“Hackensack” by Fountains of Wayne:
“I saw you talkin’ to Christopher Walken on my TV screen.”
“Car Jamming” The Clash
I thought I saw Lauren Bacall
“Born in the 50’s” Police
My mother cried when President Kennedy Died
“Streams of Whiskey” Pogues
Last night as I slept I dreamt I met with Behan
“Rain Street” Pogues
Judas took his measly price while St. Anthony gazed in awe at Christ
The Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil, “Anastasia screamed in vain,” and also “I shouted out who killed the Kennedys…”
The Seeker by The Who mentions the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Timothy Leary
Two more from Tom Paxton
Jesus Christ SRO:
Singing them rock and roll songs, by golly
Betcha you learned them from Buddy Holly
And one of my absolute favoritest Paxton rhymes ever:
I am changing my name to Chrysler.
I am going down to Washington D.C.
I will tell some power broker
What they did for Iacocca
Will be perfectly acceptable to me.
The mention of Jesus Christ reminds me that “Jesus Christ Superstar” mentions Buddha and Mohammed:
Buddha, is he were it’s at?
Is he where you are?
Could Mohammed move a mountain
or was that just P.R.?
There are a few more callouts in a later verse, thematically related:
The theme being, obviously, celebrities whose initials are “L.B.”. Because dream.
Jesus Christ SRO also has:
Jesus, we needed you here on Broadway.
Business wasn´t so good till you came through.
Cecil DeMille made a bundle with you,
But he never knew that you could boogaloo.
Now let me tell you what we´re gonna do for you,
We´ll put you on a T-shirt!
From “You’re the Top” by Cole Porter
“You’re the nimble tread of the feet of Fred Astaire.”
“You’re the top!
You’re Mahatma Gandhi.”
Others mentioned in the song include Napoleon, Greta Garbo, Coolidge, Dante, Jimmy Durante, and Lady Astor.
From “Anything Goes”:
“If Mae West you like.”
I searched this re-awakened threads, and couldn’t find mention Madonna’s ‘Vogue’, which namechecks a number of old-school celebrities:
The parody show Forbidden Broadway (There’s a Great White Way where the white is grey and the great is only okay) mentions lots of theatre people, but the original song has this line:
So if you dare cross your heart and swear
That these songs won’t leave this cafe.
Just a trifle rude and we might get sued.
This ain’t Saint Vincent Millay,
Bohemian Rhapsody:
I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me
(Galileo) Galileo, (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo Figaro magnifico
Pavement, “Range Life”:
*Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins
Nature kids, I, they don’t have no function
I don’t understand what they mean and I could really give a fuck
The Stone Temple Pilots, they’re elegant bachelors
They’re foxy to me, are they foxy to you?*
We’re An-i-man-i-acs
Dot is cute and Yakko yaks
Wakko packs away the snacks
While Bill Clinton plays the sax
We’re An-i-man-i-acs
Plus *Her hair is Harlow gold.
*
Their song “Monkey” mentions Ben Folds. Another references Richard Manuel. “Mrs Potter’s Lullaby” is essentially Adam Duritz singing to Monica Potter.
Simon & Garfunkel The Dangling Conversation
And you read your Emily Dickerson
And I my Robert Frost
And we note our place with book markers
That measure what we lost.
She was the most glorious creature under the sun.
Thaïs. Dubarry. Garbo. Rolled into one.
Broadway Melody of 1974 by Genesis:
Echoes of the Broadway Everglades
With her mythical madonnas still walking in their shades
Lenny Bruce, declares a truce
And plays his other hand
Marshall McLuhan, casual viewin’
Head buried in the sand
Sirens on the rooftops wailing
But there’s no ship sailing
Groucho, with his movies trailing
Stands alone with his punchline failing
Klu Klux Klan serve hot soul food
and the band plays ‘In the Mood’
The cheerleader waves her cyanide wand
There’s a smell of peach blossom and bitter almonde
Caryl Chessman sniffs the air and leads the parade
He knows in a scent, you can bottle all you made
There’s Howard Hughes in blue suede shoes
Smiling at the majorettes
Smoking Winston Cigarettes
Only his last name is used, but Pete Rose is mentioned in Billy Joel’s Zanzibar.
Rose, he knows he’s such a credit to the game
But the Yankees grab the headlines every time