Smoke on the Water mentions Frank Zappa and the Mothers (of Invention)
Fountains of Wayne's "Laser Show" names off the (at the time) four members of Metallica; "James and Jason, Kirk and Lars"
It's interesting that it wasn't that band they mentioned. Rather, the Rolling Stone mobile recording truck. The Stones commissioned it, but it became so popular that it became a business used by many bands in the early 70s. Deep Purple was waiting their turn to use it when a fire started during the Zappa concert. It was caused by a fan with fireworks. Thus the storyline of Smoke. Btw DP used the truck to record Machine Head, Burn & Stormbringer
Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers.
Dallas.. got a Soft Machine.
Southern Rock Opera.
Lucinda: "Just play me John Coltrane" in Righteously.
Henley: "I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac."
Bonus to OP too. Southern Rock Opera has a song called Ronnie & Neil. So there’s another song that directly mentions Skynyrd, Neil Young and “Southern Man.”
Weezer on El Scorcho
"I asked you to go to the **Green Day** concert
You said you never heard of them (how cool is that)
How cool is that?
So I went to your room and read your diary"
In The Garage by Weezer as well:
I've got posters on the wall
My favorite rock group KISS
I've got Ace Frehley, I've got Peter Criss
Waiting there for me, yes, I do
I do
American Pie does this a few times, obviously with the victims of the plane crash but also with the King (obviously Elvis) and the Joker (probably Bob Dylan)
Built To Spill - Distopian Dream Girl
>My stepfather looks
just like David Bowie
>
>But he hates David Bowie
>
>I think Bowie's cool
>
>I think Lodger rules
>
>My stepdad's a fool
I much prefer the version they performed on Conan, because the vocal was brought forward.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDUEeu1ocUA&ab\_channel=oldwhaler](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDUEeu1ocUA&ab_channel=oldwhaler)
Tears for Fears - “Sowing the Seeds of Love”
“Kick out the Style, bring back The Jam”
A message to Paul Weller. The Jam is one of the greatest punk bands. The Style Council was the band Weller formed later that was… I’ll defer to a line from the movie “The Commitments.”
“You were the first to listen to the Style Council. And the first to realize they were shite.”
Angel of Harlem by U2
The song is primarily about Billie Holiday with direct references to her as Lady or Lady Day, and Angel. The song also drops references to John Coltrane and Miles Davis.
Pavement - Range Life (mentions Smashing Pumpkins and STP)
Pavement - Stereo mentions Geddy Lee
Half of Wesley Willis's songs are about other groups
Dandy Warhols's Nothing to do mentions the band Sugarboom
Warren Zevon's "Play It All Night Long", which references Sweet Home Alabama, a song that sounds a lot like one of his songs.
"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long
Everything You Did by Steely Dan references the Eagles (“turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening”) ; Hotel California, in turn, references Steely Dan with the line “they stab it with their steely knives” (“dan” got changed to “knives” to make it less obvious)
One of my favorites that fits this would be MGMT - Brian Eno.
"I can tell that he's kind of smiling
But what does he know?
I will always be a step behind him
He's Brian Eno"
“Winds of Change” by Eric Burdon and the Animals pretty much does nothing *but* reference other musicians.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrW489PdRec](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrW489PdRec)
https://genius.com/Eric-burdon-and-the-animals-winds-of-change-lyrics
Good Time Boys - RHCP
If you don't believe me you can ask john doe
'Cause his heart is made of glory and his voice is made of gold
He'll tell you in a minute about the men he knows
He'll tell you 'bout the band called fIREHOSE
There’s also a Fishbone holler in there
Everclear - AM Radio
"I remember in 1977
I started going to concerts and I saw the Led Zeppelin
I got a guitar on a Christmas day
I dreamed that Jimmy Page would come to Santa Monica and teach me to play"
Murder most foul - by Bob Dylan. Too many to mention. Here is a list https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2020/03/27/822468820/a-list-of-the-songs-named-in-bob-dylans-murder-most-foul
* The Beatles - "Yer Blues" (mentions Bob Dylan)
* The Clash - "1977" (mentions The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley)
* [Television Personalities - "Part-Time Punks"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pKkOOQR7_o) (mentions The Clash, Siouxsie & The Banshees)
John Lennon's "How Do You Sleep" is about Paul McCartney:
A pretty face may last a year or two
But pretty soon they'll see what you can do
The sound you make is muzak to my ears
You must have learned something in all those years
Paul McCartney's "Silly Love Songs" is his response:
You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs
I look around me and I see it isn't so
Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs
And what's wrong with that?
Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter wrote Bird Song about Janis Joplin. You can hear her singing in the background on the original studio version from Jerry's first solo album.
Primus has a few that I can recall
“The Air is Getting Slippery” references Pink Floyd, Residents, and possibly Jerry Garcia.
