“‘2-4-6-8 Motorway’ is a single by British punk rock/new wave group Tom Robinson Band which was released in 1977, and reached #5 in the UK singles chart. The music and lyrics were written by Tom Robinson, and it was the first single released by the Tom Robinson Band, who had formed in January 1977 and were signed to EMI in August 1977. Robinson wrote the song between leaving Café Society in 1976, and forming the Tom Robinson Band in 1977, when he was performing with whichever friends were available on the night, so the song had to be simple enough to learn in a few minutes. Robinson came up with the tune “trying to work out the chords to Climax Blues Band’s “Couldn’t Get It Right”” which he could not really remember. This led to the simple three chord repeat of 2-4-6-8. The verse came from Robinson’s memories of driving back to London through the night after gigs with Café Society, ‘By the time our van hit the last stretch of M1 into London the motorway sun really was coming up with the morning light.’ …”
Wikipedia
YouTube: 2-4-6-8 Motorway