# Who did it first: band name-drops own name in song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 19, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458 "2023-01-19T15:45:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/1 "2023-01-19T15:45:19Z")
Some bands or singers name-drop their own name in a song. Presumably\* so listeners know who’s performing. I first noticed this in K-pop, but since I became aware of the idea, I hear it in R&B and rap as well. Where did it start? What band or artist did it first? And since I’m guessing it started with informal street rap, when was it first recorded? \*Comments about why they do it are welcome as well. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/2 "2023-01-19T15:55:46Z")
From TV Tropes: > MCs introducing themselves was a convention in the earliest days of late '70’s Hip-Hop, though not necessarily with the strict phrasing involved in this trope [i.e., “My name is X, and I’m here to say…”]. One example comes in “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang, one of the first rap songs to gain mainstream attention, which begins with: “I am Wonder Mike and I’d like to say ‘Hello.’” > **[Old School Introductory Rap - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OldSchoolIntroductoryRap)** > > My name is TV Tropes and I'm here to say This is how you rap, the lame '80s way. If I rap real bad and my rhymes ain't fly It's probably cause I was written by a Hollywood guy The way I rhyme, it's like old skool But when they drop these … ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/3 "2023-01-19T15:59:58Z")
Does “Hey Hey, We’re the Monkees” count as a starting point? (1966). I bet there are earlier ones. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/4 "2023-01-19T16:00:03Z")
It’s Hammer! Go, Hammer! MC Hammer! Yo, Hammer! U Can’t touch this. Its all about ego. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/5 "2023-01-19T16:05:47Z")
I feel like there should be some early-ish blues with singer name drops, but I’m not thinking of any off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/6 "2023-01-19T16:07:26Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Does “Hey Hey, We’re the Monkees” count as a starting point? (1966). I bet there are earlier ones. I think it has to count. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/7 "2023-01-19T16:07:37Z")
Archie Bell and the Drells “Tighten Up” (1968) name drops the band in the very first line. I can’t check right now but I believe the Fifth Dimension asks us to “sing along with the Fifth Dimension” in “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/8 "2023-01-19T16:07:52Z")
George Gershwin name-dropped himself in his 1936 song “By Strauss!” > Away with the music of Broadway > Be off with your Irving Berlin > No, I give no quarter to Kern or Cole Porter > And Gershwin keeps pounding on tin ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/9 "2023-01-19T16:10:51Z")
Oh, that’s a good one! ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/10 "2023-01-19T16:12:06Z")
> [@George Gershwin](#): > > And Gershwin keeps pounding on tin How do you know he wasn’t talking about Ira? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/11 "2023-01-19T16:16:17Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > George Gershwin name-dropped himself in his 1936 song “By Strauss!” > > > Away with the music of Broadway > > Be off with your Irving Berlin > > No, I give no quarter to Kern or Cole Porter > > And Gershwin keeps pounding on tin Nice! But while it’s self-referential of the songwriter, it’s not really self-referential of the singer. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/12 "2023-01-19T16:17:01Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > How do you know he wasn’t talking about Ira? The term seems likely to be related to “Tin Pan Alley,” the area in New York where George (and Ira) worked composing songs. The name “tin pan” appears to specifically refer to the sound of a cheap piano; George was a pianist, while Ira was a lyricist. So, I suspect he was referring to himself. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/13 "2023-01-19T16:19:07Z")
Bach used his name as a fugue subject in the Art of the Fugue (B-flat, A, C, B-natural). [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1wovG2n62qU/hqdefault.jpg "J. S. Bach - Prelude and Fuge in B-Flat Major on the name B.A.C.H. BWV 898") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wovG2n62qU) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/14 "2023-01-19T16:21:25Z")
And to clarify for those who might not know, the key of B in German notation is called H, while B is reserved for what we call B-flat. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/15 "2023-01-19T16:22:30Z")
**Bad Company** did a song called _Bad Company_ that included the lyric Bad Company. But it was in 1973, so no cigar. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/16 "2023-01-19T16:22:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And to clarify for those who might not know, the key of B in German notation is called H, while B is reserved for what we call B-flat. I was leaving that as an exercise for the reader, my dear sir. 😉 ---
**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 19, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/17 "2023-01-19T16:33:04Z")
Very early discs and records almost invariably started with the artist introducing himself and the song: “This is Harry Macdonough performing A Bird In A Gilded Cage” or “Arthur Collins here with the Metropolitan Orchestra singing My Sunflower Sue”. But those were introductions, and not parts of the songs themselves. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/18 "2023-01-19T16:41:46Z")
None of these would be first, I know, but I can think of a few groups that referenced members in 60s songs: “Nobody’s gettin’ fat except Mama Cass.” “The Walrus was Paul.” Of course, in the punk era you’ve got “Clash City Rockers” and “This is Radio Clash” among others. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/19 "2023-01-19T16:49:28Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > Of course, in the punk era you’ve got “Clash City Rockers” and “This is Radio Clash” among others. And even more straightforwardly, “We Are The Clash.” ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/20 "2023-01-19T16:55:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I feel like there should be some early-ish blues with singer name drops, but I’m not thinking of any off the top of my head. Oh, hell yes. I’m pretty sure Big Bill Broonzy referred to himself by name (“old Bill” or something similar) in a few songs, and Robert Johnson did it in Kind Hearted Woman Blues: “Makes Mister Johnson drink” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458.md?page=2)