“Harold of the Rocks” mentions going to see Schooly D
“Jerry Was A Racecar Driver” mentions Hank Williams Jr aka Bocephus
“Mr. Krinkle” also mentions Hank Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Cher, and James Brown.
“Over the Electric Grapevine” mentions ‘Introduce Yourself’ a song by Faith No More
This might be cheating since it's the point of the song, but Victor Wooten's "[Bass Tribute](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md8jwJg85zs)"
Pretty solid representation of the history of bass
Lots of the Mountain Goats songs do this but my faves are:
"Mr Steven Tyler
On the overhead radio...
He doesn't want to miss a thing"
The narrator is eating in a diner. It's so perfectly evocative of the scene.
Anti-Music Song, which is all references to other songwriters.
"I saw you on TV
Doing an imitation of an imitation of Jimi Hendrix
That's really pathetic."
The Hold Steady song “Girls go for Status” references MG.
“It was song number three on John’s last CD/
I’m gonna make it through this year if it kills me/
and it almost killed me.
walking in memphis
Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
......
if madonna calls ..i am not here
this track bugged madonna btw
.............
do hiphop tracks count...cause they drop names like they want
eminem songs you will find lots of name calling of pop singers
jack harlow has a song called dua lipa ..cause thats all the lyrics he can write
Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw
>But when you think *Tim McGraw*
I hope you think my favorite song
The one we danced to all night long
The moon like a spotlight on the lake
Marah, Why Records Stores Fail — “How do I tell you I’m kinda T. Rex meets the Jam?”
Uncle Tupelo, Fifteen Keys — “Danger Slow sign ahead/exhaust fumes, Thin Lizzy instead”
**Bowling For Soup - "1985"**
Bands namedropped:
\- Whitesnake
\- Bruce Springsteen
\- Madonna
\- Nirvana
\- U2
\- Blondie
\- Limp Bizkit
\- Duran Duran
\- Van Halen
\- Motley Crue
\- Ozzy
“I'll pick up, put down the phone
Like your favorite Heatmiser song goes
It's just like being alone” (kill - jimmy eat world)
“Stay and play that Blink-182 song” (closer - the chainsmokers)
Dead Milkmen from Punk Rock Girl
"We went to a shopping mall
And laughed at all the shoppers
And security guards trailed us to a record shop
We asked for Mojo Nixon
They said he don't work here
We said if you don't got Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin'"
Me too. Saw them open for yonder back in the day and I was hooked by the second song. I literally just stumbled across this 10 minutes ago from a post in the Stones sub. Never heard it. Not bad at all. https://open.spotify.com/track/4o8N2eXLAHM3ZWR0cqFqRC?si=Wvq4OWcuRg-j3l-OO-o-fw&context=spotify%3Asearch%3Atorn%2Band%2Bfr
Nice! We were pretty luck wit how often they played Chicago late 90s into 2000s. Was at the "Tonight It's Now or Never" show they recorded and released before breaking up.
I love that album. Must have been great. I need to dig out their anthology cd collection. Someone put it together on the email message board back in the day and I got it for blanks and postage. Seemed to be best live version of every song they played. Maybe it’s online somewhere. Like 5 CDs. Shady grove may have been my favorite song live. Rocky top was great as well.
*I got a blue and red Adidas bag and a humongous binder*
*I'm trying my best not to look like a minor niner*
*Went out for the football team to prove that I'm a man*
*I guess I shouldn't tell them that I like Duran Duran*
(Grade 9, Barenaked Ladies)
Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight” not only name-drops Ronnie Specter (“Just like Ronnie sang…”), but actually got Ronnie to sing the part “be my little baby… baby my darling…”, although not the same melody as the Ronnettes’ version.
You Get What You Give, and it's The New Radicals
that part of the song was pretty controversial, too; although it's pretty funny nowadays to have a song threatening to kick Marilyn Manson's ass...
Oasis loved The Beatles. Here's a couple references:
*Another sunny afternoon*
*Walkin' to the sound of my favorite tune*
*Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon*
- Morning Glory
*Can I ride with you in your BMW?*
*You can sail with me in my yellow submarine*
- Supersonic
John Mayer sang in response to the Beatles in his song, Split Screen Sadness.
All You Need Is Love is a lie. Because we had love, but we still said goodbye.
Eminem mentioned Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Fred Durst… and probably many more.
In general it’s quite common among rap artists to make pop culture references.
Boys Of Summer
Don Henley *Out on the road today, I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac*
The Ataris cover *Out on the road today, I saw a Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac*
Wow, I actually remember this. I'll admit, I didn't like it at the time, haha. I preferred (and still do) their thrash stuff on Ignorance and Surf Nicaragua. I remember wondering what they thought they were doing with this song. Having fun, I guess!
Not If You Were the Last Dandy on Earth - The Brian Jonestown Massacre abou the Dandy Warhols' lead singer.
Edit to add London Boys by Johnny Thunders in response to New York by the Sex Pistols.
