I was just listening to Roger McGuinn’s 1973 solo debut, and the opening track I’m So Restless refers to Messrs D, L and J (Dylan, Lennon and Jagger). What other songs are there that either namecheck or refer to other musicians?
(Fun fact: it’s Mr D himself providing harmonica on this song.)
—–>
The only non-disparaging reference to Leonard Cohen made by anyone in the 80s.
(any excuse to post anything from that magnificent album)
And there’s Lloyd himself mentioned by Camera Obscura:
Lloyd also mentions Arthur Lee in Are You Ready to be Heartbroken?
Hurry get your ticket if you wanna see Wilson Pickett
I’m surprised anyone knows this one. Obscure New Orleans via Mr Toussaint.
Good old Charly records – Seehorn Soul Farm compilation.
I learned a thing or two Charly, don’t ya know.
Mott the Hoople’s All The Young Dudes mentions The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
and T Rex.
(The Skids’ version replaces them with Subway Sect.)
And, er, The Beatles and The Stones by The House of Love.
Who in turn were referenced by Was (Not Was) *
*this is not true
‘It’s Parker’s band with a smooth style of syncopation’.
Charlie Parker. Steely Dan – Parker’s Band (Pretzel Logic). I think there are Parker-ish riffs and phrases in there.
Charlie Parker? Absolute rubbish.
…er….
‘Kick out the ‘Style, bring back the Jam’.
Tears for Fears – Sowing the Seeds of Love.
McGuinn himself is referenced in Dylan’s You Ain’t Going Nowhere, reportedly because he was annoyed with a mistake McGuinn had made in his own recording. From Wiki –
The Byrds’ recording of the song caused a minor controversy between the band and its author. Dylan’s original demo of “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” contained the lyric “Pick up your money, pack up your tent”, which was mistakenly altered in The Byrds’ version, by guitarist and singer Roger McGuinn, to “Pack up your money, pick up your tent”.[22] Dylan expressed mock-annoyance at this lyric change in his 1971 recording of the song, singing “Pack up your money, put up your tent McGuinn/You ain’t goin’ nowhere’
Ah yes, I remember reading about that somewhere. I think he changed it back during the Rolling Thunder tour when McGuinn was sharing the stage 🙂
And when McGuinn & Hillman re-made it for Will The Circle Be Unbroken (a great album BTW), Rog sang his version and stuck in a ‘Dylan’ for luck.
Excellent factoid!
Orange Juice’s Consolation Prize
“I wore my fringe like Roger McGuinn’s”
Great minds! (see below)
Roger McGuinn himself is namechecked in Orange Juice’s Consolation Prize:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf3eabt_e8Y
Great minds! (see above)
And of course there’s McGuinn and McGuire in the Mamas and the Papas Creeque Alley….
That’s “Eve Of Destruction” hit maker Barry McGuire of course. And the song also namechecks Mama Cass
Loudon Wainwright’s “My Biggest Fan” has a lovely couplet – “…I’m number three/ There’s Bob, then there’s Neil, then there’s me”.
And of course, LWIII’s more than slightly ironic ‘Talking New Bob Dylan’.
God knows I am far from the most eminent Dylanologist on this site, but doesn’t Highlands mention listening to Neil Young?
More in my comfort zone, a line in Authority Song by Jimmy Eat World goes “the DJ never has it, JAMC Automatic”
That would also be referencing John Mellencamp as well, of course
Yep.
It does. In fact Dylan has great form in this field. My favourite reference is probably the one to Alicia Keys in which the old goat is looking for her clear through Tennessee.
The old goat! Uncle Disgusting! Bleeeee! etc.
Not an overt name drop, but the Gaslight Anthem song High Lonesome has the chorus “Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand / I always kind of wish I looked like Elvis”, which should make any Counting Crows fans smile
There’s a Burning Spear song about listening to the Grateful Dead. Straight up.
http://youtu.be/HuAI4up4xqg
Surprised no-one has mentioned the magnificent, the towering The Seeker by The Who.
