Entertainment For Lively Minds
Name Check Songs
Posted by David Wright on 9 July 2010 - 3:29pm.
Following on from Lucas Hare’s thread about Teenage Fanclub, I
was thinking about their song The Concept, which name checks Status Quo.
What other songs in the popular music world mention other artists?
And……has their ever been case of an artist name checking an artist and that artist name checking them back?
I guess “How Do You Sleep” by Lennon is a kind of starting point……….
- More from David Wright.
- Login or register to post comments
-
Miles and John
Miles Davis' Bitches Brew has a song called John McLaughlin.
John McLaughlin's Electric Dreams has a song called Miles Davis.
Also:
Sweet home Alabama - Neil Young
Smoke on the Water - Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
if I can direct you here --
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/songs-name-check-other-bands
Senior moment?
I made the same suggestions on that thread but I have no recollection whatsoever.
That's the effect
my threads tend to have on people.
My favorite example of this is...
Camera Obscura "Hey Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken." A reply to Lloyd Cole's "Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken"
Good tune to...
Another pretty good example is The Associates "Steven You're Really Something" an answer to "William It Was Really Nothing." Can't find it on youtube though
The Fall...
The Fall have 'namechecked' quite a few bands/artists over the years. Off the top of my head:
Damo Suzuki in I Am Damo Suzuki.
The Kane Gang in Gut of The Quantifier.
Kevin Ayers in Eat Y'Self Fitter
Paul McCartney in I'm A Mummy.
Lou Reed and Doug Yule in Shoulder Pads.
Elton John in Just Step Sideways.
Iggy Pop in What You Need.
Steve Albini in 50-Year-Old Man.
Probably loads more...
The Fall...
The Fall have 'namechecked' quite a few bands/artists over the years. Off the top of my head:
Damo Suzuki in I Am Damo Suzuki.
The Kane Gang in Gut of The Quantifier.
Kevin Ayers in Eat Y'Self Fitter
Paul McCartney in I'm A Mummy.
Lou Reed and Doug Yule in Shoulder Pads.
Elton John in Just Step Sideways.
Iggy Pop in What You Need.
Steve Albini in 50-Year-Old Man.
Probably loads more...
Not forgetting Shakin' Stevens...
...in Ludd Gang, b-side of The Man Whose Head Expanded!
Alicia Dylan
Thunder On The Mountain by Bob Dylan mentions
Alicia Keys.
does namechecking yourself count?
Sincerely L Cohen.
Go On Then
I'll let you have it, seeing it's Friday!
The cause of it all
Tom Waits on Gun Street Girl
"Falling James in a Tahoe mud" namechecking our old colleague James Moreland from Leaving Trains (and one of Courtney Love's ex's)
You little thief/ A good heart
Weren't these songs a response to the other? Written by ex-lovers or something. And sung by Feargal Sharkey.
U2 mention 'John Coltraine, A Love Supreme' on 'Angel of Harlem'
Yes they were.
Benmont Tench (Tom Petty's keyboard player) and Maria McKee (front woman of Lone Justice).
Both Mott The Hoople...
... and The Who name checked T. Rex in All The Young Dudes and You Better You Bet respectively.
And Queen...
...name checked Mott The Hoople in Now I'm Here ("Down in the city just Hoople and me")
Oh, and Spandau Ballet...
... were listening to Marvin (Gaye) all night long.
One long name check song
Reunion - Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)
In the same vein....
isn't the
default answer "Bad Company" by Bad Company on Bad Company?
I suppose you could...
... if you were so inclined, listen to "Bad Company" by Bad Company from Bad Company while watching 'Bad Company' with a bunch of people you don't like very much.
You would HAVE to...
...not like them very much, to do that to them. ;-)
Showbiz Kids by The Dan
"They got their Steely Dan t-shirts.."
Not Forgetting...
...Charlie Parker in "Parker's Band".
...and also not forgetting...
Cathy Berberian in 'Your Gold teeth'. I met her once, when I was 15, in the kitchen department of Woolworth's in Edinburgh. She was every inch the diva, in a royal blue cape, but gracious, and thrilled to be recognised, which I guess didn't happen to her that much in Britain. She was much better-known in Europe.