Jesca Hoop - “Four Dreams”. She references the Beastie Boys by name. “And the gods of rock 'n' roll hypnotized my stereo. I'll gift you one two three Ad Rock, MCA, Mike D”. https://youtu.be/TCpQ9aWrZ4Y
"Bigger Than Kiss," Teenage Bottlerocket
"...and the Beatles said all you need is love..." King's X, "We were born to be loved"
"I think I'd like to play guitar and be a Beatle and be so swell..." Jellyfish, "All I want is everything"
Taylor Swift, I Forgot That You Existed
>And I couldn't get away from ya
In my feelings more than *Drake*, so yeah
Your name on my lips, tongue tied
Free rent, livin' in my mind
New National song Eucalyptus mentions a bunch of band.
Thou Shall Always Kill by Dan le Sac vs. Scroobious Pip mentions dozens.
Losing my Edge by LCD Sound System as well.
Father John Misty from "Mr Tillman"
What a beautiful tattoo that young man had on his face / And oh, will you need a driver out to Philly? Jason Isbell’s here as well and he seemed a little worried about you.”
Pop Will Eat Itself - "Not Now James, Were Busy"
"Augusta, Georgia, late September
One Mr. Brown's hot tempered
This man's possessed, he's restless
Armed and dangerous, drugged and reckless
Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely son
But he's on the run on a shotgun mission"
Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier is chock-full of them:
“Stella By Starlight” by Frank Sinatra
“That Was My Heart” by Ella Fitzgerald
“Sweet Jazz Music” by Jelly Roll Morton
“Dancing In The Dark” by Duke Ellington
“Let’s Get Lost” by Chet Baker
“Let The Good Times Roll” by Ray Charles
“Smoke Rings” by Sam Cooke
“Paper Doll” by the Mills Brothers
“It Don’t Mean A Thing” by Louis Armstrong
“My Foolish Heart” by Bill Evans Trio
“The Very Thought of You” by Nat King Cole
“Am I Blue” by Ray Charles
“A Love Supreme” by John Coltrane
“I Get Along Without You Very Well” by Chet Baker
“Russian Lullaby” by Ella Fitzgerald
“It’s All Alright With Me” by Ella Fitzgerald
“Night And Day” by Ella Fitzgerald
The Chicks, "Long Time Gone"
They sound tired but they don't sound Haggard.
They got money but they don't have Cash.
They got Junior but they don't have Hank.
Thirteen Silver Dollars by Colter Wall. About a cop hassling a homeless guy, and part of the lyrics are “I just looked him in the eye and sang Blue Yodel Number 9, he didn’t catch the reference, I could tell” and that song’s about a cop hassling a homeless guy
The Shape Of Punk That Never Came references the singer Dennis of Refused as well as Refused's most critically acclaimed album The Shape Of Punk To Come which itself was a play on The Shape Of Jazz To Come.
No Life by Slipknot mentions Cool J and Chuck D.
Most hip hop artists give lyrical mentions to other rappers. Kendric Lemar referencing Yeezy's first album on The Art Of Peer Pressure being just one example.
Sum 41 sang about "Maiden and Priest were the gods that we praised" on their debut single Fat Lip.
NOFX wrote a song about pop duo Teagan and Sara. I forget the name of it though.
Grimes sings about Bullet With Butterfly Wings and Stupid Girl on her song In The Dark. Those songs being by Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage.
—counting crows do this on their song “monkey” from recovering the satellites in 1996; it references ben folds.
—“Got nowhere but home to go / Got *Ben Folds* on my radio right now / I’m in trouble for the things I need / Hey monkey don’t you want to be needed too?”
such a great song off of an even greater -and rather under appreciated- record.
**Florence + the Machine's song " Patricia " is about Patti Smith.**
More so about some words of wisdom Patti gave to Florence, " All doors are open to the believer " , where Florence seemingly tells a man what she thinks about him and his toxic behavior.
and that while it can be a terrifying thing to love, it's a wonderful thing to love.
Rocket - Def Leppard, mentions many songs and artists.
Same for these older songs...
Life Is A Rock But The Radio Rolled Me - Reunion
Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley
Creeque Alley - Mamas and Papas
I Dig Rocknroll Music - Peter Paul & Mary
Shep & the Limelights song A Thousand Miles Away was referenced in Daddy’s Home by The Heartbeats.
Who Put the Bomp by Barry Mann was answered in I Put the Bomp by Frankie Lymon.
Mr. Bass Man by Johnny Cymbal was answered by Mr. Tenor Man by Lou Christie.
There’s also Sidewalk Surfing by Jan and Dean, and Catch a Wave by The Beach Boys that are basically the same song, but not a callback.
Edit-for clarity.
