“Roll over Bethoven” the father of R&R Chuck Berry
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.”
The Who’s The Seeker mentions Bobby Dylan and The Beatles.
“Smoke on the Water” also mentioned the Rolling Stones (sort of).
*
But with the rolling truck stones thing just outside
Making our music there*
refers to the mobile studio Deep Purple rented from the Stones to record most of the tracks for their album Machine Head.
I didn’t see Buddy Holly by Weezer mentioned.
Counting Crows mention Dylan in “Mr. Jones.”
So does Lennon in the Beatles’ “Yer Blues.”
In “Rock and Roll Never Forgets” Seger references Chuck Berry: “All Chuck’s children are out there playing his licks.”
I’ve always found it delightful that They Might Be Giants mention both the dB’s and The Young Fresh Fellows in their song Twisting.
The Who’s “Mirror Door”:
Van Morrison: Jackie Wilson Said (I’m in Heaven When You Smile)
Mary Prankster’s ‘Punk Rock Heaven’ namechecks Gigi Allin and Kurt Cobain.
Frank Zappa sang Bobby Brown is going down. Although clearly not in reference to the other Bobby Brown so may not count
James sang Just Like Fred Astaire.
Reminiscing by The Little River Band mentions Glenn Miller and Cole Porter
And then there’s their song “XTC vs. Adam Ant”…
Sheryl Crow namechecks The Clash in “You’re An Original.”
Another Sinatra reference:
So he takes a ladder
Steals the stars from the sky
Puts on Sinatra and starts to cry
Steven Bishop, “On and On”
The Kinks’ “One of the Survivors” mentions Jerry Lee Lewis, Dion and the Belmonts, Johnny and the Hurricanes, Hollywood Argyles, Danny & the Juniors.
And their (autobiographical) song “The Road” mentions the Rolling Stones, Who, Led Zeppelin, and Free.
Do all the cryptic references to other musicians in “American Pie” count?
And another TMBG song is “We’re The Replacements” which not only mentions The Replacements, it makes fun of the disappearance of Tommy Stinson and the time when their instruments were stolen while they were touring.
I have a theory which I hope to someday be able to check with Flans & Linnell that the song was written in response to an article in Rolling Stone (I think) entitled “They Might Be Giants” which was about The Replacements.
Actually, the ultimate song in this category may be Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me) (lyrics here).