# 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:** 2
**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, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/21 "2023-01-19T17:01:12Z")
There we go. I was searching Robert Johnson songs, and couldn’t find which one I was thinking of. So that one is also an entry for 1936. I found “Back Water Blues” by Big Bill Broonzy where he does refer to himself as “old Bill.” That seems to be from 1954. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/22 "2023-01-19T17:04:26Z")
In the Beatles’ cover of Carl Perkins’s “Honey Don’t,” Ringo (who has the lead vocal) calls out the guitar solos with “Rock on, George, one time for Ringo.” ---
**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, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/23 "2023-01-19T17:05:40Z")
Another example from Robert Johnson, maybe his best known: _I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees_ _Asked the Lord above “Have mercy, now save poor Bob, if you please”_ > [@pulykamell](#): > > I found “Back Water Blues” by Big Bill Broonzy where he does refer to himself as “old Bill.” That seems to be from 1954. And, very early on, he recorded “Big Bill Blues.” ---
**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, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/24 "2023-01-19T17:06:30Z")
D’oh! My eyes just glossed over the “Bob”. First song I checked. 🙂 Also 1936. ETA: And “Big Bill Blues”, also 1936. Seems to be a popular year for self-referencing. ---
**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 19, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/25 "2023-01-19T17:07:00Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > Robert Johnson did it in Kind Hearted Woman Blues: “Makes Mister Johnson drink” > [@pulykamell](#): > > There we go. I was searching Robert Johnson songs, and couldn’t find which one I was thinking of. So that one is also an entry for 1936. Heck, as I first read the thread and @pulykamell’s mention of blues singers, I also had Robert Johnson in mind, but couldn’t remember that specific line in “Kind Hearted Woman”. I thought of the line “when you call Mr. So-And-So’s name”, but didn’t remember the line where Johnson also referenced himself in that song. ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/26 "2023-01-19T17:07:38Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > **Bad Company** did a song called _Bad Company_ that included the lyric Bad Company. But it was in 1973, so no cigar. On their album named “Bad Company,” to boot. ---
**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 19, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/27 "2023-01-19T17:08:55Z")
> [@KMS94](#): > > On their album named “Bad Company,” to boot. Black Sabbath did it three years earlier, with the song “Black Sabbath” on the album “Black Sabbath”. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/28 "2023-01-19T17:12:32Z")
Obviously not in the running for first, but _Everybody Have Fun Tonight_ by Wang Chung in 1986 has the line: > Everybody have fun tonight > Everybody Wang Chung tonight ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/29 "2023-01-19T17:16:56Z")
“ **R-A-M-O-N-E-S, R-A-M-O-N-E-S, Ramones!** ” ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/30 "2023-01-19T17:17:11Z")
I was just listening to some Lightnin’ Hopkins the other day and noticed that he inserted himself into a lot of his songs. Still doesn’t go as far back as Robert Johnson though. ---
**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, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/31 "2023-01-19T17:18:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > ETA: And “Big Bill Blues”, also 1936. [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bill_Broonzy) says it was recorded in 1927 (his first recording) as “Big Bill’s Blues.” ---
**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, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/32 "2023-01-19T17:18:55Z")
Didn’t Bo Diddley mention himself in Who Do You Love? Got rock n Roll music with the Bo Diddley beat. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/33 "2023-01-19T17:19:33Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And even more straightforwardly, “We Are The Clash.” Ironically the one that might be arguable. 🙂 ---
**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 19, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/34 "2023-01-19T17:19:47Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Didn’t Bo Diddley mention himself in Who Do You Love? Got rock n Roll music with the Bo Diddley beat. Bo Diddley’s first single was “Bo Diddley”. Yeah, he did it all the time. ---
**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, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/35 "2023-01-19T17:23:42Z")
Sweet, we have a new leader! Big Bill’s Blues (1927). ---
**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 19, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/36 "2023-01-19T17:27:04Z")
That’ll be hard to top. As an aside, I didn’t know that Broonzy recorded as early as 1927. I thought he started in the thirties. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/37 "2023-01-19T17:32:01Z")
Uh-huh, it was the Manfreds [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/O9CAPrEG5sM/hqdefault.jpg "Manfred Mann 5-4-3-2-1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9CAPrEG5sM) > Some of the “deepest” lyrics to emerge from the 60s. ---
**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, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/38 "2023-01-19T17:40:51Z")
Here’s a Youtube video that marks it as 1927: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPIsMRZIFXY) The lyrics are quite different than the 1936 version I found. (Plus the instrumentation contains a piano in the 1936 version). ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/39 "2023-01-19T19:09:26Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Bach used his name as a fugue subject in the Art of the Fugue (B-flat, A, C, B-natural). Wins the thread, I think, and pisses me off that I didn’t think of it. Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t JSB also use the same four chords (B-flat, A, C, B-natural) in the coda of the “Wedge Fugue”? More recently, in Frank Zappa’s song “Motherly Love” the lyrics name and are about nothing _but_ the group themselves. Released in June '66 on the _Freak Out_ album, three and a half months before the Monkees (and their theme song) debuted on TeeVee. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/40 "2023-01-19T19:10:02Z")
I know Cab Calloway name-dropped himself a few times, but he doesn’t go back before 1930. Earliest explicit one I found was “Calloway Boogie” from 1948 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458.md?page=3)