I asked Bobby Dylan, I asked The Beatles
https://youtu.be/XrO4_nyamZs
and they later drunk themseves blind while listening to T.Rex (and Whos Next)
As it happens I was listening to mary Chapin Carpenter’s glorious Come On Come On album tonight and enjoying her references to Dwight Yoakim and Lyle Lovatt on this song
http://youtu.be/46X94qlXPuM
Neil Young also crops up in Sweet Home Alabama. But maybe not to his delight.
Alvin Stardust felt like Buddy Holly, and also levered in mentions of Paul Simon and Paul McCartney
Good little single this, from 1987
Speaking of Buddy Holly..
And speaking of Buddy Holly…and Richie Valens…and the Big Bopper
And speaking of Buddy Holly…
And speaking of Eddie Cochran…
and The Big Bopper references himself in Chantilly Lace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGwHZb5JNI0
(and so does Ivor Biggun on his cover version)
Bo Diddley made a career out of singing about himself.
Likewise Jerry Lee Lewis namechecked himself in virtually every song he recorded
My mate and I pissed ourselves laughing when we saw Jerry Lee performing ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ at a Ham Odeon gig. The song lasted about 8 minutes by the time he’d shoehorned his name into virtually every line.
Talking of the Skynyrd……..
Maybe not overt but no doubt who the reference is.
You’re going on after Crispy Ambulance.
https://youtu.be/VgsvyGRRzRc
To be fair, there’s one hell of list of artists referenced in HMHB songs – “Muses, Vega, 10,000 Maniacs” in the same line for example.
Hm.
I was going to put Bring the Noise on here on account of the fact that it references Run DMC, Eric B, LL Cool J, Anthrax, Sonny Bono and (because it rhymes) Yoko Ono.
That would have been ridiculous.
tra-la-la
“I know Bono and ‘e knows Ono and she knows Eno’s phone thus”
And of course, HMHB’s magnificent Irk The Purists!
And ‘Styx Gig (Seen By My Mates Coming Out Of A)’
The Clash – White Man In Hammersmith Palais name checks Dillinger, Leroy Smart, Delroy Wilson and Ken Boothe.
Adolf Hitler also gets a mention but I’m not sure he ever released a single
Kraftwerk – Trans Europa Express name checks Iggy Pop and a certain Mr Bowie.
Bowie wrote a song about some bloke called Zimmerman.
…and it’s got to be done.
Ace band name too.
T.Rex mention Bob Dylan (possibly cryptically) in Telegram Sam
“Bobby’s alright, he’s a natural born poet”.
The Wake Up Bomb by R.E.M. contains multiple uses of the line “get drunk and sing along to Queen”.
Tune.
And “practice my T Rex moves…”
But of course. 🙂
Of course the Reynolds Girls dissed Fleetwood Mac.
The Saw Doctors said ungentlemanly things about The Bangles.
Laughing Len’s Tower of Song mentions Hank Williams in Tower of Song (I asked Hank Williams how lonely does it get, Hank Williams hasn’t answered me yet, but I hear him coughing, all night long)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WirxqAn7Ck8
Big Boy Bloater wrote this one about Leonard Cohen’s picture on the cover of Mojo magazine.
I haven’t got time to chase down a good linl now but I always liked Tom Robinson’s “Days That Changed The World” for its not-so-sly references to some of his near contemporaries.
And of course “American Pie” may, or may not, reference sundry others . . .
The fabs namecheck Elmore James in “For you blue” (sorry, cant find a clip)
George ripping the piss out of Lennon’s amateurish slide-work.
“I don’t believe you really like Frank Sinatra”
The voice, the dancing, the cooler-than-thou finger-wagging: this really belongs on the preposterous thread.
(sorry, the Preposterous thread. The capitalisation narrows it down a helluva lot)
Hey how brave was he though, to cut a single while his voice was actually still breaking and then go on the telly with five-a-side bumfluff? Is that not bravery, not commitment to one’s Art?
And only a few short years later, he was to show us that under those clothes he’d actually been naked all the time.
Preposterous, you say? Iconoclast, I say.
I like to think this was written about Paul Morley.
Bill Withers gets a mention in Plan B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCNLec2RZ70
Lucinda Williams also checks Neil Young in Ventura:
Take the long way home so I can ride around,
Put Neil Young on and turn up the sound.
Bruce Springsteen gets checked in Randy Newman’s My Life Is Good.
