“Sympathy For the Devil”: The Rolling Stones–The Kennedys, etc.
“Margaret on the Guillotine”: Morrissey–Margaret Thatcher
and while I’m at it . . .
“The Last of the Famous International Playboys”: Morrissey–Reggie and Ronnie Kray
One of my favourite pseudo-pop songs:
- Liveonrelease
Also, this one from some time back, sung by Tim Curry, which is pretty much the ultimate name dropping song:
Going back a bit:
“Though she’s just a simple little ribbon clerk,
Close your eyes and think you’re kissing Billie Burke”
——(from “Take Your Girlie to the Movies”)
“She’s as bold as Theda Bara,
Theda’s bare, but Becky’s barer!”
——(from “Rebecca’s Back from Mecca”)
“I’ll bet my socks that this new Ford
Will live as long as Fannie Ward”
——(from “Henry’s Made a Lady out of Lizzie”)
Well, let’s see…“We Didn’t Start the Fire”
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Johnnie Ray, Walter Winchell, Joe Dimaggio. Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Marilyn Monroe.
Rosenbergs, Sugar Ray (Robinson), Brando, Eisenhower, Marciano, Liberace, Santayana.
Josef Stalin, Georgi Malenkov, Nasser, Prokopfiev, Rockefeller, Campanella.
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini. Einstein, James Dean, Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley.
Bridget Bardot, Nikita Khruschev, Princess Grace.
Charles DeGaulle, Charles Starkweather. Buddy Holly, Fidel Castro.
Kennedy, Chubby Checker. Ernest Hemingway, Bob Dylan.
the Beatles, John Glenn, Pope Paul, Malcolm X, JFK.
Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Sally Ride, Bernard Goetz.
This is from memory, so I may have missed a person or three here and there.
I’ve always heard that it’s an open secret Carly Simon was referring to Warren Beatty in “You’re So Vain,” but I can’t confirm that.
Hello by the Beloved
So welcome to the world, yeah…
All you late-comers, just step on board.
I’m happy, glad you came.
So welcome home again!
Sometimes I feel we must be going mad.
Hello Peter, hello Paul,
Saints and sinners, welcome all.
Tommy Cannon and Bobby Boy…
Hello, hello, hello, hello.
Consider, if you will
This great big question, unanswered still :
Oh, can you spot the difference that lies between
The colour blue and the colour green?
Sometimes I feel we must be going mad.
Little Richard, Little Nell,
Willie Wonka and William Tell,
Salman Rushdie and Kim Basell,
Hello, hello, hello, hello…
So welcome to the team.
Oh, have you worked it out yet?
Yeah – the riddle, I mean.
What’s the answer?
It’s plain to see – blue is blue and it always will be.
Sometimes I feel that the whole world’s going mad.
Mork and Mindy, Brian Hayes,
Barry Humphries and Paris Grey,
Little Neitzsche, Christian Doe,
Hello, hello, hello, hello
Billy Corkhill, Vince Hillaire, Freddy Flintstone, Fred Estaire,
Desmond Tutu, Stephen Blair,
Hello, hello, hello, hello.
Charlie Parker, Charlie Brown, Leslie Crowder, come on down.
Mary Wilson, Diane Flow,
Hello, hello, hello, hello.
(??? no idea ???), Jean-Paul Sartre, Sydney Bungle, Jeffrey Archer,
Andre Previn and the L.S.O.,
Hello, hello, hello, hello.
Hello!
Hi Dyno!
“If you need me, me and Neil’ll be
hangin’ out with the Dream King
Neil says hi by the way”
from Tori Amos’ “Tear in My Hand” is a reference to Neil Gaiman.
“Garden Party” by Rick Nelson
“Yoko brought her Walrus, there was magic in the air.”
“Summer Rain” by Johnny Rivers mentions Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
And “Sexy Sadie” is about the Maharishi himself (it was originally titled “Maharishi”). There’s also “Julia,” which is about John’s mom.
The “Intro” to India.Arie’s album is full of her inspirations–marvin Gaye, et al.
“Poor old Johnny Raaaaaayyyyy…”
(from “Come on Eileen”)
And hey, we could start a whole thread of just Margaret Thatcher references. How about “Tramp the Dirt Down” by Elvis Costello, a charming little number about dancing on Maggie’s grave. (“When England was the whore of the world, Margaret was her madame…”)
Up Eve’s alley, there’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz”:
Dressed up like a million dollar trooper
Tryin’ hard to look like Gary Cooper
(Super duper!)