"introduce me to that big blonde
- she's got a touch of Tuesday Weld"
"New Frontier" Donald Fagen
Objection M' Lud!
Ms Weld isn't a recording artiste.
But she does appear on the cover of a album which has classic status in the Law household. Which album? Ten WORD points to the first correct blogger.
Would that be
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend?
Ten points duly awarded.
I'll drop 'em off at the next drinks meet.
"M'lud, I'm indebted to my learned friend
but fear he may be in danger of overlooking British recording artists The Real Tuesday Weld"
Rupert Snarbottle-Cringe QC sat down with the replete smugness that only a well-fed and expensively upholstered lawyer could muster.
With respect to my learned friend..
Smartarse.
Chris Rea
Steel River, one of his best songs, reminisces about "Dancing to Motown, making love with a Carole King record playing."
Making Love
How I could I have forgot old Chris, great lyric!
Another one is James and "I Feel Like Fred Astaire"
there's always the
Oh Carol/Oh Neil King/Sedaka doobiewotsit
does that count?
Jay-Z's Empire State of Mind mentions Sinatra and Bob Marley
and also has this bit...
"Welcome to the melting pot, corners where we sellin' rock
Afrika Bambataa shit, home of the hip-hop"
John Fahey & Stefan Grossman
John Fahey wrote and recorded a tune called "The Assassination Of Stefan Grossman". Amused by this, Mr Grossman replied with "The Assassination Of John Fahey". Reportedly, Mr Fahey was -not- amused.
In similar vein
After David Bowie released his album named Low
Nick Lowe wittily responded with an EP titled Bowi
In similar vein again
After Fleetwood Mac released Rumours, Graham Parker and The Rumour released an album called Max.
All the young dudes
T rex (already mentioned), Beatles & the Stones
"When Smokey sings
I hear violins."
God bless Martin Fry
George Harrison also namechecked Smokey...
...in, erm, Pure Smokey.
Don't forget the deathless couplet
"When Smokey sings / he sings"
Pure poetry.
I still say
the best one is Lambchop's Kurt Wagner singing "the picture of Michael and Bubbles" in the song Something's Going On.
Great song too...
Public Enemy: Packing the refs into half a verse
'Whatcha gonna do? Rap is not afraid of you
Beat is for Sonny Bono, beat is for Yoko Ono
Run DMC first said a deejay could be a band
Stand on its feet get you out your seat.
Beat is for Eric B and LL as well, hell
Wax is for Anthrax, still it can rock bells
Ever forever, universal, it will sell,
Time for me to exit, Terminator X-it'
TURN IT UP
etc
If you listen really closely, you'll hear the sound of me as a 16-year-old exploding with excitement. The greatest, most memorable moment of my (recorded) musical life.
The first time I heard the first 16 bars of 'Like a Rolling Stone' are not far behind, but doesn't fit this thread.
Bo Diddley
and Jerry Lee Lewis regularly (and modestly) namechecked themselves in their songs ("honey you sure treated ol' Jerry Lee mean" etc).
Stevie Ray Vaughan later carried on this fine tradition.
The very young David Bowie
Did this too - 'My girl calls my name - "Hi Dave, drop in, see you around, come back if you're this way again"'
Yes - the relatively recent Bo Diddleyvis Crazy
Probably about 12 years old now!
Jimi Hendrix
Very reasonably asked Rover to move over, and let Jimi take over.
Squeeze
Playing with electric trains
From Julie Andrews to Jerry Garcia.....
Presley
Not directly, but Neil Young's "He Was The King".
More Neil
"The King is dead - but he's not forgotten. This is the story of a Johnny Rotten...."
Billy Bragg:
"I dreamt I saw Phil Ochs last night"
R.E.M.
"Get drunk and sing along to Queen," off The Wake-Up Bomb.