Too long to quote all the lyrics save for the key lines:
He said “Rand, I’m tired, how would you like to be The Boss for a while?”
Well, yes. Blow Big Man, blow.
‘Beatle bones and smoking Stones’; apparently, Lennon was not amused.
Nick Cave’s Higgs Boson Blues namechecks both Robert Johnson (“I see Robert Johnson with a ten dollar guitar strapped to his back, looking for a tune”) and, rather more surprisingly, Hannah Montana (“Hannah Montana, does the African savannah, as the simulated rainy season begins”).
Mr Johnson also gets a mensh from Lucinda Williams in Too Cool To Be Forgotten.
“We used to drive
Thru Lafayette and Baton Rouge
In a yellow Camino
Listening to Howling Wolf…”
And on Metal Firecracker there’s a reference to ZZ Top…
Graduate (featuring the chaps from Tears For Fears before they became Tears For Fears) had wise words of advice for Elvis Costello in their rather brilliant single Elvis Should Play Ska:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5xLNpfOF5ao
In Chris De Burgh’s Perfect Day he sings:
I brought along my old guitar,
And lying there beneath the stars,
We sang all the Beatle songs we knew,
Lord you should have heard those harmonies,
When we did Nowhere Man and Let It Be
That’s not a perfect day though, is it? That’s a crap, lemmeoutahere day is what that is. Silly ol’ Chris. Where’s Lou?
In praise of Asha Bhosle and several other ‘playback” singers.
I saw Neil Hannon cover this once about 20 years ago. My Mum is a big fan of the WACIB hitmaker so it struck a chord, but I’ve never listened to it again since so I thought I’d give it a go tonight. It’s not half bad.
American Music Club – Johnny Mathis’ Feet
“but I can’t get … *boing boing* … ‘Bouncing Babies’ by the Teardrop Explodes” according to The Freshies. This is a sentiment with which, 35 years on, our current vinyl fetishists can surely sympathise.
John Hiatt in “Memphis in the meantime” sings:
Until hell freezes over
Maybe you can wait that long
But I don’t think Ronnie Milsap’s gonna ever
Record this song
More Hiatt…
and..and…Hiatt clearly has a thing about this name-dropping business. In the song ‘Slow Turning’ he refers to his kids in the back of the car “banging like Charlie Watts”
Lennon’s on sale again, according to Life on Mars.
And people stared in Jagger’s eyes and scored, down the Drive-In Saturday.
Time – demanding Billy Dolls…
“Frank Zappa and the Mothers were at the best place around” – Deep Purple – Smoke on the Water
“Who”s that man moving ‘cross the stage? It looks a lot like the one used by Jimmy Page”
– Wings – Rockshow
Lord Van the Man of East Belfast, from “Cleaning Windows”:
I went home and listened to Jimmie Rodgers in my lunch-break
Bought five Woodbines at the shop on the corner
And went straight back to work.
And on “In the Days Before Rock & Roll” Van mentions Fats (Domino), Elvis, Sonny (Terry), Lightnin’ (Hopkins), Muddy (Waters), John Lee (Hooker), Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and, er, Lester Piggott
Yes, I thought of some of those names that you mention, Johnny, but in the end I couldn’t remember whether they came from the lyrics of real songs by Van Morrison, or the brilliant parodies that Colin H has treated us to on this board … or maybe both. Take me back. Take me WAY WAY back!
Lester Piggott??? It’s beyond parody, really, isn’t it?
‘TAKE ME BACK TAKE ME WAY BACK – Sidney Bechet, Louis XVII, Dickie Pride, Edward the Confessor, Popeye the Sailor, Hereward the Wake, Slade the Leveller, The Venerable Bede, Idi Amin, Billy Bunter, Harvey Smith HARVEY *!#~ING SMITH, Dennis the Menace, Ella Fitzgerald, Keith Chegwin, KELLY MARIE, Pablo Casals, EMILY PANKHURST, Greta Garbo, ELTON WELLESBY, MOTHER TERESA, ERNEST HEMINGWAY, BERT WEEDEN, DICKIE ‘CISCO’ BISHOP, THE BEVERLEY SISTERS, Liverpool Express, Dickie Valentine, Alma Cogan, Charlie Parker, all down the scout hut on Orangefild playin R’nB, R’n’B, ARANBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE – and it stoned me YES IT DID YES IT DID YES IT BLOODY WELL DID…’ [continues ad infinitum]
The Fall
‘What have you got in that paper bag? Is it a dose of vitamin C?
