Rolling Stones: “Ali McGraw got mad at you for giving head to Steve McQueen” (“Star Star”).
Leonard Cohen: “You were Marlon Brando, I was Steve McQueen” (“Is This What You Wanted”).
Eric Burdon & the Animals’ “Monterey” mentions Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, and Hugh Masakela. (I’d deem the last-name-only reference to Brian Jones too vague to qualify.)
And Joan Rivers (who has Elvis in her, but he’s tryin’ to get out, man! He’s tryin’ to get out!)
Dylan’s songs are full of people
In Desolation Row
Ezra Pound
TS Eliot
Einstein
Casnova
I Shall Be Free
Willy Mays
Martin Luther King
And President Kennedy calling me up, with advice to get Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren and Anita Ekberg to make the country grow. Plus, making love to Elizabeth Taylor and catching hell from Richard Burton.
Poor old William Zanzinger and Hattie Carroll.
Then there are songs about Catfish Hunter, Ruben Hurricane Carter, Joey Gallo, Lenny Bruce.
Recently, name checks include Alicia Keyes and Erica Jong - and Darwin.
Anthony Perkins in Motopsycho Nightmare.
And plenty more.
Greta Garbo and Monroe
Deitrich and DiMaggio
Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean
On the cover of a magazine
Grace Kelly, Harlow, Jean
Picture of a beauty queen
Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire
Ginger Rogers, dance on air
They had style, they had grace
Rita Hayworth gave good face
Lauren, Katherine, Lana too
Bette Davis, we love you
-Vogue.
I heard the Jimi Hendrix song “Fire” yesterday and realized that he mentions himself several times.
Done Too Soon by Neil Diamond.
Jesus Christ and Fannie Brice, Wolfie Mozart and Humphrey Bogart, etc.
Captain Smith and Pocahontas had a very mad affair in ‘Fever.’
John Kettley is a weatherman, and so is Michael Fish.
Ra-ra Rasputin, love of the Russian Queen.
Galileo by the Indigo Girls, and in Bohemian Rhapsody.
A couple of those are single names, but they’re either the surname or their only name.
Edmund Fitzgerald.
Al Stewart’s Past Present and Future album is full of historical references. “Post World War II Blues” mentions:
Aneurin Bevan
[Winston] Churchill
Louis Mountbatten
Buddy Holly
[Harold] Macmillan
Christine Keeler
Allen Ginsberg
Robert Kennedy
Jimi Hendrix
Other songs on the same album mention Nostradamus (of course), Napoleon, General [Heinz] Guderian, Richard Coeur de Leon, Warren Gameliel Harding, and Ernst Roehm.
That reminds me of Aneurin Bevan, your party is dead. I only knew the chorus, but apparently it’s called Guy Fawkes’ Table, which is another name, and it mentions Bush.
How about some obscure ones?
The Rapture “No Sex for Ben.” Though they change their victim’s surname, they do refer to Arthur Baker, a DJ -Producer they like.
Bard of Ely “You’re a Liar, Nicky Wire.” Nicky Wire is a member of the Manic Street Preachers.
Queen makes use of Captain Cook and Jimi Hendrix in The Miracle.
Warren Zevon mentions boxers
Bobby Chacon
(Arturo) Frias
Alexis Arguello
Du Koo Kim
in his song
Boom Boom Mancini
and Patty Hearst in another.
The Kinks’ “Celluloid Heroes”:
Greta Garbo
Rudolph Valentino
Bela Lugosi
Bette Davis
George Sanders
Mickey Rooney
Marilyn Monroe
We had a thread quite recently about songs that mention other musicians, right? So everything in there too.
Actually this band has a few songs about historical people.
Pablo Picasso
Billy The Kid
Judas
Mata Hari
Rocky Marciano
Punky Meadows from Frank Zappa’s song Punky’s Whips.
Lenny Bruce declares a truce…
Marshall McLuhan, casual viewin…
Groucho with his movies trailing…
Ku Klux Klan serve hot soul food…
Caryl Chessman sniffs the air…
There’s Howard Hughes in blue suede shoes…
—Genesis, “Broadway Melody of 1974”
The Mamas and The Papas Creque Alley mentions all four members of the group, plus Zal and Sebastin of The Loving Spponful and McGuinn and McGuire of the Byrds.
Joel also wrote an upbeat little song about Billy The Kid.
AND he did it in chronological order! (IMO, that was the most impressive part)
REM again: they name check Andy Kaufman and Fred Blassie in Man On The Moon.