# Songs with impressions of other singers/groups **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474 "2016-01-08T04:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/1 "2016-01-08T04:44:18Z")
I was listening to “I Dig Rock and Roll Music” and enjoyed Peter, Paul and Mary’s impressions/imitations of The Mamas and The Papas, Donovan and The Beatles. It brought to mind the version of Simple Twist of Fate where Joan Baez imitates Dylan for a verse. Others? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/2 "2016-01-08T05:04:28Z")
The Bangles’ “[Gliiter Years](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u9rAOx20dk)” has a Bowie imitation at about 2:35. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/3 "2016-01-08T08:46:41Z")
Mika’s [Grace Kelly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CGVgAYJyjk) has him impersonating Freddie Mercury. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/4 "2016-01-08T11:34:06Z")
Frank Zappa’s [Flakes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgyeUHH_V0g) has a funny Bob Dylan parody section, done by Adrian Belew, I think. I don’t know if instrumental impressions count, but there’s a great song named [Guitar Heroes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abFBhMdbjIo) on Richard Thompson’s latest album _Still_ where he plays in the style of Django Reinhardt, Les Paul, Chuck Berry, James Burton, Hank Marvin, and, well, Richard Thompson. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/5 "2016-01-08T11:45:51Z")
“Rio” by [del]Duran Duran[/del] [Goldfinger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dIpGMe7YWA) – a punked-up cover song which, around 1:55, inexplicably transforms into a Ronnie James Dio tribute. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/6 "2016-01-08T12:13:53Z")
The one that springs to mind is **Man In The Moon** by\*\* R.E.M\*\*. where the line ‘_Andy are you goofing on Elvis_’ is followed by an Elvis style ‘_Hey Baby_’ TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/7 "2016-01-08T12:14:57Z")
[“Man on the Moon”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hKSYgOGtos) by R.E.M includes a line where Michael Stipe mimics Elvis. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/8 "2016-01-08T12:21:45Z")
_A Simple Desultory Philippic_ by Simon & Garfunkel, with Simon impersonating Dylan. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/9 "2016-01-08T12:29:30Z")
Prince, on Sign o’ The Times, on the song The Ballad of Dorothy Parker: he asks her for her favorite song and she says Joni singing “Help me, I think I’m fallin’…” brrrring! phone rings… He and his backing vocalists do a nice rendition of the Help Me line like Joni Mitchell. Great song. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/10 "2016-01-08T12:51:56Z")
The Led Zeppelin song “The Crunge” has an imitation of James Brown at the end (“let’s take it to the bridge”), although you could argue that the whole song is an attempt at Brown’s style, which would disqualify it for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/11 "2016-01-08T12:56:58Z")
Motorhead’s R.A.M.O.N.E.S. is intended to sound like the Ramones. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IouixybLYVo/hqdefault.jpg "Motorhead - R.A.M.O.N.E.S.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IouixybLYVo) ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/12 "2016-01-08T15:34:40Z")
The lead singer of Dread Zeppelin is an Elvis impersonator. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/13 "2016-01-08T16:10:29Z")
On the song “[Time Stands Still](http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=time+stands+still+gary+lewis+youtube&qpvt=time+stands+still+gary+lewis+youtube&view=detail&mid=A2380B6ECB0E745FE1ADA2380B6ECB0E745FE1AD)”, Gary Lewis does an impression of his father on the final verse (around 1:20). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/14 "2016-01-08T17:10:57Z")
There’s little point in mentioning Weird Al _in general_ – but when he’s doing his take on Lady Gaga _in particular,_ he ribs her by having a brief Madonna impression come in. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/15 "2016-01-08T17:50:22Z")
The whole **Deface The Music** album by Todd Rundgren and Utopia is a homage to The Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/16 "2016-01-08T17:59:14Z")
Led Zeppelins Bring it on home begins with a letter perfect imitation of Sonny Boy Williamson. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/17 "2016-01-08T18:05:32Z")
David Allen Coe does a pretty good imitation of Waylon Jennings, Charlie Pride and Merle Haggard in [“You Never Even Called Me by My Name”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAOVRkSCWmg). And it calls out to “Hello Walls” in the second verse. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/18 "2016-01-08T18:06:35Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > The whole **Deface The Music** album by Todd Rundgren and Utopia is a homage to The Beatles. And of course the Beatles managed to do a pretty good impression of the Rutles… 😉 I don’t know whether songs by one artist that deliberately sound like they’re by a different artist is within the scope of what the OP is looking for, but if so, I’ve always thought that Adrian Belew’s “[Big Blue Sun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYuFRO8xrl4)” was a great ELO song. ---
**Author:** ![NVME702-redux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a183cd/32.png) [@NVME702-redux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NVME702-redux)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/19 "2016-01-08T18:21:34Z")
I always thought **Hide your love away** by the Beatles was Dillonesque. Also Queen’s **Crazy Little Thing Called Love** has hips like Elvis And **Wild Horses** by the Rolling Stones isn’t a specific band/singer, but a foray into country twang from their usual fare ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474/20 "2016-01-08T18:27:54Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > The whole **Deface The Music** album by Todd Rundgren and Utopia is a homage to The Beatles. Todds LP Faithful from 1975 has a whole side of recreations of 60s classics, including all vocal mannerisms. Beatles, Beach Boys, yardbirds, Hendrix etc. The other side is one of the best sides of original rock I have ever heard. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-impressions-of-other-singers-groups/742474.md?page=2)