Ain’t got no time for Western medicine. I am Damo Suzuki.’
Vitamin C being of course a Can song sung by Damo Suzuki.
and Hard Life In The Country:
‘D. Bowie look-alikes
Permeate car parks’
Lucinda Williams: “Righteously”
Be my lover don’t play no game
Just play me John Coltrane
Joni Mitchell – “Furry Sings the Blues”
W. C. Handy, I’m rich and I’m fey
And I’m not familiar with what you played
But I get such strong impressions of your heyday…
Tom Tom Club – Genius of Love.
Mentions George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Smokey Robinson, Bob Marley, Sly and Robbie, Kurtis Blow and, of course, ‘James Brown, James Brown.’
Kurtis Blow is also mentioned in Blowfly’s incredibly puerile The Incredible Fulk:
Everyone thinks this song is about Smokey Robinson but it’s actually about the Living Next Door to Alice hitmakers Smokie.
Behave, Austin!
Joe Tex – You’re right Ray Charles – belter of a record.
If Joe Tex was a song, he’d like to be sung by the Rolling Stones, further mentions of BB King, Rufus Thomas and James Brown included.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHeP9mk7rIs
Scritti Politti – Tinseltown to the Boogiedown (from the rap bits by Lee Majors?)
‘From Lucille BB King, you’ve seen me rhyme’
The same track namechecks ‘Scritti’ several times, and Mos Def.
And I’m pretty sure that Scritti also Prayed like Aretha Franklin.
And wasn’t William it was Really Nothing about the late and much lamented Billy McKenzie?
‘Bout time someone posted this. Hi Eric!
Bonzos – The Intro And The Outro
HMHB – Irk the Purists (probably the most in one song):
Give me Love, give me Can, give me Meat Loaf
Give me Rush, give me Marquee Moon
Michael Ball, or The Fall
I could listen to them all
In the twilight or the afternoon
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
It’s a right good laugh
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
Irk the purists at the back
Hall & Oates, random Goth, Miles Davis
Patti Smith, Simply Red, Sly Stone
Be they false or for real, I don’t care and nor does Neil
Just so long as we can hear their song
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
It could well be an Olympic sport
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
If you’ve never, then you ought
HĂĽsker DĂĽ-DĂĽ-DĂĽ
Captain Beefheart, ELO
Chris de Burgh
Sun Ra
Del Amitri
John Coltrane
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
Come on now boy, you know it feels so right
Irk the purists
Irk the purists
Irk the purists tonight
Off the top of my head, here are a few..
Part-time Punks references Swell Maps and mentions the Lurkers directly
Grey Cortina mentions Bruce Springsteen
Punky Reggae Party refers to Dr Feelgood and a couple of others I can’t remember just now
Middle of the Road ( by Denim) includes loads including Elvis, Aretha, Eddie Cochran, the Stones, Marvin Gayr and ryhmes Chuck Berry and Leadbelly.
Walking in Memphis has WC Handy and Al Green
Drive by Truckers Ronnie and Neil mentions, err ,Ronnie and Neil. And DBTs Let there be Rock has Bon Scott, Ozzy, Randy Rhodes and Molly Hatchett, amongst others.
I Remember Punk Rock by Vic Reeves also mentions The Lurkers as part of a tour d’horizon of late-70s spiky-heads.
I remember Punk Rock,
Like it was only yesterday,
Oh, Mr. Buzzcock singing on my shoulder,
In that very special way.
Yes, I remember Punk Rock,
And I recall all those melodies,
By The Clash, The Adverts, Wire, Eater,
Not to mention ATV.
Well, The Generation X sang so sweetly,
While the Pistols ate their lunch,
The Damned had tea with The Lurkers,
Whilst X Ray Spex enjoyed brunch.
Well, The Vibrators sang so tenderly,
Whilst 999 had soup,
Richard Hell had The Slits round for coffee,
And Slaughter and The Dogs round too.