Also (yawn) The Hold Steady. (I rather like them, you know):
"When the Youth Of Today and the early Seven Seconds / taught me some of life's most valuable lessons" - from Stay Positive
"She played Heaven Is A Truck / She said Heavenly was cool / I think they were from Oxford / She only had one single / It was a song about a pure and simple love / There's a girl on Heaven Hill / I come up to her cabin still / She said Hüsker Dü got huge / They started in St. Paul / Do you remember Makes No Sense At All?" - from We Can Get Together
So, in order, that's Pavement, Heavenly, Hüsker Dü and Hüsker Dü.
Actually, there are a ton of namechecks in THS songs. I won't rehearse them all. You're probably relieved.
Arthur Conley
Sweet Soul Music - more a list of artists than a song
ten
U2 - One Tree Hill (Victor Jara)
Dick Gaughan - Victor Jara of Chile
Black Box Recorder - Andrew Ridgely
Low - Broadway, So Many People (Bob Marley)
Passengers - Miss Sarajevo (East 17)
Loudon Wainright III - Not John (John Lennon - bloody awful)
Wings - Rock Show (Jimmy Page)
Counting Crows - Mr Jones (Bob Dylan)
Sheryl Crow - If It Makes You Happy (Benny Goodman)
Slade - Far Far Away (Elvis, or 'the Hound Dog singer')
"A Benny Goodman fan
painted holes in his hand - so Shakey* hung him out to dry"
*not thought to be Neil Young
"when people
stared in Jagger's eyes and scored"
Saul Williams - Coded Language
Has to win hands down in terms of name checking people.
verse 7:
"Thus, in the name of:
ROBESON, GOD'S SON, HURSTON, AHKENATON, HATHSHEPUT, BLACKFOOT, HELEN,
LENNON, KHALO, KALI, THE THREE MARIAS, TARA, LILITHE, LOURDE, WHITMAN,
BALDWIN, GINSBERG, KAUFMAN, LUMUMBA, GHANDI, GIBRAN, SHABAZZ, SIDDHARTHA,
MEDUSA, GUEVARA, GUARDSIEFF, RAND, WRIGHT, BANNEKER, TUBMAN, HAMER, HOLIDAY,
DAVIS, COLTRANE, MORRISON, JOPLIN, DUBOIS, CLARKE, SHAKESPEARE, RACHMNINOV,
ELLINGTON, CARTER, GAYE, HATHOWAY, HENDRIX, KUTL, DICKERSON, RIPPERTON,
MARY, ISIS, THERESA, PLATH, RUMI, FELLINI, MICHAUX, NOSTRADAMUS, NEFERTITI,
LA ROCK, SHIVA, GANESHA, YEMAJA, OSHUN, OBATALA, OGUN, KENNEDY, KING, FOUR
LITTLE GIRLS, HIROSHIMA, NAGASAKI, KELLER, BIKO, PERONE, MARLEY, COSBY,
SHAKUR, THOSE STILL AFLAMED, AND THE COUNTLESS UNNAMED"
copied and pasted direct
Can't believe we haven't had this one yet
or indeed, this one
A House 'Endless Art': More name checks than any other song*
* Including Billy Joel, perhaps?
Arthur Conley?
Then there's the Fabs with
"Go Johnny Go" and "Elmore James got nothing on this baby!" - both from For You Blue
"Feel like Dylan's Mr. Jones" - Yer Blues
"Oh, rock on George, for Ringo one time" - Honey Don't
Art Brut do this a lot
"I can't stand the sound of The Velvet Underground" (Bang Bang Rock & Roll)
"You Like The Beatles and I like the Stones but those were just records that our parents owned" (What A Rush)
"I can't believe I've only just found out about The Replacements" (The Replacements)
"Why would you want to sound like U2? Just press record and play it straight through They call it lo-fi - if you say so Cool your warm jets, Brian Eno" (Slap Dash For No Cash)
Fleetwood Mac/Stevie Nicks - "Gypsy"
"So I'm back, to the velvet underground"
"I'd rather Jack
than Fleetwood Mac..."
Aaaargh
Completely irrational, I know, but I can't think of many records I hate more than that atrocious slice of ordure, the sound of Stock Aitkin & Waterman scraping through the bottom of the barrel.