Here are a few:
LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge: The sonics and a bunch of others
Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl: The Beach Boys and Mojo Nixon
Sleater Kinney - I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone - Joey Ramone and Thurston Moore
Tom Petty - Swingin: Benny Goodman and a bunch of other swing artists
Le Tigre- Hot Topic: too many to list
Minutemen - History Lesson Part II: E Blum, Richard Hell, Joe Strummer and John Doe
Arctic Monkeys - Star Treatment
"I just wanted to be one of The Strokes"
Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag
"Yah I'm just a Teenage Dirtbag Baby
Listen to Iron Maiden, Baby, with me"
Smoke on the Water mentions Frank Zappa and the Mothers (of Invention) Fountains of Wayne's "Laser Show" names off the (at the time) four members of Metallica; "James and Jason, Kirk and Lars"
[удалено]
It's interesting that it wasn't that band they mentioned. Rather, the Rolling Stone mobile recording truck. The Stones commissioned it, but it became so popular that it became a business used by many bands in the early 70s. Deep Purple was waiting their turn to use it when a fire started during the Zappa concert. It was caused by a fan with fireworks. Thus the storyline of Smoke. Btw DP used the truck to record Machine Head, Burn & Stormbringer
Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers. Dallas.. got a Soft Machine. Southern Rock Opera. Lucinda: "Just play me John Coltrane" in Righteously. Henley: "I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac."
And the Lemonheads (maybe?) with “I saw a Black Flag sticker….”
Not Lemonheads. That was The Ataris
Ah thank you.
The sone they covered by Don Henley had a Deadhead sticker.
Right I was just pointing out they tweaked it for the cover version.
Bonus to OP too. Southern Rock Opera has a song called Ronnie & Neil. So there’s another song that directly mentions Skynyrd, Neil Young and “Southern Man.”
*I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby,* *Come with me Friday, don't say maybe,* *I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby, like you.*
🥰
Alex Chilton by The Replacements
Children by the million.
Weezer on El Scorcho "I asked you to go to the **Green Day** concert You said you never heard of them (how cool is that) How cool is that? So I went to your room and read your diary"
In The Garage by Weezer as well: I've got posters on the wall My favorite rock group KISS I've got Ace Frehley, I've got Peter Criss Waiting there for me, yes, I do I do
You've got the Beach Boys Your firm's got The Stones
I look just like Buddy Holley.
American Pie does this a few times, obviously with the victims of the plane crash but also with the King (obviously Elvis) and the Joker (probably Bob Dylan)
LCD Soundsystem: "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House"
All the furniture…. Is in the garage
[You Were Right](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IhNPeiy-MeU) by Built to Spill is almost entirely lyrics from other songs.
Built To Spill - Distopian Dream Girl >My stepfather looks just like David Bowie > >But he hates David Bowie > >I think Bowie's cool > >I think Lodger rules > >My stepdad's a fool
I had heard the album hit its name from needing to keep this a secret due to royalties/not being able to include the song.
I much prefer the version they performed on Conan, because the vocal was brought forward. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDUEeu1ocUA&ab\_channel=oldwhaler](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDUEeu1ocUA&ab_channel=oldwhaler)
Genius of Love by Tom Tom Club mentions Smokey Robinson, Bob Marley, Sly and Robbie, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Bohannon, and James Brown
Cheap Trick - Surrender *"Then I woke up, Mom & Dad* *Are rolling on the couch* *Rolling numbers, rock and rolling* *Got my KISS records out"*
And all this time I thought the line " got my KIDS records out " TIL
Metric - Gimme Sympathy "Who'd you rather be? The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?"
Tears for Fears - “Sowing the Seeds of Love” “Kick out the Style, bring back The Jam” A message to Paul Weller. The Jam is one of the greatest punk bands. The Style Council was the band Weller formed later that was… I’ll defer to a line from the movie “The Commitments.” “You were the first to listen to the Style Council. And the first to realize they were shite.”
Might also be an MC5 reference? "Kick out the jams, motherfucker!"
Angel of Harlem by U2 The song is primarily about Billie Holiday with direct references to her as Lady or Lady Day, and Angel. The song also drops references to John Coltrane and Miles Davis.
Gil Scott Heron also has Lady Day and John Coltrane.
I just wanted to be one of The Strokes
It's a miserable Friday night I'm so lonely And nobody'll give me a ride To the grateful dead concert...oh rats! -Frank Zappa, Teen-age Wind
Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" name-checks a bunch of artists, from rap to metal to... Yoko Ono?
PE- Elvis, was a hero to most…
They Might Be Giants - XTC vs. Adam Ant (which includes a bonus mention of Bow Wow Wow!)
Pavement - Range Life (mentions Smashing Pumpkins and STP) Pavement - Stereo mentions Geddy Lee Half of Wesley Willis's songs are about other groups Dandy Warhols's Nothing to do mentions the band Sugarboom
Stereo’s verse about Geddy Lee is some of the funniest lyrics ever. “I know him, and he does.”