‘Turn down the Eagles, the neighbours are listening’. Everything You Said – Steely Dan
‘I tuned the strings, played some Jobim my hostess to repay’. Michael Franks – One Day in St Tropez
‘Paul Desmond on the stereo, we sip the sake very slow’. Michael Franks – Rainy Night In Tokyo
‘Baby’s just like Coltrane, Daddy’s just like Miles, Mom is just like Ella when she smiles’. Michael Franks – The Lady Wants To Know
Truthfully, you could list about twenty M Franks songs that namecheck other cats.
Jimmy Webb wrote a song for P.F. Sloan.
I do like Rumer’s version but here’s the original.
The Bangles’ Going Down To Liverpool:
“…Where you going with that UB40 in your hand?”
This is a joke, right?
Thank you for spotting that!
I mean how can anybody carry seven strapping Brummies in their hand? Especially when one’s got a baritone saxophone. It’s just not feasible!
WARNING – Self Publicity Alert !!
https://soundcloud.com/the-feedback-file/the-feedback-file-hey-didnt-you-used-to-be-bill-fay
It’s a heartily recommended slab of work. Well, *almost* all of it! I will expand more on the subject in the fullness of time…
There’s an Andy Roberts song, ‘Richmond’, from one of his 1970-71 solo LPs which eulogies ‘Jeff and The Tridents’ playing on ‘the island’ (Eel Pie Island) back in the day.
It was (a) presciently early for 60s nostalgia (before even Bowie’s ‘Pin Ups’), and (b) almost certainly the only song which has ever name-checked Jeff Beck, let alone his PRE Yardbirds act The Tridents. It’s a terrific song too – alas, not on YouTube. Covered by Shelagh McDonald in the early 70s too.
Well I like a good list song so one of my all time favourites is Life Is a Rock by Reunion (who I don’t think ever actually existed outside the studio. Here’s the lyrics:
B. B. Bumble and the Stingers, Mott the Hoople, Ray Charles Singers
Lonnie Mack and twangin’ Eddy, here’s my ring we’re goin’ steady
Take it easy, take me higher, liar liar, house on fire
Locomotion, Poco, Passion, Deeper Purple, Satisfaction
Baby baby gotta gotta gimme gimme gettin’ hotter
Sammy’s cookin’, Lesley Gore and Ritchie Valens, end of story
Mahavishnu, fujiyama, kama-sutra, rama-lama
Richard Perry, Spector, Barry, Righteous, Archies, Nilsson, Harry
Shimmy shimmy ko-ko bop and Fats is back and Finger Poppin’
Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
Gotta turn it up louder, so my DJ told me
Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldie
FM, AM, hits are clickin’ while the clock is tock-a-tickin’
Friends and Romans, salutations, Brenda and the Tabulations
Carly Simon, I behold her, Rolling Stones and centerfoldin’
Johnny Cash and Johnny Rivers, can’t stop now, I got the shivers
Mungo Jerry, Peter Peter Paul and Paul and Mary Mary
Dr. John the nightly tripper, Doris Day and Jack the Ripper
Gotta go Sir, gotta swelter, Leon Russell, Gimme Shelter
Miracles in smokey places, slide guitars and Fender basses
Mushroom omelet, Bonnie Bramlett, Wilson Pickett, stop and kick it
Life is a rock but the radio
Life is a rock but the radio
Arthur Janov’s primal screamin’, Hawkins, Jay and Dale and Ronnie
Kukla, Fran and Norman, Okla Denver, John and Osmond, Donny
JJ Cale and ZZ Top and LL Bean and De De Dinah
David Bowie, Steely Dan and sing me prouder, CC Rider
Edgar Winter, Joanie Sommers, Osmond Brothers, Johnny Thunders
Eric Clapton, pedal wah-wah, Stephen Foster, do-dah do-dah
Good Vibrations, Help Me Rhonda, Surfer Girl and Little Honda
Tighter, tighter, honey, honey, sugar, sugar, yummy, yummy
CBS and Warner Brothers, RCA and all the others
Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
Gotta turn it up louder, so my DJ told me
Life is a rock but the radio rolled me
At the end of my rainbow lies a golden oldie
Spoken: “Listen, remember, they’re playing our song”
Rock it, sock it, Alan Freed me, Murray Kaufman, try to leave me
Fish, and Swim, and Boston Monkey, Make it bad and play it funky
Freddie King and Albert King B.B. King and frolicking
Get it on and Nat Gerardi, Papalardi, Hale and Hearty
There’s a perfect more than human gentle words of Randy Newman;
One, two, three; so oh so please, I need a breather!
