Rod Carew is in two–“Sure Shot” and “The Hanukkah Song”.
Joe DiMaggio is in “Mrs. Robinson.”
Belle and Sebastian have a song called “Piazza, New York Catcher.”
Which athlete is name-dropped the most in songs?
Rod Carew is in two–“Sure Shot” and “The Hanukkah Song”.
Joe DiMaggio is in “Mrs. Robinson.”
Belle and Sebastian have a song called “Piazza, New York Catcher.”
Which athlete is name-dropped the most in songs?
I dunno, but Slam magazine always has a short piece on basketball players name-dropped in current hip hop/rap music.
I remember, years ago, when a Slam subscriber wrote a letter with his own snatches of hip hop poetry:
Been booin’ at Ewing since ninety-two
His game duller than Will Purdue’s
Van Lingle Mungo probably has the most athlete’s name drops in a single song, but I don’t think anyone there was mentioned elsewhere.
The leaders in this category are certainly baseball players. Just as baseball generates the most books, there are a lot of baseball songs. (I like the nine-volume CD series Diamond Cuts myself, but that’s hardly exhaustive.) I’d guess Jackie Robinson gets the most checks.
Outside baseball, yes, basketball references in hip-hop, presumably led by Michael Jordan.
The flip side is poor, unnoticed hockey players; I can think of only one mainstream, non-hockey centric song dropping a name - Kid Rock’s Wasting Time.
Joe DiMaggio is also mentioned in Vogue.
DiMaggio is also mentioned in Tim Curry’s “I Do the Rock,” circa 1979, along with several others, incl. Virginia Wade, Pistol Pete (Maravich), OJ (Simpson) and Knute Rockne.
G Love has a song about schoolyard basketball. Dominique, Magic, Bird and Dr J are all mentioned.
From Steve Poltz’s “Silver Lining”:
*I used to rely on luck
To earn a honest buck
I didn’t feel so stuck
I didn’t limp around like John Kruk
Mike Tyson… LL COOL J… "Icing em like tyson I’m a soldier at war… "
John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” mentions real baseball stars Mays, Cobb, and DiMaggio, as well as the fictional Casey.
Song for Sonny Liston -Mark Knopfler
Black Superman -Johnny Wakelin & The Kinshasa Band (Muhammad Ali)
Hurricane -Bob Dylan (Rubin “Hurricane” Carter)
Who Killed Davey Moore -Bob Dylan
Bill Barilko of the Toronto Maple Leafs (1947 to 1951) has an entire Tragically Hip song devoted to him, ‘50 Mission Cap’.
Tyson is in the title role in the frankly weak DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince song “I Think I Could Beat Mike Tyson”.
Joe Pernice did a little better with his “Pega Luna Manny” (Ramirez) and “The Ballad of Bjorn Borg.”
House of Pain’s “Jump Around” includes the great line, “I’ll serve your ass like John McEnroe.”
On the ***Born to Laugh at Tornadoes ***album by Was (Not Was), Ozzy Osbourne does a rap number entitled “Shake Your Head.” It includes the line, “You can’t hit homers like Babe Ruth, can’t put your finger on the truth.”
Other Beastie Boys name drops include Anthony Mason (“Do It”) and Hawthorne Wingo (former Knick mentioned in “B-Boy Bouillabaisse”).
Billy Joel is a big sports fan, and has dropped a few names.
In “Zanzibar,” he mentions Pete Rose. “Rose, he knows he’s such a credit to the game, but the Yankees grab the headlines every time.”
And in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Billy mentions Joe Dimaggio, Sugar Ray (Robinson), (Rocky) Marciano, (Roy) Campanella, Mickey Mantle, (Sonny) Liston, and (Floyd) Patterson.
Another House of Pain track, “Top of the Morning to Ya,” mentions auto racing legend Mario Andretti. “Put the gear in, now you’re steerin’, like Mario Andretti.”
Southern Rappers, Dem Franchise Boyz ‘Ridin Rims’ mentions LeBron and Jordan
In the hit “Promiscuous,” Nelly Furtado paid tribute to her fellow Canadian, basketball star Steve Nash.
“Is that the truth or are you talking trash?
Is your game MVP like Steve Nash?”