Jesusthezomby

Oh. Well she must have been quite the firecracker


MeatGayzer69

The average weekly wage in 1980 was just 100 quid. So yeah


Deltrus7

Except the song says 15 quid, not 50.


MeatGayzer69

Lol I'm just answering what he asked


Deltrus7

Fair!


bloodpriestt

Everybody’s got their price


chillirosso

You could go cheaper, but you might end up with Burning Ambition


Jesusthezomby

🥳🤣


UnfunnyWatermelon469

The lyric is 15 quid. What kind of 80's prostitute charges 50? Seems pretty expensive


FilippoSironi2

That would have been a high end escort . 50 quid in 1980 has gotta be around 400 quids today.


TheNotoriousSHAQ

Speak to me Hammersmith!


[deleted]

Fun fact. I don't remember which episode it was, but HBO had a show called The Ricky Gervais Show. He Stephen Merchant and Karl Pinkington sat around a microphone in a studio taking about Karl. It's a hilarious show check it out. Oh ya anyway in one of the cutaway skits they're in front of a house addressed 22 Acacia Ave.


Jesusthezomby

That's hilarious


Maidenslayer03

One of their best songs. What id give to see this song live and to have them go back to making songs like this again


Unusual_residue

Just as good when it was Countdown


ElongatedMusket_----

It's a song only young men could write.


maidenHELL6669

Just make sure to beat her and mistreat her


Antmax

Was pretty good back then. You could buy a decent 3 bedroom house for about $14k in the early 80's. Same house sold for 400k today. I know because I saw my childhood home for sale online the other day. Inflation has been pretty crazy really.


Jesusthezomby

That's wild


billygnosis86

£260 grand for the first house I lived in. It’s a nice enough house, but for a two-bed semi-detached? Fuck off.


ElongatedMusket_----

It's a fake economy sadly.


SuicidalGuidedog

If someone's paying and someone's selling, that's not fake. That's basic Charlotte the Harlot economics 101.


[deleted]

Depends on services rendered I suppose 🤔


ElongatedMusket_----

A good price? You couldn't pay me £50 to risk getting a venereal disease.


[deleted]

Are you planning a trip


Jesusthezomby

I wish.


RememberTommorrow

£15 in 1982 adjusted for inflation is about £50, so not a bad price


late44thegameNOW

According to Google, 15 quid in 1980 is around 80 quid today. According to a Reddit thread I found on r/nostupidquestions, '<$100 for a streetwalker, $100-200 for a foreign escort, $200 to 400 for a local escort'. It's in dollars, so it's slightly higher. According to the current exchange rate, £80 is $100.38, so yes it's cheap


marconiwasright

Isn't it 15? That's what I always thought Bruce was singing.


eighty2angelfan

Is ten dollars good in Texas in 70s?


lightingstrike1795

15 quid


Jesusthezomby

Yes. It's 15. It's been established lol


fruitful_ferret96

Bro has a time machine and some motives 💀


1OO1OO1S0S

Do we know this song takes place in 1980s London? For all we know this takes place in Jack the ripper times or something


Jesusthezomby

Well unless Charlotte and Bruce are both vampires I doubt that


FilippoSironi2

The song Charlotte the Harlot was written around 1976 by Dave if I remember correctly. DiAnno sang it not Bruce. Dave wrote the lyrics too. I think that's the only song that Dave wrote all by himself lyrics and music.


racksacky

Charlotte is based on an actual prostitute from Dave and Adrian’s neighborhood, if I’m remembering correctly.


1OO1OO1S0S

Well there you go!


UnluckyAdhesiveness6

Yes. I believe they were playing that song in Urchings when Dave was in that band. There is a demo tape from 1977 with Thunderstick on drums playing Charlotte the Harlot. I can't find any links to it anymore tho.


SuicidalGuidedog

So if thou is seeking a rambunctious time And you are adequately prepared for a con Fifteen shillings is all she asks for And you can keep your top hat on