Tito Puente, Boffalongo, Cuba, War and even Mongo
(Line not credible) Peter Dial, Alex Hood, Boogie Brass
Whoo!!!
California, Beatlemania, New York City, Transylvania
S&G and (V&C?) and Bobby Vee and SRO, yeah yeah!
Conway Twitty, Do Wah Diddy
Conway Twitty, Do Wah Diddy
Wow!
Eddie Holman slows things down
You ask a girl to dance and get turned down.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_SNTBWeEwGc
There are a lot of namechecks in Todd Sniders Vinyl Records.
I wonder if this link will work…
Some distant memory tells me that on their debut album Gordon, Bare Naked Ladies namechecked their compatriots Rush. I really couldn’t be bothered researching any more detail, but a quick check of the track listing reveals title such as ‘Brian Wilson’, ‘Be My Yoko Ono’ and intriguingly ‘Enid’ regrettably without the definite article.
Not so much a literal namecheck but more a musical one – Grade 9 includes the opening riffs to Spirit Of Radio and Tom Sawyer.
faces of strummer fell from Roddy Frame’s wall in ‘Walk Out to Winter’, and the Clash and others attended Bob Marley’s ‘Punky Reggae Party’.
One of my first 45s was Dave Edmunds doing I Hear You Knocking. When the guitar solo comes in he shouts out – literally – names of older musicians. Fats Domino, easy enough. Smiley Lewis, it took me a while to get into Smiley but you should know his stuff. Chuck Berry – piece o’ piss (!)
But then, the last shout out, goes to ‘Jimmy Smith’. That one threw me. I was at school with Jimmy Smith but he wasn’t much of an influence on Dai as far as I know. It was many years before I learned of the Hammond Groover, Jimmy Smith.
I wonder why he used that name. There were other far more obvious names he could have shouted. Anyhow, Dave Edmunds introduced me to tons of older names over the years through his choice of material. And in April he’s playing a club in Manchester with The Flamin’ Groovies. Yup, same bill. Tickets already bought.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTwJr2NJmJQ
The Waterboys sang of The Return Of Jimi Hendrix.
A Pair Of Brown Eyes by The Pogues mentions Philomena Begley. And Making It Back by Richmond Fontaine has a line about listening to Summer In Siam by The Pogues. I am, however, as yet unable to complete the circle and find a Philomena Begley song about Richmond Fontaine…
Fairport Convention “Hungarian Rhapsody” We ain’t your Rolling Stones, we ain’t your T-Rex.
Richard Thompson Mingus Eyes
Jon Isherwood’s album A Laughing Cry has a song called Okay Yoko
Kenny G?
Richard’s with Pat on this one:
Mr Thompson again,Madonna’s Wedding and Dear Janet Jackson
Why did he do a song about Janet Jackson?
I’ll have to google that tomorrow at work. in the office. Maybe it would be quicker to do an image search.
Inspired by her Superbowl show ‘wardrobe malfunction’.
Babybird’s King Bing
That’s Bing Crosby in the title of course, and the charming Stephen Jones’s embittered rant about the state of modern pop music includes a bit of a go at Jamiroquai (and of course people who like them). Department of Shooting Fish in a Barrel, methinks, but in those days there wasn’t much of an internet as an outlet for that kind of bile.
If I say Geno Washington and Johnie Ray…….
You say Dexy’s Midnight Runners!
Geno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4v4a5ibFhw
Come on Eileen
“Poor old Johnnie Ray
Sounded sad upon the radio
Moved a million hearts in mono
Our mothers cried, sang along
Who would blame them?”
I believe that Mr Concheroo actually saw Geno live at some point. The Ram Jam band were quite something by all accounts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvQ6U-M6e8A
In the top clip our Kev really does look like Geoff from Plastics in The League of Gentlemen.
