# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/121 "2014-02-23T01:41:03Z")
“The Ballad of Mott the Hoople” by Mott the Hoople name checks every member of the band except vocalist Ian Hunter. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/122 "2014-02-24T15:25:01Z")
Manfred Mann’s “5-4-3-2-1” places the band in historical situations: _The Trojans waited at the gate for weeks (5- 4-3-2-1) In a wooden horse to the city they sneaked (5-4-3-2-1) Who let them in? Was it the Greeks? (5-4-3-2-1) Uh-uh, it was the Manfreds!_ ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/123 "2014-02-24T15:28:27Z")
I guess “Do the Freddie” by Freddie & the Dreamers is about as self-referential as you can get… did that one get mentioned yet? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/124 "2014-02-24T18:53:47Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Or the **Motley Crue** version: > “My buddies Sixx, Mick & Tom > To get caught would surely be the death of us all” From Motley Crue’s “Bad Boy Boogie”: “Better lock up your daughter when the Motley’s hit the road” Or from “Girls Girls Girls”, the spoken bit: “Hey, Tommy!” “What, Vince?” A partial one, from ZZ Top’s “Party On The Patio”: “Billy G. was passed out underneath the sink” ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/125 "2014-02-24T19:05:38Z")
How about Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop) by **Scatman John**? Honorable mention for “Thats not my name” by **The Ting Tings** ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/126 "2014-02-24T20:52:25Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > “The Ballad of Mott the Hoople” by Mott the Hoople name checks every member of the band except vocalist Ian Hunter. He does refer to himself in the song, though: “Behind these shades, The visions fade, As I learn a thing or two, Ah, but if I had my time again, You all know just what I’d do.” The Clash’s Mick Jones was a massive Mott fan in his youth,which helps to explain why The Clash duplicated Mott’s habit of writing self-mythologising songs about their own band. It was a passing of the torch among two great English bands of the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822/127 "2014-02-24T21:23:39Z")
After taking about 15 years off, ELO returned in 2001 with a new album, _Zoom_. By that point, the band was pretty much just Jeff Lynne, with a bit of help from some session musicians. On one song, “[Easy Money](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnb_4dPkGJQ)”, the singer (Jeff Lynne) calls out to the guitarist (Jeff Lynne), with “Take it, Jeff”, before the guitar solo (it’s at about 1:28). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-checking-yourself-in-rock-music/681822.md?page=6)