Two more tributes to Smokey Robinson - both by George Harrison.
During the rap section of the Blondie song Rapture there are references to Grandmaster Flash
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Donna Summer and Dinner With Gershwin
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Peter Sarstedt with Where Do You Go To (My Lovely) which mentions The Rolling Stones and (French singer) Sacha Distel
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Johnny Cash and June Carter, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. Plus, it’s sung to one of the subjects.
See, I interpret that in almost the exact opposite way. Robin is a fake. Robin claims that Sinatra is good. Clearly Sinatra must therefore be bad.
That’s art for you - always room to interpret it differently. Eh, in any case I was just funning over another musician in a Dexys song.
j
The Drive-By Truckers got a song called Carl Perkin’s Cadillac which is mostly about Elvis.
Roger Daltrey’s “Under a Raging Moon” is a tribute to a former bandmate, drummer Keith Moon, who had passed away a few years earlier.
Their “Southern Rock Opera” is a whole album about the history of Lynyrd Skynyrd. The song “Ronnie And Neil” is of course about Ronnie Van Zant and Neil Young:
I can’t confirm it, but their song Assholes has just got to be about Jason.
In 1971, in the wake of the Beatles’ bitter breakup, Lennon wrote “How Do You Sleep”, a bitchfest about Paul McCartney.
Deacon Blue’s Real Gone Kid is about Lone Justice singer Maria McKee (McKee probably better known for her solo hit Show Me Heaven from the Tom Cruise film ****)
Deacon Blue’s Fergus Sings The Blues references Homesick James and James & Bobby Purify
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She Said by Plan B references ‘That song by The Zutons, Valerie’ (which is the song which became better known with the version by Mark Ronson and featuring Amy Winehouse on vocals)
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A hilarious song by Shel Silverstein about trying to get A Front Row Seat to Hear Ole Johnny Sing.
My favourite Clash song (and video) London Calling mentions ‘Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust.’
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Several interpretations have been put forward to explain the meaning of Crowded House’s Black and White Boy. The most prosaic is it’s a tribute to Neil Finn’s (Finn the singer and song writer) pet Dalmatian dog Lester. Quite possible, especially since there is another Crowded House song, Lester, which is pretty definitely about the dog.
However many feel Black And White Boy is clearly referencing Crowded House’s drummer Paul Hester who was bipolar and suffered wild mood swings which could explain the title. Sadly Hester committed suicide.
A less likely, but still possible, theory has the song describing Phil Judd. He’s the guitarist in Split Enz, the band Neil Finn was in before he formed Crowded House. He has also been diagnosed bipolar.
Bonus video of Weather With You. The Dalmatian seen in this video is Lester.
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Peter, Paul and Mary give a nod here to the Beatles, Donovan, and especially the Mamas and the Papas.
Has Diana Ross’s elegy to Marvin Gaye been mentioned? Always liked that chorus - maybe her finest moment, IMO.
I prefer the response to that number, which mentions a bunch of rockers who died early:
For fans of Black Sabbath guitarist Tommy Iommi, you can swoon about him in the Dayglo Abortion’s “Black Sabbath” (they got the title wrong, there!)
Mark E. Smith gets briefly self-referential (this is, Mr, and Mrs, Smith, to whom, you are speaking) in “Slang King”.
“Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?” by George Jones. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who%27s_Gonna_Fill_Their_Shoes_(song)
Jones sings of the irreplacibility of country music legends including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, Roy Acuff, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Hank Williams, Marty Robbins, and Lefty Frizzell. After remarking about these singers’ impacts on country music, he wonders who will replace them when they’re gone - hence, the title line - and thus become legends in their own right.
Diss track, 1930-style:
