Entertainment For Lively Minds
Are you ready Steve?
Posted by JohnW on 20 February 2011 - 7:50am.
Are references to band members on record as rare as I think? On live recordings it's not unusual at all for the singer to highlight a band member such as The Ramones "Take it Dee Dee" and Gram Parsons "James Burton and his hot twinkling guitar" but how often does it happen in studio recordings. I've only managed to come up with two.
"Blockbuster" - Sweet "Are you ready Steve ......."
"Something Better Change" - The Stranglers - "Take it Hugh..."
It must happen more often though......
- More from JohnW.
- Login or register to post comments
-
The Beatles
In Honey Don't. "Ah, rock-on George for Ringo one time" exclaims the drummer, not once, but twice (with a slight variation)
Also on For You Blue, George jokingly says "Go Johnny go" as Lennon plays a (let's face it) fairly pedestrian lap steel guitar solo.
Of course it was traditional in American 50s music for musicians to reference themselves in their songs. Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry did it all the time and the baton was passed on to Stevie Ray Vaughan and many others.
Ringo again...
...and slightly more desperately before the guitar solo in 'If You've Got Troubles' with "Ah, rock on, anybody?"
"Take it away...
...Grapper!" aka Peter Solowka of The Wedding Present.
Ian Dury
featuring current Word flavour of the month - Wilko!
I Wanna Be Straight
Doesn't the whole band get a mention at the start of this?
Yes it does
...
Sorry....
Should have watched before posting!
The producer
can get in on the act. Namely The Smiths 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish' when Mozza says at the end "Okay Stephen shall we do that one again?" referring to Mr Street.
Conversely
Bob Dylan famously says "Is it rolling Bob?" to producer Bob Johnston at the start of To Be Alone With You track 3, side 1 of Nashville Skyline.
This phrase quickly entered the rock lexicon and has since been used a thousand different ways since 1969.
Miles Davis
There's many instances of Miles Davis talking back to his producer/engineer at the end of a take making it to finished recordings. On Columbia recordings these are addressed at producer Teo Macero.
The best example
would have to be "This is gonna scare the shit out of them" on Bitches Brew
Delete
.
Martin Fry
asks himself the question will he find true love on ABC's The Look Of Love.
Repeat Offender
All of ABC had a go on 'A to Z' from the Zillionaire album.
and very saucily:
Indeed.
Rock Me Joe
Dammit. That's my favourite one.
Well done, although also damn you for getting there first. When they do it live, he often says "Rock me, Joseph Alberto Santiago".
Ready Freddie
Move Over Rover...
As if we needed reminding
I always enjoy the fact that later in the song Jimi feels the need to tell us "This is Jimi talkin' to ya"
Take it Tony
At the beginning of "Mumbo" on Wings Wild Life, Macca shouts this to someone. I'm not sure who. There was no-one called Tony in the band at the time and, from memory, nobody of that name was in the production credits. Mind you, every lyric in that song is incomprehensible.
At the time WWL was being recorded
Tony was Macca's guitar tech. As Macca started recording Mambo, Tony stood in front of the control room window with the keys to Paul's Aston Martin and a quizzical look on his face.
Paul had forgotten that he'd booked the Aston in for a service that day and Tony had answered the phone when the garage called to ask if someone could run the car down as they were ready to start work.
Tony
I heard a different version of that. Apparently, Macca had just been warming up with some leg stretches, prior to attempting the definitive take of 'Mambo' and had inadvertently dropped a tenner on the floor as he limbered up. As the tape began rolling, Tony the tech popped out from behind an amp, clutching the bank note and a quizzical look on his face. In response, Macca cocked an eyebrow and said, 'Take it, Tony'.
Take it again Tony
Damn these double posts.
ELP wrote an entire song to their engineer, Eddie Offord
as you might expect, it does bear the mark of something impatiently knocked up in the studio.
Ronnie Van Zant says "Play it pretty for 'em Allen"
during the tinkly piano interlude during Freebird.
Mister Zoot Horn Rollo
hit that long lunar note...
...and let it float.
"That's right The Mascara Snake"
from Pachuco Cadaver too
Advice on Love Action
In a lyric that has always made me laugh, Mr Oakey references himself on Love Action: "But this is Phil talking/I want to tell you/What I've found to be true."
Ian Hunter famously introduced all the band
during The Ballad Of Mott,
"well Buffin lost his childlike dreams
And Mick lost his guitar.
Verden's grown a line or two
And Overend's just a rock and roll star
A song about their bassist
Hi there, nice to be with you, happy you could stick around.
Like to introduce "Legs" Larry Smith, drums,
And Sam Spoons, rhythm pole,
And Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell, bass guitar,
And Neil Innes, piano,
Come in Rodney Slater on the saxophone,
With Roger Ruskin Spear on tenor sax,
Hi, Vivian Stanshall, trumpet.
Big hello to big John Wayne, xylophone,
And Robert Morley, guitar,
Billy Butlin, spoons,
And looking very relaxed, Adolf Hitler on vibes... Nnnnice!
Princess Anne on sousaphone... Mmmm,
Introducing Liberace, clarinet,
With Garner "Ted" Armstrong on vocals,
Lord Snooty and his pals, tap dancing,
In the groove with Harold Wilson, violin,
And Franklin McCormack on harmonica.
Over there, Eric Clapton, ukulele.... Hi Eric!
On my left Sir Kenneth Clark, bass sax.... A great honour, sir.
And specially flown in for us, a session's gorilla on vox humana.
Nice to see Incredible Shrinking Man on euphonium,
Drop out with Peter Scott on duck call,
Hearing from you later Casanova, on horn,
Yeah! Digging General de Gaulle on accordion....
Really wild, General! Thank you, sir.
Roy Rogers on Trigger.
Tune in Wild Man of Borneo on bongos.
Count Basie Orchestra on triangle.... Thank you.
Great to hear the Rawlinsons on trombone,
Back from his recent operation, Dan Druff, harp.
And representing the flower people, Quasimodo on bells.
Wonderful to hear Brainiac on banjo,
We welcome Val Doonican as himself (Hullo there)
Very appealing, Max Jaffa.... Mmm, that's nice, Max!
What a team, Zebra Kid and Horace Batchelor on percussion,
And a great favourite, and a wonderful performer, of all of us here, J. Arthur Rank on gong....
They had to use a session gorilla for two reasons
1. The band didn't have their own gorilla
2. The line was originally 'And now just arriving, Quintin Hogg on pig grunt'. Lord Hailsham decided he didn't like being referred to so demanded to be replaced. They got a session gorilla in to overdub his part.
Some pseudonyms used
but references all the band and some of the crew...
"Take it Jeffrey"
Roy Wood invites Jeff Lynne to give it some 88 key style on The Move's California Man
Chester Thompson (Chester's Gorilla, she go quack!) and Ruth Underwood both get namechecked on Frank Zappa's album One Size Fits All
Bono
"Edge...play the blues..." (on Silver & Gold)
Surely the most cringeworthy attempt to sound cool, ever?
Edge then proceeds to do the thing he always does
ie. not the blues
"Flo. she don't know"
The gist of The Supremes' "Back In My Arms Again" is that the narrator, i.e. Diana Ross, is fed up of her friends telling her that her boyfriend's a cad and that she should dump him. After all, what do they know?
"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"
Eddie Holland was a good-looking boy and "knew' a lot of girls. He picked up how they thought and talked and used what he learned in his lyrics for the Supremes etc. And there's some neat internal rhyming going on there. People bang on about Smokey, but Eddie Holland deserves as much respect.
Ant Rap
"I'm standing here with my four men
Let's start that rapping thing again
Marco! Merrick! Terry Lee! Gary Tibbs!
And yours truly..."
Adam had dropped "& the Ants" from his name, so it was nice to see the band acknowledged. "Gary Tibbs" always sounded a touch weedy, though.
An Ant pedant writes.......
I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. At 40 I know, I just KNOW, I should let these things ride after 29 years..... but I just can't let it go......major character deficiency!!
Ant Rap was a full blown Adam and the Ants record. 7" came in a nice picture sleeve with "windows" to open, like an advent calendar. Behind the windows were little pic's of the band in full glam make up etc...the back of the sleeve had the lyrics and I got my Mum to read them out over the dinner table. Funny watching her stammer at the "sexy south" bit.
Anyway.....the "Ants" were dropped during the "Goody Two Shoes" recording. Initial sleeves of the 7" fold out poster bag were still credited to Adam and the Ants with later copies referring to the solo name. Full solo duties not fully realised until the Friend or Foe release.
I feel better now....
Pirate jacket in cloakroom etc...
*sorry*!
No need to apologise
I'm glad to have things like that pointed out. Thirty years and thousands of gallons of lager take their toll on a middle-aged mind.
Gary Tibbs was a jobbing bass player throughout the 1980s
and was well-known on the session scene.
Ant Rap could have been much worse if Pino Palladino had got the gig :-)
You ain't wrong,Stimpy
but would it have been as bad as this ?
Roxy?
Is my mind playing tricks on me but didn't Tibbs also turn out for Roxy Music in one of their later incarnations?
Anyone any idea what happened to Kevin Mooney?
As an impressionable 12 year old, I deeply aspired to a "wedge" haircut a la Modern Romance. Alas Chris the Greek at Turnham Green didn't have the necessary finesse to perform such feats. Always thought his humungous gold chains got in the way of anything but a set of clippers. Either that or my Dad just told him "short back and sides again mate".
Yup, he was hired by Roxy Music as part of their policy
of giving opportunities to every bass player in the MU.
Gary Tibbs
played bassist Dave in 'Breaking Glass' (1980), but didn't actually play the Bass on the album (this was purely an acting gig, not a musical one).
Was also in The Vibrators, and played Bass on Kirsty MacColl's 'Titanic Days'
Dairylea
After 30 years, I have finally discovered the actual lyric.
To be honest the "Marco, Merrick" and "Garry Tibbs" bits I always took to be complete nonsense. But I was convinced that in between this noise, Mr Goddard was dropping in a sly promotion for Kraft's famous cheese triangles.... I am so dissappointed.
'Jonesy?'
'yeh, wot?' - Capital Radio (Cost of Living ep) - The Clash
And there's a geezer called Paul...
Manfred Mann
Every Hip Hop record
includes at least one mention of the artist doing the track and a mention of the DJ and/or Producer.Had posted Ant rap but was beaten to it.
Snoop and Dre mention themselves and each other a few times. Trivia..Third car in (Light Blue) The hydraulics were installed by my brother.
Pioneering London rap 'crew' Derek B (DJ) & Easy Q (MC)
were always name-checking each other- which was odd given they were both Derek Boland.
a fine spot,Stimpy
He passed away about 18 months ago.
Didn't know that sour
Get Down was one of the first hip hop 12'' singles I bought and though it was fairly ridiculous (2 big things like basketballs indeed) I always had a lot of time for Derek Bowland as he seemed like a really nice guy.
There was a Derek Boland RIP thread on here
at the time I think.
Tell us about it, Green
Green Gartside pops himself in to a couple of his tracks.
(Overnite)
(Umm)
The Sweet (again): Are you ready Phil?
Brian Connolly name-checks producer Phil Wainman at the start of Need A Lot Of Lovin' (the B side to Blockbuster).
"Do the 1st. verse and track it Phil."
Blue Caps Bop
Self Reference and instructions to the band.
James Brown is of Course the King Of this "Maceo !, Clyde ! Bootsy !
4:58 for back to back shoutouts.
Prince has a few
I'm sure there is quite a few from the purple one, but off the top of my head:
The opening of Computer Blue from Purple Rain. "Wendy "Yes, Lisa" "Is the water warm enough?" "Yes, Lisa" "Shall we begin?"
From Alphabet Street from Lovesexy: "Cat, we need you to rap etc"
"Creeque Alley" - The Mamas & The Papas
No quite what you're looking for, but seems right to include it:
From Wikipedia: "The lyrics of the song mention, directly or indirectly, many artists and bands who were part of the music scene at the time including the other two members of The Mamas & the Papas - Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty, earlier aka The Mugwumps; plus Zal Yanovsky & John Sebastian, of the group The Lovin' Spoonful, Roger McGuinn, (of the group The Byrds) & Barry McGuire, (of the group The New Christy Minstrels). Several locations important to The Mamas and The Papas story are also mentioned e.g. The Night Owl Cafe in Greenwich Village."
Tina's doing her dance etc.
Still not sure I want to see Bradley swing, mind.
From S Club to Spice
Immediately makes me think of Wannabe from Mel B:
We got Em in the place who likes it in your face/We got G like MC who likes it on an/Easy V doesn't come for free, she's a real lady/ and as for me..ah you'll see
Jonathan Richman
namechecks the three Modern Lovers on "The Morning of our lives":
"And it ain't just me who thinks so, dear, I asked my friends.
Now, Leroy and Asa and D. Sharpe,
Tell her not to be afraid.
Tell her it's okay.
Tell her it's all right."
"The way I see it Barry...
...this should be a dynamite show".
Who was Barry?
Positive Force
I always suspected it was the band members who were namechecked as having the funk!
"Big Jimmy, Big Al ..."
I imagine most fans of Dexys can complete that one.
Oh, for God's sake...
burn it down!
Supoib.
"All right Lee, if you must"
Vivian Stanshall cues the guitar solo on his lascivious version of Cliff's 'The Young Ones'.
That's Germaine Greer
With her titties on Viv's head!
And that's a rare Australian Maton electric guitar he's holding.
More HMHB
"What did God give us, Neil?"
"God gave us life, Nigel"
"Sure did! 1,2,3,4, john the Baptist knows the score..."
One Bad Apple by The Osmonds
began with a 'self-namecheck' of "Alan, Wayne, Jay, Merrill, Donny aaaaaaaaaaaaaand Li'l Jimmy!"
'The Story Of Them' described the band members
without naming them.
The Floaters: Float On
Not only does each member introduce themselves by their star sign and first name but also inform us as to their individual preferences for the ladeeez.
And The Hairy Cornflake.
"Hi, my name's Terry and I'm having bags of fun..."
"Enjoy yourself" - The Specials
Georgie Fame's version of...
... Moody's Mood for Love invites the recently deceased sax player to make a contribution by announcing "James Moody - you come in now man and you can blow now if you want to, well..."
"Do it Jeff"
Stevie Wonder encouraging great solo from Jeff Beck on "Looking For Another Pure Love" (Talking Book).
And on the Beck, Bogert & Appice
1973 Live In Japan album, Tim Bogart acknowledges this/takes the piss by calling out "Ah do it Jeff" during one of Beck's more outrageous solos.
The Clash
Complete Control, Joe to Mick: "You're my guitar hero!"
Dexy's - Plan B
Kevin Rowland's impassioned yelp of "Jimmy!"
more Kevin
on Liars A to E
"good old Kevin's gonna be alright"
Keep It Part 2
Amid worryingly-psychotic lyrics (Jeff Blythe's original version is on the album, KR's rewrite, thought to be an attempt to get publishing money, was a major reason in the Mk I split)...
"Al, what the hell, not you as well?
Ah hold back Kevin, we can wait for heaven..."
And of course all of "Kevin Rowland's Band/Kevin Rowland's 13th Time/Kevin Rowland's 13th Crime"
"Al right Bill?" at the beginning of This Is What She's Like".
Robert Cray was wont to
refer to himself, endearingly, as "Young Bob" in his songs...whatever age he was at the time of recording.
"Take it right back to the tracks Fruitbat!"
From Carter USM's mighty "Twenty Four Minutes From Tulse Hill"
The mighty Carter
Also in 24 hours from Tulse Hill, "Do it Fruitbat"!
Rather embarrassingly, I think Wham! do it in Young Guns.
"Hi George meet my fiance".
Are you a pub man or a club man?
"Maybe a jet black guy with a hip hifi
A white cool cat with a trilby hat?
Maybe leather and studs is where it's at..."
There's a great big clue in the very very first single. It took another 16 years. Who'da thunk it?
REMs cover of Wire's Strange
has Stipey namechecking himself
Introducing the band...
Not namechecking, so much as naming and shaming, I present to you "Spare Parts II and Closing" by Tom Waits.
"I'd like to introduce,
please give a warm round of applause for Micheal Melvoin on piano.
On saxophone, Pete Christlieb.
On bass, Jim Hughart.
And on drums, Bill Goodwin.
They all come from good families,
over the years they just kinda individually developed some ways about them that just aren't right you know."
Epic as always.
And even more crucially, Jay-Z mentions nearly everyone in "Takeover", although he seems to have missed RT and the HJH, sorry Word-fans!
http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Jay-z/Takeover.html
Peter Gabriel
At the end of 'Los Endos' (the last track on the first Genesis album after Gabriel departed) as the track fades, Phil Collins sings "There's an angel standing in the sun, Peter Gabriel".
Hot Chip
brought Gabriel in to contribute to their cover of Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, presumably because he then had to sing his own name.
The Coral
"Take it away, Bill", instructs James Skelly, to the young Ryder-Jones on 'Bill McCai'.
I hate this,
why does this man sing his name before every single song of his? Presumably because they all sound tediously similar?
However, it does help to remind you that you have accidentally tuned into the wrong radio station. A silver lining of sorts.
Not singling you out, but
Not singling you out, but your post reminded me of a rather odd Guardian piece about novelty records. After some discussion about overtly cheesy tack Black Lace, SAW etc they bring in Jason DeRulo. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/22/novelty-records-jason-derulo...
I don't really get the link. DeRulo's stuff is fairly standard RnB/pop stuff, rather far removed from Agadoo et al.
Anyway, apart from Whatcha Say, which makes very good use of Imogen Heap's Hide And Seek, I can't recall a single DeRulo track.
To be honest I can't claim
To be honest I can't claim to be able to identify more than a couple of tracks myself (having said that, I have definitely heard enough not to want to listen any further). My only knowledge stems from hearing these songs in clubs and knowing that he says his name before the majority of his songs. A quick youtube search and first result demonstrated my point nicely.