“Wolves did it!!”
“You know I’ve got this gun, right?!?!”
Donald Fagen thinks Brubeck is an artist, a pioneer
Cake think lions and tigers all get together when Frank Sinatra sings Stormy Weather
Foghorn Legwarmer listens to Marvin all night long
Billy Bragg takes off the Four Tops’ tape, and puts it back in its case
And don’t forget, the Nightfly plays nothing but blues and Elvis.
(And Sonny Rollins, of course. Crackin’ album, that)
Any excuse to give this bit of drollery a little more attention….
In You Get What You Give, The New Radicals rather splendidly threaten to kick the arse (well, they say “ass”, obviously) of Beck, Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson.
Seems a sensible idea, although I would prefer them not to harm the MmmBop Hitmakers.
I was leaving Emmylou by First Aid Kit for SteveT, but so far he hasn’t so it’s four for the price of one
“I’ll be your Emmylou and I’ll be your June
If you’ll be my Gram and my Johnny too
No, I’m not asking much of you
Just sing little darling, sing with me”
For anyone unfamiliar with country that’s Harris, Carter, Parsons and Cash respectively.
Soft Cell “it’s a mug’s game”
I’ll play all my records so loud!
All the ones he especially hates
Deep Purple in Rock, Led Zeppelin too!
(well, even *you* hate those)
“Johnny was a schoolboy when he heard his first Beatles song. Love Me Do I think it was and there it didn’t take him long long” – Bad Company – Shooting Star
Love that song – supposedly at least part-inspired by Kossoff?
Well, to be fair Love Me Do only lasts two and a half minutes.
A House – Endless Art
includes: Jimi Hendrix, Sid Vicious, Brian Jones, Otis Redding, Beethoven, Bach, Brahms
Elvis Presley, Johnny Ray, John Lennon and Ian Curtis.
All dead, yet still alive, in endless time, in endless art
and more in the updated version from 2006, including: Joe Strummer, Mick Ronson, Kirsty MacColl, Ian Dury and Joey, Dee Dee & Johnny Ramone
Suzi Quatro’s dismissal of the Krautrock pioneers – ‘Can the Can’.
She’s sort-of named after a song, of course. A very good one too.
Denim’s ‘Middle of the Road’ namechecks the following:
Rolling Stones, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, JL Hooker, Leadbelly, Otis Redding, Marvyn Gaye, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Phil Spector and Jerry Lee Lewis.
And do it all in a superb, crucial tune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jKo-YyavJU
So, one or two then 🙂
“They were mellow, they were yellow, they were wearing smell it blankets, they were Donovan fans – Frank Zappa – We’re Turning Again.
Alain mentions Janis, Jimi, Jim, Big Mama
Smelly blankets obvs
Not to mention in 200 Motels the somewhat gnomic appearance of “a pair of tennis shoes I got from Jeff Beck”
Yeah, Zappa’s stuff is full of such references – ie “Punky’s Whips” – “ever since that guy told you he contained more fluid than Jeff Beck”
And indeed the entire song is about Punky Meadows from the band Angel
I don’t know that one. Presumably the “fluid” in question these days would be henna (hyuk hyuk hyuk)
It’s a pun on his “fluid” guitar playing I assume
When FZ felt that Steve Vai was overdoing the rawk-geetar heroics onstage, he’d go up to him and whisper the codeword “SPOO” in his ear.
I won’t bother explaining what “spoo” is.
Then there’s
“She was an office girl (her name was Betty)
Her fav’rite group was HELEN REDDY
(they discussed the weather)”
from “Honey, Don’t You Want a Man Like Me”.
In later live renditions “HELEN REDDY” was replaced by “TWISTED SISTER”.
“Three unreleased recordings of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young fighting in the dressing room at the Fillmore East”
“I need some oom pa pah, nothing like Frank Zappa” – George Harrison – “Blood From A Clone”
Half Man Half Biscuit refused to go on after Chas & Dave. Instead, they found themselves going on after Crispy Ambulance.
