# Rock Songs That Mention Other Musicians By Name **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 19, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625 "2007-03-19T21:01:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/61 "2007-03-20T01:19:05Z")
There’s this bit of fun nonsense from **The Hold Steady** in their song The Swish. _She said “my name’s Rick Danko baby, but people call me one hour photo.” … She said “my name’s Robby Robertson, but people call me Robo.” She said “my name’s Steve Perry baby, but people call me Circuit City.” … She said “my name’s Neil Schon, but people call me Nina Simone.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/62 "2007-03-20T01:21:49Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Actually, the ultimate song in this category may be [Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_a_Rock_(But_the_Radio_Rolled_Me)) ([lyrics here](http://www.twin-music.com/azlyrics/r_file/reunion.html)). [/QUOTE] Man, what a clomp down Memory Lane that song and its references were! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/63 "2007-03-20T01:23:43Z")
Tears For Fears manage to give props, dis, and namecheck two Paul Weller bands in “Sowing The Seeds Of Love”: [QUOTE=Wikipedia] Perhaps indicative of the growing British impatience with Weller, the line: “kick out the Style, bring back the Jam” was included in the Tears for Fears’ song, “Sowing The Seeds of Love.” [/QUOTE] Oi! I liked The Style Council (thought The Jam was much better). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/64 "2007-03-20T01:26:15Z")
In **the Intro and the Outro** , the Bonzo Dog Band mentions Eric Clapton, Val Doonican (a UK singer of the 60s), and The Rawlinsons (another UK musical act). Fred Astaire is mentioned in Leo Sayer’s **Long Tall Glasses** , but as a dancer, not a singer (though he was a fine singer, too). ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/65 "2007-03-20T01:36:06Z")
[QUOTE=Quint] **Pavement** ’s _Unseen Power of the Picket Fence_ starts with the lines: “Some bands I like to name-check, and one of them is REM.” [/QUOTE] Another Pavement song, “Range Life”: Out on tour with The Smashing Pumpkins Nature kids, they don’t have no function … The Stone Temple Pilots, they’re elegant bachelors They’re foxy to me - are they foxy to you? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/66 "2007-03-20T01:45:04Z")
**"Punk Rock Girl"** by **The Dead Milkmen** name-checks **Mojo Nixon**. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/67 "2007-03-20T01:45:42Z")
_Up on Cripple Creek,_ by The Band: _Me and my mate were back at the shack/we had Spike Jones on the box._ Box as in jukebox. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/68 "2007-03-20T01:46:52Z")
X-Ray Spex’s “Let’s Submerge” mentions “dagger glares from Richard Hell.” ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/69 "2007-03-20T01:52:09Z")
Snow Patrol mention Sufjan Stevens in the song “Hands Open”. “Put sufjan stevens on And we’ll play your favorite song “Chicago” bursts to life and your Sweet smile remembers you” ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/70 "2007-03-20T02:08:53Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Do all the cryptic references to other musicians in “[American Pie](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_398b.html)” count? [/QUOTE] No they don’t,per the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/71 "2007-03-20T02:21:15Z")
It’s hardly rock, but in “Little Ramona” by BR5-49, Ramona’s got Emmylou and Patti Smith on a 90-minute cassette! ---
**Author:** ![Baffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dec6dc/32.png) [@Baffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baffle)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/72 "2007-03-20T03:03:36Z")
Cake wrote a song called ‘Frank Sinatra’. BNL mentioned ‘Garfunkel’ in their song ‘If I Had A Million Dollars’. Bruce Springsteen sings about ‘Roy Orbison singing for the lonely’ in Thunder Road. Kiss is mentioned in ‘Surrender’ by Cheap Trick… I think someone already said that, though. The Clash, in London Calling: “Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust” New country songs, on the other hand, almost always name another, older, country artist. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/73 "2007-03-20T06:37:14Z")
Kate Bush’s “Blow Away” mentions Minnie Ripperton, Keith Moon, Sid Vicious, Buddy Holly, Sandy Denny, and Marc Bolan. It’s about a really eclectic, kickass gig in heaven. [QUOTE=crowmanyclouds] More that anyone needs to know 'bout “[Creeque Alley](http://www.creequealley.com/)” CMC fnord! [/QUOTE] Wow, thank you for the link. That’s always been my favorite song by them, but when it came out I was a young Kansas farmgirl who knew nothing about the band or their history or what the lyrics meant. I learned the words by heart and always sang along when it played on the radio (I think I had the single too), but it was in the way I sing along with the Bulgarian Chorus today since I don’t speak a word of Bulgarian, mouthing the words phoentically. I haven’t heard the song in a couple of decades, but now I want to find the song and listen to it with my new-found knowledge of what it all means. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/74 "2007-03-20T07:53:39Z")
**Sloan** disparagingly calls out **Consolidated** in _Coax Me_. Then there’s the godawful _Iggy & Angus_, which mentions, well, Iggy, Angus, as well as Kurt. But Patrick Pentland can’t write a decent song to save his life. Blech. Gimme Jay any day. ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/75 "2007-03-20T08:37:54Z")
I may have missed this since I only skimmed… Alan Jackson mentions Jimmy Buffett by name in “Five O’Clock Somewhere.” ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/76 "2007-03-20T09:08:37Z")
[QUOTE=Baffle] BNL mentioned ‘Garfunkel’ in their song ‘If I Had A Million Dollars’. [/QUOTE] Which is also on Gordon, incidentally. They REALLY had fun with namechecking on Gordon. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/77 "2007-03-20T09:11:50Z")
“Blind Lemon Jefferson is a-coming Tap tap tappin with his cane” - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - _Blind Lemon Jefferson_ _Tupelo_, from the same album (_The Firstborn is Dead_), is all about mythologising Elvis’ birth, but only mentions him as “The King”, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/78 "2007-03-20T09:28:46Z")
No love for Led Zeppelin? I’m surprised that [Hats off to (Roy) Harper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hats_Off_to_(Roy)_Harper) hasn’t been mentioned by now. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/79 "2007-03-20T09:39:49Z")
[God Gave Rock & Roll to You](http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/g/godgaverockrolltoyou.shtml) by [Argent](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argent_%28band%29): > [@](#): > > _Don’t step on snails, don’t climb in trees > Love [Cliff Richard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Richard) but please don’t tease_ [Walking in Memphis](http://www.asklyrics.com/display/Marc_Cohn/Walking_In_Memphis_Lyrics/115799.htm) by [Marc Cohn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Cohn): > [@](#): > > [W. C. Handy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.C._Handy) – won`t you look down over me Yeah I got a first class ticket But I`m as blue as a boy can be > … > Saw the ghost of **Elvis** > On Union Avenue > Followed him up to the gates of Graceland > Then I watched him walk right through ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625/80 "2007-03-20T10:03:22Z")
**The Righteous Brothers** mentioned **Huey Lewis** , **Bruce Springsteen** , and **Bob Seger** in “American Rock and Roll”. Not one of their better-known (or better) songs. The **New Radicals** mentioned **Beck** , **Hanson** , **Courtney Love** , and **Marilyn Manson** in their song “You Get What You Give”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-that-mention-other-musicians-by-name/396625.md?page=5)