Smile
In Clapton's version of "Smile" he calls out "Take it away George" before a slide solo. Always used to presume that it was Harrison, though a quick check on YouTube mentions George Terry being in his band at the time. Anyone confirm which George was brought to the plate?
Charlie's good tonight, ain't he?
says Mick Jagger between tracks on Get Yer Ya Yas Out.. Not in a song though - so as you were sorry to intrude.
Jethro Tull -
and Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond
and
and even..
Belle and Sebastian
namecheck some of the band in "This is Just a Modern Rock Song"
"This is just a modern rock song,
This is just a sorry lament,
We're four boys in corduroys,
We're not terrific but we're competent.
Stevie's full of good intentions,
Richard's into rock 'n' roll,
Stuart's staying in and he thinks it's a sin,
That he has to leave the house at all."
Since I've Been Loving You...
...Has Planty shout "Go Jimmy" (or "Go on Jim", or possibly "Whotsit") at the start of the solo...
Here's another clue for you all...
...the walrus was Paul!
'Play it, Steve'
To Steve 'The Colonel' Cropper ahead of the guitar solo in 'Soul Man' by Sam & Dave
C'mon Robbie, take a walk with me
Ronnie Hawkins namechecks several if not all of The Hawks in "Who Do You Love?" during The Last Waltz. Sorry don't have time to find a YouTube clip, but does Levon get missed out?
Aren't live recordings excluded?
I think they are according to the OP.
Otherwise I could list around 50 live Zappa albums where Frank namechecks one or more band members.
Not to mention FZ's
Stevie's Spanking, about an incident on tour involving young (at the time) Master Vai.
Glass Houses....
Yes - you're right, live stuff is prohibited..... mind you if reading the OP properly before commenting was the be strictly enforced round here I might as well go home now!
Levon gets a mention
"...ah Lee took me by the hand..." - (at least that's how I've always heard it).
It's Richard Manuel who was overlooked and not for the only time in that gig.
She asked me why the singer's name was Alice
I said "listen baby, you really wouldn't understand!"
(No subject)
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
"...and then the Big Man joined the band......"
Cue Clarence's parping sax...
Fall Out
Sting calls "Henri" before the guitar solo on the first Police single. The guitarist was Henri Padovani.
The darling of Whapping Wharf Laundrette...
Ronald "Leafy" Lane...
(plus some jostling at the end I can't make out)
Took this long for Bowie to turn up?
Can't Help Thinking About Me, from 1966.
"My girl calls my name, says 'Hi Dave'" at 2.38
Live version from 1999
See also
Teenage Wildlife
"As ugly as a teenage millionaire
Pretending it's a whizz kid world
You'll take me aside, and say
"Well, David, what shall I do?
They wait for me in the hallway"
I'll say "Don't ask me, I don't know any hallways"
Randy Newman
My Life Is Good
(remembering the time Bruce Springsteen called him up)
And you know what he said to me?
I´ll tell you what he said to me
He said, "Rand, I´m tired
How would you like to be The Boss for a while?"
The Doors
Can't believe no-one's blagged this already, from Roadhouse Blues:
"Do it, Bobby! Do It!" at 1,37, or thereabouts:
The Clash again
In the intro to Rudie Can't Fail: "Sing Michael, sing!"
Also Def Leppard - before the solo in Armageddon it, Joe Elliot calls "C'mon Steve!"
Body Count state their case
A brief synopsis of the song "Body Count's In The House" from the album "Body Count" performed by the band Body Count....
The first verse consists of the words "Body Count" and nothing else.
In the second verse Ice T repeatedly tells us that "Body Count's In The House"
In the middle 8 he introduces each member of the band and tells us what they play
The last verse reminds us that Body Count is indeed in the house.
By the way, I think that this is one of the best opening numbers I've heard at a gig. Other Body Count songs include Body Count, Body Count Anthem and Body MF Count.
Deaf Ted, Danoota and Me
I could have sworn John namechecked himself in his poem "Deaf Ted, Danoota and Me" but apparently not:
"Hallelujah, hallelujah...
...from Shaun William Ryder,
who'll lie down beside yer,
fill yer full of JUNK!"
Amazed no-one has mentioned
Matt Johnson namechecking his quite impressive bandmates at the start of Armageddon Days (Are Here Again):
"Are you ready Jesus?"
"Uh huh"
"Buddha?"
"Yeah"
"Muhammad?"
"Ok"
"Well,let's go..."