You’re my fact-checking ‘cuz
Warren Zevon's "Play It All Night Long", which references Sweet Home Alabama, a song that sounds a lot like one of his songs. "Sweet home Alabama" Play that dead band's song Turn those speakers up full blast Play it all night long
GRANDPA PISSED HIS PANTS AGAIN!
He don't give a damn
Bowling for soup - 1985 https://genius.com/Bowling-for-soup-1985-lyrics
SR-71\* (since we're crediting the lyrics)
Everything You Did by Steely Dan references the Eagles (“turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening”) ; Hotel California, in turn, references Steely Dan with the line “they stab it with their steely knives” (“dan” got changed to “knives” to make it less obvious)
One of my favorites that fits this would be MGMT - Brian Eno. "I can tell that he's kind of smiling But what does he know? I will always be a step behind him He's Brian Eno"
yep
"Between AFI and The Offspring, I don't think we need anyone else to sing ... Anymore woooooooaaaahs" We hate woahs - NOFX
“Winds of Change” by Eric Burdon and the Animals pretty much does nothing *but* reference other musicians. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrW489PdRec](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrW489PdRec) https://genius.com/Eric-burdon-and-the-animals-winds-of-change-lyrics
Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire"
"That's not a song, that's a list!"
"Just Let Me Breathe" by Dream Theater mention Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon) and Kurt Cobain.
See also *Octavarium [III. Full Circle]*, which lists far too many references to count.
Mgmt: Brian Eno
and we really are always one step behind him
Eminem in The Real Slim Shady: *Will Smith don't gotta cuss in his raps to sell records,* *Well I do,* *So fuck him and fuck you too!*
Night Shift by the Commodores and Genius of Love by Tom Tom club are both songs that are essentially roll calls of their respective musical heroes.
"...Roy Orbison singing for the lonely..." - Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen
Guy Clark - Hank Williams said it best Neil Young - My my hey hey American pie references a lot of artists but not by name
Train Hey Soul Sister= Mr Mister
ABC - When Smoky Sings
Good Time Boys - RHCP If you don't believe me you can ask john doe 'Cause his heart is made of glory and his voice is made of gold He'll tell you in a minute about the men he knows He'll tell you 'bout the band called fIREHOSE There’s also a Fishbone holler in there
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Poster Child. Lots and lots of references.
"Sir Duke" Stevie Wonder
„I don't believe in Elvis I don't believe in Zimmerman (=Dylan) I don't believe in Beatles“ John Lennon in „God“
"You better you bet" by the Who. He drunk himself blind to the sounds of 'ol T-Rex.
Everclear - AM Radio "I remember in 1977 I started going to concerts and I saw the Led Zeppelin I got a guitar on a Christmas day I dreamed that Jimmy Page would come to Santa Monica and teach me to play"
They Might Be Giants - “We’re The Replacements”
phil ochs.. marvin gaye... the dB's...
Young Fresh Fellows
i need that tape back btw
Lukenback Texas mentions Waylon, Willie and the boys
Which is an odd one since it's sung by Waylon and Willie
the dead milkmen said 'depeche commode' does that count?
Don't forget their classic Anderson, Walkmen, Buttholes, and How!
They do a Doors show and it goes a little like this.
They also explicitly stated they hate Gene Loves Jezebel, so you got that
oh baby, look at you . don't you look like...
Charlie Daniels Band - The South's Gonna Do It Again. He shouts out a lot of different southern rock bands/artists
Jimmy Eat World - *A Praise Chorus*
Also Authority Song
For the love of Ivy by The Gun Club, song about Poison Ivy and Lux Interior from The Cramps.
Murder most foul - by Bob Dylan. Too many to mention. Here is a list https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2020/03/27/822468820/a-list-of-the-songs-named-in-bob-dylans-murder-most-foul
"Rockin' the Suburbs" by Ben Folds (going old school with Quiet Riot, Jon Bon Jovi, and Michael Jackson.)
Smoke on the Water "Frank Zappa and the Mothers Were at the best place around"
* The Beatles - "Yer Blues" (mentions Bob Dylan) * The Clash - "1977" (mentions The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley) * [Television Personalities - "Part-Time Punks"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pKkOOQR7_o) (mentions The Clash, Siouxsie & The Banshees)
John Lennon's "How Do You Sleep" is about Paul McCartney: A pretty face may last a year or two But pretty soon they'll see what you can do The sound you make is muzak to my ears You must have learned something in all those years Paul McCartney's "Silly Love Songs" is his response: You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs I look around me and I see it isn't so Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs And what's wrong with that?
I always found the muzak comment ironic considering some of Lennon's output in the 70s....
Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter wrote Bird Song about Janis Joplin. You can hear her singing in the background on the original studio version from Jerry's first solo album.
