# Name-Checking Yourself In Rock Music **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822 "2014-02-20T21:38:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/41 "2014-02-21T01:20:47Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Devo mentions their name in a number of songs, but usually it’s used as an adjective (i.e. “we’re all Devo”), so that prolly doesn’t count, but I thought of it so I’m posting it anyway. 😃 The one that comes to mind is “Jocko Homo,” where they sing “We Are Devo!” so, yeah, that certainly counts. ---
**Author:** ![mortal\_wombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mortal\_wombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mortal_wombat)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/42 "2014-02-21T01:22:16Z")
“Gorillaz got the bass drum” M1A1 - Gorillaz. JSexton - I was thinking of This is Radio Clash as soon as I saw the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/43 "2014-02-21T01:44:54Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > “Wilco (the Song)” by \*\*Wilco \*\*has the lyric _Wilco will love you baby._ > > **Old 97s** ’ “Barrier Reef” contains the line “My name’s Stuart Ransom Miller” which many think is Rhett Miller name-checking himself but it’s actually a song about his dad. Rhett himself is Stewart Ransom Miller II and his dad is the original. There is also the **Old 97s** song “The One” which name-checks the members of the band as participants in a bank heist. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/44 "2014-02-21T01:45:08Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Deep Purple’s shoutout to Frank Zappa & the Mothers is the first thing that comes to my mind. > > Lynyrd Skynyrd’s mention of how they don’t need Neil Young around, anyhow, was the 2nd. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > When I saw Warren Zevon solo in a small club, he added the following line to “Werewolves of London”: > > “…better stay away from him; he’ll rip your lungs out, Jim!” (long pause) “He was lookin’ for Jimmy Buffett.” (Picks up on the riff.) I’m not sure how any of those fit… The partially dissolved **Clash** had a song called “We Are the Clash”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/45 "2014-02-21T01:46:40Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > “Shake it don’t break it - wrap it up and Jerry Lee Lewis will be glad to take it!” Same sort of idea, Clarence Carter in “Strokin’” ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/46 "2014-02-21T01:52:27Z")
Chaka Khan, “I Feel for You.” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/47 "2014-02-21T02:06:19Z")
Heeeeeeey, **Bo Diddley**! ---
**Author:** ![Goofus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@Goofus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goofus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/48 "2014-02-21T02:21:03Z")
Canned Heat, [Fried Hockey Boogie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHsEW0nUvII) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/49 "2014-02-21T02:28:07Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Heeeeeeey, **Bo Diddley**! Damn, how’d I miss that one? > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > You are obviously a person of towering intellect and impeccable taste! > > I am pleased to welcome you into my permanent circle of friends: **Gabba gabba we accept you, we accept you one of us!** Heh, you may want to retract that in a second. 🙂 Big Country kind of did it in their hit song “Big Country”\* from their album _Big Country_ \*ok, ok, the real title is “In a Big Country”, but it reads better my way. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/50 "2014-02-21T02:49:48Z")
“We are the Pipettes We will drop you in our nets If you haven’t noticed yet We’re the prettiest girls you ever met!” ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/51 "2014-02-21T02:52:56Z")
In [Luckenbach, Texas](http://youtu.be/xvZeYDBY4fw), Waylon Jennings name-checks himself, then Willie Nelson name-checks himself. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/52 "2014-02-21T02:57:11Z")
In [Strange](http://youtu.be/TSZrmoNRgHQ) by R.E.M., Michael Stipe name-checks himself. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/53 "2014-02-21T03:01:42Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > In [Strange](http://youtu.be/TSZrmoNRgHQ) by R.E.M., Michael Stipe name-checks himself. For some reason when I was coming up with my examples I was specifically wondering if REM had done it. And I’m not particularly a fan or anything so it was a weird thought for me to have. Very happy to see this come up - you were meant to post it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/54 "2014-02-21T03:07:59Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Damn, how’d I miss that one? > > Heh, you may want to retract that in a second. 🙂 > Big Country kind of did it in their hit song “Big Country”\* from their album _Big Country_ > > \*ok, ok, the real title is “In a Big Country”, but it reads better my way. haha I just listened to that album last week; saw them play back in 1983 with another great band, Wire Train, opening. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/55 "2014-02-21T03:12:57Z")
Like father, like son: In [Dear John](http://youtu.be/ckCDMebSbkk), **Hank Williams** name-checks himself. \*\* Hank Williams, Jr.\*\* name-checks himself in [Family Tradition](http://youtu.be/xd0TGfZSACI). On a separate but related note, **Jason Ringenberg** of **Jason and the Scorchers** name-checks himself in [Broken Whiskey Glass](http://youtu.be/jJf_ZX5Zlbs). ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/56 "2014-02-21T03:28:33Z")
In Peru, it’s very common for traditional groups/singers to name-check in basically every song ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/57 "2014-02-21T03:28:39Z")
**Roy Orbison** name-checks himself in [Mean Woman Blues](http://youtu.be/A3McyEjVnSs). **Jerry Reed** name-checks himself in [When You’re Hot, You’re Hot](http://youtu.be/0rdF7o08KXw). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/58 "2014-02-21T03:36:22Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > In Peru, it’s very common for traditional groups/singers to name-check in basically every song Interesting! Do you know of other cultures that do this? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/59 "2014-02-21T03:36:52Z")
_And all the good people down in Tennessee Are diggin’ Barefoot Jerry and C.D.B_-**The South’s Gonna Do it (Again)**-Charlie Daniels Band ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/60 "2014-02-21T03:38:15Z")
Back around '76: “Ballroom Blitz,” by **Sweet** ; the singer asks the other band members, by name, if they’re ready to go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822.md?page=4)