“Tin Soldiers and Nixon’s coming, we’re finally on our own” Ohio CSNY
“Roy Orbison singing for the lonely” Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen
“Peter Brown called to say, we can make it OK” Ballad of John and Yoko, The Beatles (Peter Brown worked for Apple)
Oh, hey, what about REM’s End of the World As We Know It?
Leonard Bernstein!
(and probably several others, but they’re going too damn fast for me…)
And of course the insufferable, bloated Billy Joel (who has written nothing worth hearing since the Carter Administration) basically ripped off a much better song by insufferable, bloated (but infinitely more interesting) REM: It’s the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine):
Lenny Bruce, Leonard Bernstein, Leonid Brezhnev, and Lester Bangs.
Has Joel written anything since 1978 that hasn’t been just thuddingly literal-minded?
It’s a shame about Ray…
Shit if I know who Ray is, though!
(Apologies to Auntie Em!) 
If There’s a Rock and Roll Heaven by the Righteous Brothers mentions Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, and several other singers who had died by the time the song was released in the early '70s.
No One by BoDeans (anyone else remember them?) has a great line about a “fallen angel in blue, like an Orbison song…”
And then there’s all the old Scottish Jacobite songs about Bonnie Prince Charlie…
In homage to HappyHeathen’s Hijacked thread that refuses to die in Café Society, I’ll nominate “Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)” from 1974 by Reunion. [ul]
[li]B.B. Bumble and the Stingers[/li][li]Mott the Hoople[/li][li]Ray Charles Singers[/li][li]Lonnie Mack [/li][li]Twangin’ (Duane?) Eddy [/li][li]Poco[/li][li]Passion[/li][li]Deep Purple[/li][li]Lesley Gore[/li][li]Ritchie Valens[/li][li]Richard Perry[/li][li]Sammy (Davis Jr?)[/li]li Spector[/li][li]Barry (White?)[/li][li]Archies[/li][li]Righteous (Brothers)[/li][li] (Harry) Nilsson[/li][li]Fats (Domino)[/li][li]Brenda and the Tabulations[/li][li]Carly Simon[/li][li]Rolling Stones[/li][li]Johnny Cash[/li][li]Johnny Rivers[/li][li]Mungo Jerry[/li][li]Peter Paul and Mary[/li][li]Dr. John [/li][li]Doris Day [/li][li]Jack the Ripper[/li][li]Leon Russell [/li][li]Miracles [/li][li]Bonnie Bramlett[/li][li]Wilson Pickett [/li][li]Arthur Janov[/li][li]Screamin’ (Jay) Hawkins [/li][li]Dale and Ronnie [/li][li]Kukla, Fran and Norma Okla[/li][li] (John) Denver [/li][li] (Donny) Osmond [/li][li]JJ Cale [/li][li]ZZ Top [/li][li]LL Bean [/li][li]Dinah[/li][li]David Bowie [/li][li]Steely Dan [/li][li]Edgar Winter [/li][li]Joanie Sommers [/li][li]Osmond Brothers [/li][li]Johnny Thunders[/li][li]Eric Clapton[/li][li]Stephen Foster [/li]CBS, Warner Brothers, RCA and all the others: Which in my opinion sounds a whole lot better than Sony, AOL, Bertelsmann & the other 2.[/ul]
Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - “You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day”
Madonna - Vogue - Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and a few others…
Sheryl Crow’s version of A Change Will Do You Good mentions Mercedes Reuhl (sp?) and Richard Lear
Let’s see…
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The Kinks’ “Celluloid Heroes” mentions a host of movie stars (including Marilyn Monroe, Bela Lugosi, and Greta Garbo).
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The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” alludes to Edgar Allan Poe.
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The Beatles’ “Taxman” mentions British politicians “Mr. (Harold) Wilson” and “Mr. (Edward) Heath.”
-
The Beatles’ “Revolution” mentions Chairman Mao.
-
The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” mentions (Vladimir) Nabokov.
-
Rod Stewart’s “Every Picture Tells a Story” mentions “Dickens, Shelley or Keats.”
-
Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Dangling Conversation” mentions Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost.
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John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” mentions Willie (Mays), Ty Cobb and Joe Dimaggio.
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Tom Petty’s “Running Down a Dream” pays homage to Del Shannon ("Me and Del were singing ‘Little Runaway’).
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George Jones’ country hit “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes” mentions just about every legend of coiuntry music.
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Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “I Feel Lucky” names Dwight Yoakam and Lyle Lovett.