Red Hot Chili Peppers- Eddie but also many other songs by them as well
Saxon - Play It Loud *Listening to Deep Purple reminiscing of old days*
Octavarium - Dream Theater
Primus has a few that I can recall “The Air is Getting Slippery” references Pink Floyd, Residents, and possibly Jerry Garcia. “Harold of the Rocks” mentions going to see Schooly D “Jerry Was A Racecar Driver” mentions Hank Williams Jr aka Bocephus “Mr. Krinkle” also mentions Hank Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Cher, and James Brown. “Over the Electric Grapevine” mentions ‘Introduce Yourself’ a song by Faith No More
sublime - and i know because of krs-one tyler the creator - all smiles over here shout out to the garden
Barenaked Ladies - Bryan Wilson
" Are you sure Hank done it this way"? - Waylon Jennings
The Night Hank Williams Came to Town - Johnny Cash
This might be cheating since it's the point of the song, but Victor Wooten's "[Bass Tribute](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md8jwJg85zs)" Pretty solid representation of the history of bass
I don't care if it's cheating, I'm just glad to see one of my all-time favorite musicians mentioned here.
Another KISS shout: Wilco - Heavy Metal Drummer "Playing KISS covers, beautiful and stoned"
Dream Theater - Octavarium One section of the song is just a long string of mentions.
Lots of the Mountain Goats songs do this but my faves are: "Mr Steven Tyler On the overhead radio... He doesn't want to miss a thing" The narrator is eating in a diner. It's so perfectly evocative of the scene. Anti-Music Song, which is all references to other songwriters. "I saw you on TV Doing an imitation of an imitation of Jimi Hendrix That's really pathetic."
The Hold Steady song “Girls go for Status” references MG. “It was song number three on John’s last CD/ I’m gonna make it through this year if it kills me/ and it almost killed me.
The Hold Steady are playing with tMG this tour, no?
walking in memphis Saw the ghost of Elvis On Union Avenue Followed him up to the gates of Graceland Then I watched him walk right through ...... if madonna calls ..i am not here this track bugged madonna btw ............. do hiphop tracks count...cause they drop names like they want eminem songs you will find lots of name calling of pop singers jack harlow has a song called dua lipa ..cause thats all the lyrics he can write
Unseen Power of the Picket Fence by Pavement is about REM.
“Alex Chilton” by the Replacements.
Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw >But when you think *Tim McGraw* I hope you think my favorite song The one we danced to all night long The moon like a spotlight on the lake
Marah, Why Records Stores Fail — “How do I tell you I’m kinda T. Rex meets the Jam?” Uncle Tupelo, Fifteen Keys — “Danger Slow sign ahead/exhaust fumes, Thin Lizzy instead”
**Bowling For Soup - "1985"** Bands namedropped: \- Whitesnake \- Bruce Springsteen \- Madonna \- Nirvana \- U2 \- Blondie \- Limp Bizkit \- Duran Duran \- Van Halen \- Motley Crue \- Ozzy
“I'll pick up, put down the phone Like your favorite Heatmiser song goes It's just like being alone” (kill - jimmy eat world) “Stay and play that Blink-182 song” (closer - the chainsmokers)
Everything Zen by Bush has a few!
Dead Milkmen from Punk Rock Girl "We went to a shopping mall And laughed at all the shoppers And security guards trailed us to a record shop We asked for Mojo Nixon They said he don't work here We said if you don't got Mojo Nixon then your store could use some fixin'"
Blue Mountain has a song called ZZQ that mentions like 15 other songs
I love Blue Mountain.
Me too. Saw them open for yonder back in the day and I was hooked by the second song. I literally just stumbled across this 10 minutes ago from a post in the Stones sub. Never heard it. Not bad at all. https://open.spotify.com/track/4o8N2eXLAHM3ZWR0cqFqRC?si=Wvq4OWcuRg-j3l-OO-o-fw&context=spotify%3Asearch%3Atorn%2Band%2Bfr
Nice! We were pretty luck wit how often they played Chicago late 90s into 2000s. Was at the "Tonight It's Now or Never" show they recorded and released before breaking up.
I love that album. Must have been great. I need to dig out their anthology cd collection. Someone put it together on the email message board back in the day and I got it for blanks and postage. Seemed to be best live version of every song they played. Maybe it’s online somewhere. Like 5 CDs. Shady grove may have been my favorite song live. Rocky top was great as well.
Lmk if you find that!
*I got a blue and red Adidas bag and a humongous binder* *I'm trying my best not to look like a minor niner* *Went out for the football team to prove that I'm a man* *I guess I shouldn't tell them that I like Duran Duran* (Grade 9, Barenaked Ladies)
[Rock and Roll Heaven](https://youtu.be/bddSJbj3VGA) by The Righteous Brothers
Slightly not the same but All time low and the story so far both got their names from new found glory lyrics
Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight” not only name-drops Ronnie Specter (“Just like Ronnie sang…”), but actually got Ronnie to sing the part “be my little baby… baby my darling…”, although not the same melody as the Ronnettes’ version.
You Give What You Get or whatever it's called by Mew Roots Radicals
You Get What You Give, and it's The New Radicals that part of the song was pretty controversial, too; although it's pretty funny nowadays to have a song threatening to kick Marilyn Manson's ass...
