# 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:** 4
**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, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/61 "2023-01-19T23:19:07Z")
Arthur Lee’s Love too, in many songs. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/62 "2023-01-19T23:45:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > **Bad Company** did a song called _Bad Company_ that included the lyric Bad Company. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Black Sabbath did it three years earlier, with the song “Black Sabbath” on the album “Black Sabbath”. But those songs really aren’t about the bands. In fact, I always kinda had the idea that the bands named themselves after the songs. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/63 "2023-01-19T23:49:23Z")
KMFDM has made it a recurring thing to the point of it being a joke now. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/64 "2023-01-20T00:14:03Z")
I love that album. Also, fun fact, the lyrics to “Drivin’ Sister” name check one of their earlier songs, “Half Moon Bay.” ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/65 "2023-01-20T00:41:02Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > “ **R-A-M-O-N-E-S, R-A-M-O-N-E-S, Ramones!** ” They name dropped the name of each member, too, in the song [Ramona](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFYRk9th-Xk): > Hey, Johnny > Hey, Dee Dee > Little Tom and Joey > You know we’re goin’ over > Sweet, sweet little Ramona ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/66 "2023-01-20T00:47:04Z")
The Court of the **Crimson King** by… **King Crimson**. Boy, they screwed that up. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/67 "2023-01-20T06:43:05Z")
One version of _Hyena Stomp_ by Jelly Roll Morton features the words “Jelly that’s terrible” spoken right after the beginning of the song. One of the song’s gimmicks is that the band “messes up,” stops, and starts over, followed by laughter. It was recorded in 1927. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/fQQO7LkmoYc/maxresdefault.jpg "Jelly Roll Morton - Hyena Stomp") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQQO7LkmoYc) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/68 "2023-01-20T07:05:28Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > “ **R-A-M-O-N-E-S, R-A-M-O-N-E-S, Ramones!** ” That song was by Motörhead, though. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/69 "2023-01-20T14:11:52Z")
In the self-reference dept, though obviously not first, its hard to beat: “Talk Talk” on the album _Talk Talk_ by Talk Talk ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/70 "2023-01-20T15:39:39Z")
Living in a Box (a mostly-forgotten British band from the 80s) did that as well. Band name-album title-single title. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/71 "2023-01-20T16:08:31Z")
Solomon drops his own name in Song of Solomon. Get earlier than that 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/72 "2023-01-20T16:15:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Big Bill’s Blues (1927). Same year Ma Rainey recorded “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”. ---
**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 20, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/73 "2023-01-20T16:18:14Z")
Oh, we have a horse race folks! Wonder if we can get back to Stephen Foster name checking himself in one his pieces! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/74 "2023-01-20T16:27:33Z")
Ladies and gentlement, I give you _La déploration de la mort de Johannes Ockeghem_ (1497 or shortly thereafter) by Josquin des Prez: _Nymphs of the wood, goddesses of the springs,_ _Skilled singers of all nations,_ _Change your voices, clear and lofty,_ _Into sharp cries and lamentations,_ _For Atropos, terrible satrap,_ _Has inescapably ensnared your Ockeghem,_ _Music’s true treasure and master,_ _Who henceforth no longer escapes death,_ _Of whom it is a great sorrow that the earth must cover him._ _Put on the clothes of mourning,_ _ **Josquin** , Brumel, Pierchon, Compere,_ _And weep great tears from your eyes,_ _For you have lost your good father._ _May he rest in peace._ _Amen_ Johannes Ockeghem was a renowned composer of the period; Josquin and the others listed in that line were the leading composers of the next generation. Beat that! ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/75 "2023-01-20T16:59:55Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > I thought the same thing, I know he did it live but I searched around and can’t find it in any of his recordings. He’s referred to himself as “Killer” in several songs, but in the studio version of “Rockin’ My Life Away” he sings: “My name’s Jerry Lee Lewis and I’m dern (damn?) sure here to stay” (around 2:38) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZaFb7OXSAX4/maxresdefault.jpg "Rockin' My Life Away") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaFb7OXSAX4) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/76 "2023-01-20T17:25:53Z")
“Yellow Balloon” by the Yellow Balloon. The flip side of the single was “Noollab Wolley,” so that should count, too. ---
**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 20, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/77 "2023-01-20T17:33:19Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > La déploration de la mort de Johannes Ockeghem Now we’re talking! I had a quick look through stuff a good bit after that era (1700s), but I wasn’t sure even how to refine my searches to keep them from being anything but needle-in-haystack attempts. It seems to me that the idea of inserting oneself into a song must date back quite a ways. Like in storytelling songs that involve yourself, if you are singing about other characters and what they say to you, it would seem sticking your name in the lyric would be a natural impulse. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/78 "2023-01-20T18:46:09Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > > > Didn’t Bo Diddley mention himself in Who Do You Love? Got rock n Roll music with the Bo Diddley beat. > > I was thinking the same thing, but that shows up in George Thorogood’s version, not Bo Diddley’s version. Thorogood name checks himself in the same song- “Now Arlene took a-me by my hand She said lonesome George you don’t understand” ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/79 "2023-01-21T09:57:49Z")
I had completely forgotten about that wonderful work, perhaps my favourite from **Josquin**. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bTvYwoGdD8Y/maxresdefault.jpg "Josquin: Nymphes des bois - Graindelavoix") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTvYwoGdD8Y) The way voices and names softly overlap in the relevant passage is magical ([Josquin: Nymphes des bois - Graindelavoix - YouTube](https://youtu.be/bTvYwoGdD8Y?t=216)). ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458/80 "2023-01-21T15:10:15Z")
[Metal Church’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Church) debut album was called [Metal Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Church_(album)). The second song on this album is called [Metal Church](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnXZDgJGKvY), and “Metal Church” is mentioned four times in [the chorus](https://www.google.com/search?q=metal+church+lyrics). They _ **really** _ wanted you to know who they were. 😄 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-did-it-first-band-name-drops-own-name-in-song/978458.md?page=5)