For example, from The Supremes Back in My Arms Again
How can Mary tell me what to do
When she lost her love so true?
And Flo, she don’t know
'Cause the boy she loves is a Romeo
Or The Beatles’ Glass Onion
Well here’s another clue for you all
The walrus was Paul.
The Mamas & the Papas “Creeque Alley” is full of references to the group members and others.
Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room, Brownsville Station (my buddy Fang, and me and Paul)
Or the Motley Crue version (my buddy Sixx, Mick, and Tom)
Hey You Love by Mouth and MacNeal
The beginning of The Sweet’s Ballroom Blitz singer Brian Connelly check in:
Are you ready Steve?
Mick?
Andy?
All right fellas, let’s gooooo!!!
Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show’s The Cover of the Rolling Stone starts with someone saying “Hey Ray, hey Sugar, tell 'em who we are!” Ray is band member Ray Sawyer. I’m not sure who Sugar is.
“Hey Paula” by Paul and Paula
Plus “John and Michy” (John & Michelle Phillips).
Jethro Tull had several songs that alluded to “Jeffrey.” That was former band member Jeffrey Hammond (Ian Anderson renamed him Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond). Among the tunes: “Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square,” “A Song for Jeffrey,” and “For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me.”
George Harrison wasn’t in the Beatles any more when he wrote “Living in the Material World,” but the lyrics allude to “Richie” (Ringo).
The White Stripes song “It’s True That We Love One Another” is practically a conversation, lots of mentions of Jack and Meg’s names.
Bruce Springsteen’s “10th Avenue Freeze-Out” is about the formation of the E Street Band, and while it doesn’t say Clarence Clemons’ name, it alludes to “the Big Man.”
In the Bob Dylan parody “A Simple Desultory Philippic” by Simon and Garfunkel, the lyrics say " I’ve been Mothered, Fathered, Aunt & Uncled, Roy Haleed and Art Garfunkeled." (Roy Halee was their producer.)
“The Absence of God” by Rilo Kiley names a few people who are band friends, not members, but…
Mike, I’ll teach you how to swim
If you turn the bad in me into good again
…was Mike Bloom who did a stint with the band during that album period.
Now that I mention it, “Papillon” has the line “Oh my God, Blake” in reference to band member Blake Sennett.
I don’t know if it counts, because technically it’s not part of the lyrics, but in Neil Young’s “Speakin’ Out” from Tonight’s The Night, just before Nils Lofgren’s solo Neil says “Alright, Nils, alright”.
Van Halen - Ice Cream Man: “Better look out now 'cause Dave’s got something for you.”
Van Halen - Unchained: “C’mon, Dave. Give me a break.”
In "The Bride Stripped Bare by ‘Bachelors’’ by the Bonzo Dog Band, the lyrics mention band members “Legs Larry” (Smith), Mr. (Rodney) Slater, and Neil (Innes).
Another of their songs was “Mr. Slater’s Parrot.”
“My Pink Half of the Drainpipe” has the lyric “Rodney’s bass saxophone solo as promised.”
And, of course, “The Intro and the Outro” introduces all the members of the band: Vivian Stanshall, Neil Innes, Legs Larry Smith, Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell, Sam Spoons, Roger Spear, Rodney Slater, John Wayne, Robert Morley, General de Gaulle, Adolph Hitler, Liberace, Eric Clapton . . . .
From The Kinks’ autobiographical song “The Road”:
Pete played on the bass guitar
Liked to get around, mixing with all the stars
But Mrs. Avory’s child was all fingers and thumbs
But solid as a rock, setting time on the drums
While Dave the Rave hit the rock ‘n’ roll riffs
Yours truly strummed away with a slightly limp wrist
From They Might Be Giants’ “They Got Lost”:
John said to John
“I think we make a left at the light
There should be a big ‘B’
assuming this map is right”
John looked over and he said,
“Hey, no it’s not
It’s a crumpled up wrapper
From the fast food that we got”
The Eighties incarnation of King Crimson had a novelty song called “Crimson Barbershop,” which mentioned all four members of the group by name (bassist Tony Levin did all the vocals by himself).
“I’m Tonyyyyyyyy
I’m Billyyyyyyyy
I’m Bobbyyyyyyy
I’m Belew.
We’re here to sing and play for you
Oh we’re the King Crimson band – and don’t you know it
We’re the best in all the land – all the land
We play bass and the drums and guitar for you
And if you really want we’ll throw the Stick in too
Oh we’re the King Crimson band (on EG Records)
And you know we think that’s grand
So settle back to have some fun
And tap your foot in 21.”
“The Ballad of Mott the Hoople” contains these lines
“Buffin lost his childlike dreams
And Mick lost his guitar.
And Verden grew a line or two
And Overend’s just a rock & roll star.”
Dale “Buffin” Griffin was their rummer, Mick Ralphs was their guitarist, Pete “Overend” Watts was their bassist, and Verden Allen was their organist.
Basically every rap song, ever.
Old 97s - “The One”. Basically the band pulling off a bank heist.
*I got a check for nothing
All made out to someone
I truly love – myself.
Murry says we’re going take the money sometime
Well it might as well be this time
We’re gonna spend it all on ourselves
Ken picked this bank at random
I said “Do we shoot them?”
He said either way’s alright.
Whistling Boy that’s Phillip he’s our drummer
He does the Theme From Endless Summer
You know he’s waiting out in our ride.*
Belle & Sebastian “This is Just a Modern Rock Song”
*“Stevie’s full of good intentions
Rich is in to rock ‘n roll
Stuart’s stayin’ in and he thinks it’s a sin
that he has to leave the house at all.”
*
Also the Dead Milkmen song “Bitchin’ Camaro” starts with Rodney asking Jack “Hey Jack, what’s happenin?”