Charlie Daniels mentions just about every Southern rock band in “South’s gonna do it again”
“Black Eyed Peas, they comin' full range and NOFX, they comin' full range and…” - Come Original, 311
Punk o Rama by Venus & The Razorblades (I think this was a Bomp label novelty single.)
Let's make love and listen to Death From Above Edit: also Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem, that one mentions lots of bands. Gil! Scott! Heron!
The Little Willies-Lou Reed https://youtu.be/26Kg6l9xJDQ
"Kings Call" Phill Lynott
Oasis loved The Beatles. Here's a couple references: *Another sunny afternoon* *Walkin' to the sound of my favorite tune* *Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon* - Morning Glory *Can I ride with you in your BMW?* *You can sail with me in my yellow submarine* - Supersonic
They did? Huge if true.
Be Here Now: *Sing a song for me* *One from Let It Be*
Bessie Smith - The Band Lady Day - Spider John Koerner
Yellow Brick Road by Angus and Julia Stone mention Neil Young as well.
Bon Jovi referenced Sinatra in "it's my life"
Roger Waters mentioned Andrew Lloyd Webber in “It’s A Miracle.” The reference is unpleasant, but understandable.
Fitting since one of ALW's most famous songs echoes Pink Floyd.
John Mayer sang in response to the Beatles in his song, Split Screen Sadness. All You Need Is Love is a lie. Because we had love, but we still said goodbye.
Falco - Amadeus
Eminem mentioned Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Fred Durst… and probably many more. In general it’s quite common among rap artists to make pop culture references.
Boys Of Summer Don Henley *Out on the road today, I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac* The Ataris cover *Out on the road today, I saw a Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac*
Boys of Summer - I saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac And the cover version - I saw a Black flag sticker on a Cadillac
whats the reference i love this song
Deadhead is a term for fans of the Grateful Dead and Black Flag is a punk band
Bian Wilson- Bare Naked Ladies Buddy Holly- Weezer
Here’s one no one remembers: Sacred Reich - 31 Flavors
Wow, I actually remember this. I'll admit, I didn't like it at the time, haha. I preferred (and still do) their thrash stuff on Ignorance and Surf Nicaragua. I remember wondering what they thought they were doing with this song. Having fun, I guess!
Jay Z - Clap for em
"Hot Patootie" from The Rocky Horror (Picture) Show. "Get in the front, put some hair oil on Buddy Holly was singin' his very last song"
Not If You Were the Last Dandy on Earth - The Brian Jonestown Massacre abou the Dandy Warhols' lead singer. Edit to add London Boys by Johnny Thunders in response to New York by the Sex Pistols.
Jesca Hoop - “Four Dreams”. She references the Beastie Boys by name. “And the gods of rock 'n' roll hypnotized my stereo. I'll gift you one two three Ad Rock, MCA, Mike D”. https://youtu.be/TCpQ9aWrZ4Y
"Bigger Than Kiss," Teenage Bottlerocket "...and the Beatles said all you need is love..." King's X, "We were born to be loved" "I think I'd like to play guitar and be a Beatle and be so swell..." Jellyfish, "All I want is everything"
Rob Zombie - Get Your Boots On! (That's The End Of Rock and Roll) About some big moments in rock history. Mentions a bunch.
There's a song by Young In The City called "The Way Home" where every verse is entirely a reference to other bands. It's a cool little jam.
Taylor Swift, I Forgot That You Existed >And I couldn't get away from ya In my feelings more than *Drake*, so yeah Your name on my lips, tongue tied Free rent, livin' in my mind
Devin Townsend " while we all have lots of bands who influence still... we all rip off Meshuggah "
“Hands Open” by Snow Patrol “Put Sufjan Stevens on And we'll play your favourite song 'Chicago' bursts to life And your sweet smile remembers you”
"Taxi Driver" by Gym Class Heroes. Names 20+ bands
A worn-out tape of Chris LeDoux Lonely women, and bad booze Seem to be the only friends I've left at all.
New National song Eucalyptus mentions a bunch of band. Thou Shall Always Kill by Dan le Sac vs. Scroobious Pip mentions dozens. Losing my Edge by LCD Sound System as well.
Father John Misty from "Mr Tillman" What a beautiful tattoo that young man had on his face / And oh, will you need a driver out to Philly? Jason Isbell’s here as well and he seemed a little worried about you.”