Either Collins or Maconie reviewed Happy Mondays’ Bummed for NME in ’88. At the beginning of side two is one of the album’s many disembodied snippets of dialogue from the film Performance – somebody says “We’ve been courteous”. Hilariously Macollinsie misheard this as “With Ian Curtis”.
Hey, here’s an idea! Lets have, a-ha-ha-ah, a “Misheard Lyrics” thread!!
Me ears are alight! Nyo-ho-ho-ho!!
…….stop hitting me!
Just realised I am listening to Julian Cope singing ‘Bill Drummond Said’.
Was Bill Drummond a pop musician then yet as opposed to still being just a manager/impresario/bullshit artist?
Yep, I’ll just put that pedantry out there because I know how much it turns on the chicks.
Bill Drummond recorded a song called “I Killed Julian Cope” in reponse:
Duh Try again:
”
Bill Drummond recorded a song called “ Julian Cope is Dead” in response.
Isn’t it funny seeing him with a guitar, like some kind of… musician.
Over 150 posts and no-one has mentioned this one yet?
And there’s this of course. Don’t know whether Ludwig returned the complement or not.
was going to put this on so instead I’ll suggest Roger Ruskin Spear’s riposte
Shove Off Shostakovich, ..
Thom Yorke wanted to be The Lizard King in the early days…
(Anyone Can Play Guitar)
Grow my hair, grow my hair
I am Jim Morrison
Grow my hair
I wanna be wanna be wanna be Jim Morrison
Billy Joel name checks Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chubby Checker and Dylan in “We Didn’t Start the Fire”
Daft Punk is Playing at My House by LCD Soundsytem
Some top doo-wop names from Paul Simon:
Easily losing their evening clothes
They dance by the light of the moon
To The Penguins
The Moonglows
The Orioles
and The Five Satins
The deep forbidden music
They’d been longing for
Rene and Georgette Magritte
With their dog after the war
Eric Clapton on ukelele, Liberace on Clarinet and Count Basie Orchestra on triangle
Jerry Lee Lewis, John Lennon and T. Rex mentioned in Do You Remember Rock n Roll Radio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NF–bHavJs
Not to mention Victor “Ol’ Moulty” Molton, hook-handed drummer with the Barbarians…
LOVE that song!
He no longer believes in Elvis, Zimmerman or The Beatles, but recognises the existence by including them in song
John Lennon – God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9H8eVcL58s
Namecheck?….the entire song’s about R.E.M.
https://youtu.be/0DvVYwXqFEE
The Temptations, Ball of Confusion; “The Beatles new record’s a gas”
Frank Turner references Bob and Bruce on the England Keep my Bones album
I am disappeared –
“I keep having dreams
Of pioneers and pirate ships and Bob Dylan”
and “And by the roadside
With my thumb out
A car pulls up
And Bob’s driving
So I climb in
We don’t say a word”
And the on Redemption
“I was walking home to my house through the snow from the station
When the Springsteen came clear in my headphones with a pertinent question
Oh is love really real and do any of hope for redemption”
On Titus Andronicus’ oh so good albumThe Monitor, about an hour after he’s sang “tramps like us, baby we were born to die”, Patrick Stickles delivers the line “I’ve destroyed everything that wouldn’t make me more like Bruce Springsteen”
And the marvelous Noah and the Whale, on Give it all back.
I grew my hair to my shoulders
Formed a band with a couple of friends
And we called ourselves The Devils Playhouse
Influences like Bruce and The Band
And of course there’s this – “Roy Orbison singing for the lonely”
Have I missed this being posted? Surely we can’t have got this far without a mention:
A twofer.
Oh god, you’ve just reminded me that this once happened….
A roll call of British 60s r&b – covering a track (I forget by who) which did much the same for their American equivalents:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H58pDBf4hOA
The Undertones namecheck the Human Leauge in a song if I’m not mistaken?
Not a musician but a music biz executive – BA Robertson namechecked Johnny Frewin (to rhyme with “Life’s a Ruin”) in Bang Bang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjjuY5qetnw
If we’re doing record company execs too, then there’s always Seymour Stein by Belle and Sebastian.
“Hello Minnie, Moony, Vicious, Vicious, Buddy Holly, Sandy Denny.” sang wor Kate on Blow Away.