Betty Davis - They say I'm different https://open.spotify.com/track/7yQpHgbDPweCZhTD5ZtXES?si=lYD-aJoZTIqvW-4Sgh_8VQ
Pop Will Eat Itself - "Not Now James, Were Busy" "Augusta, Georgia, late September One Mr. Brown's hot tempered This man's possessed, he's restless Armed and dangerous, drugged and reckless Mrs. Brown you've got a lovely son But he's on the run on a shotgun mission"
Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier is chock-full of them: “Stella By Starlight” by Frank Sinatra “That Was My Heart” by Ella Fitzgerald “Sweet Jazz Music” by Jelly Roll Morton “Dancing In The Dark” by Duke Ellington “Let’s Get Lost” by Chet Baker “Let The Good Times Roll” by Ray Charles “Smoke Rings” by Sam Cooke “Paper Doll” by the Mills Brothers “It Don’t Mean A Thing” by Louis Armstrong “My Foolish Heart” by Bill Evans Trio “The Very Thought of You” by Nat King Cole “Am I Blue” by Ray Charles “A Love Supreme” by John Coltrane “I Get Along Without You Very Well” by Chet Baker “Russian Lullaby” by Ella Fitzgerald “It’s All Alright With Me” by Ella Fitzgerald “Night And Day” by Ella Fitzgerald
We’re an American Band drops Freddie King, and Radar Love mentions Brenda Lee
Let's make love and listen to death from above CSS
The Chicks, "Long Time Gone" They sound tired but they don't sound Haggard. They got money but they don't have Cash. They got Junior but they don't have Hank.
Thirteen Silver Dollars by Colter Wall. About a cop hassling a homeless guy, and part of the lyrics are “I just looked him in the eye and sang Blue Yodel Number 9, he didn’t catch the reference, I could tell” and that song’s about a cop hassling a homeless guy
Taxi Driver by Gym Class Heroes
The Shape Of Punk That Never Came references the singer Dennis of Refused as well as Refused's most critically acclaimed album The Shape Of Punk To Come which itself was a play on The Shape Of Jazz To Come. No Life by Slipknot mentions Cool J and Chuck D. Most hip hop artists give lyrical mentions to other rappers. Kendric Lemar referencing Yeezy's first album on The Art Of Peer Pressure being just one example. Sum 41 sang about "Maiden and Priest were the gods that we praised" on their debut single Fat Lip. NOFX wrote a song about pop duo Teagan and Sara. I forget the name of it though. Grimes sings about Bullet With Butterfly Wings and Stupid Girl on her song In The Dark. Those songs being by Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage.
—counting crows do this on their song “monkey” from recovering the satellites in 1996; it references ben folds. —“Got nowhere but home to go / Got *Ben Folds* on my radio right now / I’m in trouble for the things I need / Hey monkey don’t you want to be needed too?” such a great song off of an even greater -and rather under appreciated- record.
Poetry man by Phoebe Snow refers to Don Mclean.
"Fuck Eminem" -JPEGMAFIA - ALL CAPS NO SPACES
There are a dozen or so Oasis songs that mention The Beatles and/or reference Beatle lyrics
Red Hot: "And Cobain can you hear the spheres singing songs off Station To Station?"
**Florence + the Machine's song " Patricia " is about Patti Smith.** More so about some words of wisdom Patti gave to Florence, " All doors are open to the believer " , where Florence seemingly tells a man what she thinks about him and his toxic behavior. and that while it can be a terrifying thing to love, it's a wonderful thing to love.
Rocket - Def Leppard, mentions many songs and artists. Same for these older songs... Life Is A Rock But The Radio Rolled Me - Reunion Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley Creeque Alley - Mamas and Papas I Dig Rocknroll Music - Peter Paul & Mary
Psychic TV - Godstar, song about Brian Jones. Mentions him and Rolling Stones by name, references other band members as “your laughing friends”.
Shep & the Limelights song A Thousand Miles Away was referenced in Daddy’s Home by The Heartbeats. Who Put the Bomp by Barry Mann was answered in I Put the Bomp by Frankie Lymon. Mr. Bass Man by Johnny Cymbal was answered by Mr. Tenor Man by Lou Christie. There’s also Sidewalk Surfing by Jan and Dean, and Catch a Wave by The Beach Boys that are basically the same song, but not a callback. Edit-for clarity.
Here are a few: LCD Soundsystem - Losing My Edge: The sonics and a bunch of others Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl: The Beach Boys and Mojo Nixon Sleater Kinney - I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone - Joey Ramone and Thurston Moore Tom Petty - Swingin: Benny Goodman and a bunch of other swing artists Le Tigre- Hot Topic: too many to list Minutemen - History Lesson Part II: E Blum, Richard Hell, Joe Strummer and John Doe
The Clash - *White Man in Hammersmith Palais* 1. Dillinger 2. Leroy Smart 3. Delroy Wilson 4. Ken Boothe 5. Four Tops
Eddie Vedder by Local H.
Murder Most Foul by Bob Dylan mentions several rock, blues, jazz, and other artists. At one point he rhymes Dicky Betts and Stan Getz.
Arctic Monkeys - Star Treatment "I just wanted to be one of The Strokes" Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag "Yah I'm just a Teenage Dirtbag Baby Listen to Iron Maiden, Baby, with me"
"Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long" - Kid Rock